Wrangell Sentinel -

Closed schools and mitigation protocols have complicated recruitment for the U.S. Coast Guard over the two years of the pandemic, officers said. “We are definitely, in comparison to pre-COVID numbers, we are not doing as well,” said Cmdr. Andrea Smith, executive officer of nationwide Coast Guard Recruiting Command.

“Meeting a Coastie is still the best recruiting tool for us, and that is increasingly difficult because of the pandemic,” Smith said in a phone interview.

The problem is exacerbated in Alaska, said Chief Petty Officer Colin Rankin, in Anchorage, made more complicated by the vastness...