AUTOMATED MERCHANT VESSEL REPORT RESCUE COORDINATION - Chief Radioman John L. Nixon in the U.S. Coast Guard Automated Merchant Vessel Report (AMVER) Center on Govenors Island, New York, checks the magnetic memory disk files, which are part of the electronic data processing system. A disk pack file can store two million characters of information on the location and search and rescue capabilities of merchant ships. AMVER is a computerized merchant vessel plotting system that aids in the coordination of search and rescue efforts in offshore areas by providing locations of vessels nearest the scenes of distress." MCPOCG Vince Patton, USCG (Ret.) noted - "- I knew RMC John Nixon. He retired as a RMCS - and pretty much could have been the first black RMC and RMCS. As you recall, I was an RM when I first enlisted in '72. Nixon was still around, and I had the pleasure of meeting him when I went to CGC DALLAS in '73, and he was at the AMVER Center on Governors Island. He told me he thought he might have been the first black RMC but wasn't sure. I do know he was the first black RMCS. He retired in either '76 or '77." OFFICIAL U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTOGRAPH No. 3CGD-03-07-68 (04) GEN. Photo origin--Maritime Relations section, AMVER Branch, Commander, Eastern Area, U.S. Coast Guard, Governors Island, N.Y., 10004 gdc - 3/68).