Intercom Summer 2014

Division 7 Tampa Bay, District 7 United States Coast Guard AuxiliaryDivision 7 Tampa Bay, District 7 United States Coast Guard AuxiliaryVolume XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014Volume XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014

Join the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary and... Oh, the Places You'll Go!

The things you will do!

Division 7 Elected Officers 2014

Div 7 Division Commander Jeff rey Gines, DCDR Div 7 Division Vice Commander Gene Keller, VCDRDiv 7 Immed. Past Division Commander J. Michael Shea, IPDCDR

FL-72 Flo lla Commander (ac ng) Jack Lee, VFC Flo lla Vice Commander Jack Lee, VFCFL-74 Flo lla Commander James Mulligan, FC Flo lla Vice Commander Mark Jaqua, Jr. VFCFL-75 Flo lla Commander Guy Mandigo, FC Flo lla Vice Commander Judith Clapp, VFCFL-78 Flo lla Commander Bradley Marchant, FC Flo lla Vice Commander Zelda Troiano, VFCFL-79 Flo lla Commander Michael Massimini, FC Flo lla Vice Commander John McLoughlin, VFCFL-7-16 Flo lla Commander D. Terry Hershman, FC Flo lla Vice Commander Donald Rimel, VFC

Division 7 Appointed Staff 2014

Communica ons David Rockwell, SO-CMCommunica on Systems Cliff ord Holensworth, SO-CSDiversity D. Terry Hershman, SO-DVFinance Linda Brandt, SO-FNInforma on Systems Cliff ord Holensworth, SO-ISHuman Resources Judith Clapp, SO-HRMaterials Ronald G. Matz, SO-MAMarine Safety Conrad Palermo, SO-MSMember Training David Langdon, Jr., SO-MTNaviga on Systems Marvin Bayles, SO-NSOpera ons Linda Churchill, SO-OPPublic Aff airs George Papabeis, SO-PAPublica ons Dorothy J. Riley, SO-PBPublic Educa on James Fogle, SO-PEProgram Visitor Timothy Teahan, SO-PVSecretary Alexandra Kaan, SO-SRVessel Examina ons John Simone, SO-VEDivision Liaison Richard Short

We’re on the web!h p://A07007.wow.uscgaux.info

The Intercom is a publica on of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Division Seven, District Seven. The cost of publica on is provided by dues-paying members of the Auxiliary, an organiza on of unpaid, civilian volunteers whose mission is to assist the U.S. Coast Guard in promo ng boa ng safety. Ar cles may be reprinted only with the express consent of the author or photographer, with proper cred-it given to same. For permissions or for more informa on, please contact the editor, Dorothy Joan Ri-

ley, SO-PB, Email address: do [email protected]

You can contact any of our offi cers on the Division 7 web

page!

INTERCOMNewsle er for Division 7 Tampa Bay, District 7, USCG Auxiliary

Volume XXXVI Issue 2 Summer 2014

Cover photo: AIR STATION CLEAR-WATER, Fla., April 27, 2014—Per-sonnel from Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Unit 307 prac ce emergency egress skills. Auxiliary members George Papabeis and Zac Lessin photographed the ful-ly dressed PSU members as they jumped into the pool, stripped their gear, and emerged again from the water. USCGAUX photo by George Papabeis.

http://A07007.wow.uscgaux.info

Volume XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014 Page 3

In this Issue....

From the Helm: Jeffrey Gines, DCDR 4A Message from COMO Tom Mallison, NACO 4From the Helm: Gene Keller, VCDR 5Auxiliary Awarded Coast Guard Unit Commendation 6Flotilla News 7-12Member Travels Over 300 Miles to Conduct Vessel ExaminationsDonald Rimel and Charles Truthan

13

Division 7 Awards Luncheon 14Division 7 NSBW Highlights 16MacDill Airfest 2014 18FLASHBACK: Historical look at the Coast Guard Auxiliary at MacDill Airfest 19Operation Hightide: Auxiliary Assists in Training for the UnthinkableRick Short

20

Auxiliary Protects Swimmers During Annual Tampa Bay Marathon SwimJohn Simone

22

How I Shoot Photographs as an Auxiliary Public Affairs Offi cer and Photo Corps Member. George Papabeis

24

Photo Corps and Division 7 Media Feed Committee 25Auxiliary 75th Anniversary 26Sector St. Petersburg Holds Open House to Kick-off National Safe Boating WeekFranco Ripple

28

Auxiliary Supports Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Unit Training.Dottie Riley

32

Auxiliary Food Service TrainingValerie Fernandes

36

Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg Recognizes Ombudsman Marla Short. 38

NACON (Auxiliary National Conference) 39Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard 39D-Day: June 6, 1944 The Day That Changed the Course of History 40District 7 Board Meeting and Training 41Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Fund 41FWC Releases 2013 Boating Safety Statistics 42

Note: Each title functions as a live link to the article. Follow the 'Home' image at the bottom of the pages to return to the content page.

Page 4 Intercom USCG Auxiliary Division 7, District 7

Our division’s con n-ued service to the Coast Guard and this Country has been one rooted in great sacrifi ce and deep commitment by you, and by those before us, to our core values as an or-

ganiza on. This is not only our proud history, but also our legacy that our ac ons con nue to strengthen and bring great dis nc on to this division, our district, and the Auxiliary and Coast Guard at large.

As we celebrate our 75th Anniversary this month, never forget that you are all part of the Auxiliary’s dis- nguished past and an invaluable part of its exci ng

future. “Semper Paratus” is not just our mo o, it is our legacy. It defi nes what must live on within the Auxiliary and represents what must always exist to serve with excellence and a devo on to saving lives.

This issue of the INTERCOM during our 75th Anniver-sary is special in that it further allows us all to refl ect upon our many important missions as well as the faces

and names of both those whom we serve, and with those whom we serve. It off ers us a telling glimpse of where we have been, the opportunity to see the com-pelling progress we have made, and a striking view of where and how we can con nue to make a great im-pact and diff erence in people’s lives.

The fi rst half of this year, we achieved much. And in the fi ne tradi ons of this division, we capitalized on our strengths and overcame the challenges before us. With great pride and deep apprecia on, I want to thank you all for your me, talents, and commitment to what we have set out to accomplish this year. S ll, there is more to do, and I have the greatest of confi dence that we will con nue to meet any challenges we face and perform with excellence in the coming months and years ahead.

Congratula ons and thanks to you all for your out-standing service and being a part of 75 years of excep- onal achievements and unselfi sh devo on to duty.

Semper Paratus!

Respec ully,Jeff rey O. GinesDivision Commander 7, D7

From the HelmJeffrey Gines, Division Commander

A message from our Na onal CommodoreOn the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, I would like to off er my per-sonal thanks to each member for your faithful service to our fellow ci zens. Thanks also to your families who shared your me. Time and talent are the most valuable things a volunteer can off er, and we are im-mensely grateful for the unselfi sh sharing of your me by all those who are a part of your world. Our success is also due in no small part to the support of our part-ners without whose fi nancial and coopera ve com-mitments we would not be able to succeed. Together we are the best- trained, most valued mari me volun-teer organiza on in the world!

Our history is replete with the service of the Auxiliary to our na on. Those who served before us pointed the way and set the course of excellence in all we do. The Greatest Genera on linked arms to help keep our coasts secure when the Auxiliary was in its infancy. They taught boaters how to go about their ac vi es safely, thus enabling the regular Coast Guard to con-centrate more on direct law enforcement and military opera ons. We carry on that proud tradi on, teaching classes, performing vessel safety checks, visi ng ma-

rine dealers, par cipa ng in boat shows, public aff airs func ons, and u lizing our facili es on safety patrols on the water, in the air, and on the airwaves. We sup-port the regular Coast Guard more than ever before in marine safety, food service, medical, engineering, watch standing, and a myriad of other areas for which we are trained and qualifi ed.

We do these things willingly, for we know that what we do saves lives. With our service we know that our fellow ci zens are able to more safely enjoy their me on the water without adverse incidents thanks to our eff orts. This is our heritage; this is our purpose. This is the charge given to us by all those who have so ably served over the last 75 years. We will steadfastly main-tain the tradi ons passed to us by those thousands of members who wore the khaki and Coast Guard blue over the years. We will rely on those tradi ons of our predecessors to give us strength and provide a course line when the going gets tough. We will con nue to be Semper Paratus as the Auxiliary has been for 75 years.

Respec ully,Tom MallisonNa onal Commodore


From the HelmGene Keller, Division Vice Commander

Being your Vice Commander is a great honor. I pledge to live up to that honor by serving you diligently, always remembering that each of you is in fact the reason I have chosen to accept this assignment. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each Division 7 shipmate for your support and to express to you my goals and thoughts concerning our future.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is and will always be in transi on, always evolving and always changing. Over the next few years we will be facing a torrent of change and we must be ready. The challenge is to embrace it and effi ciently take advantage of all that it has to off er.

Our systems for training, record keeping and commu-nica ng have evolved over me; I believe we will soon be faced with an even more rapid period of technologi-cal development. Exci ng as that is, the digital world comes with its own set of challenges. In a connected world unlimited amounts of informa on tend to fl ow freely and I fear that we run the risk of becoming over-whelmed by our own sea of data. By developing a philosophy of using technology wisely, we will foster crea vity while maintaining order and respec ng the chain of leadership.

Another area is learning to do more – with less mon-ey and resources. We must be er prac ce ge ng the most out of our ght budgets. Some of our costs can be reduced by switching our phones to voice over internet and reducing and removing costly legacy systems.

For some of our fl o llas, tradi onal sources of fund-ing are becoming less reliable. Public educa on is a

major source of funding; to remain strong our ef-forts toward public educa- on must redoubled. Rec-

rea onal Boa ng Safety is the cornerstone of our mission and the primary task given us by the Coast Guard. It is proven that boater safety classes save lives; we will need to evolve our Public Educa on program to remain both compe ve and relevant. The ease of taking boater safety classes on line will con nue to challenge our classroom a endance. Together we can fi nd new ways of reaching out to the boa ng public, make learning more relevant and perhaps more fun.

Working more closely with our Public Educa on teams we can develop marke ng plans for boater safety train-ing, reaching out to new as well as underserved mar-kets.

Last of all, let me touch on our most important re-source: people. We must all focus on recrui ng quality people who join to serve and we will need to develop more proac ve methods for reaching out to prospec- ve new members.

I propose that a commi ee dedicated to promo ng the division through public speaking engagements at vari-ous civic organiza ons be formed. Let’s work together to reach out and tell folks how rewarding it can be to serve in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Once more thank you and as always, we are SEMPER PARATUS- ALWAYS READY!

Gene Keller, newly elected Division Vice Commander, accepts the Ritchie Award for Public Affairs presented to Flotilla 72 at the Awards Luncheon on June 7, 2014 in Tampa. Presenters are Jeffrey Gines, newly elected Division Com-mander, and COMO Walter Jaskiewicz, Immediate Past District Commodore. This was one of Keller's fi nal duties as Flotilla Commander 72. Photo by He-leyde Aponte


The Commandant of the Coast Guard takes pleasure in presen ng the COAST GUARD UNIT COMMENDATION to:

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AUXILIARY

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

"For excep onally meritorious service from June 24, 2009 to June 23, 2014, while providing unprecedented levels of dedicated public service and opera onal support to the U. S. Coast Guard's missions. Demonstra ng remarkable professionalism and boa ng safety exper se, the Auxiliary performed over 1.1 million vessel safety checks and marine dealer visits, delivered over 540 thousand hours of boa ng safety course instruc on and conducted over 809 thousand hours of public outreach. Displaying superior underway and airborne opera onal profi ciency, Auxiliarists logged over 19.8 million hours of support and patrol missions, saved over one thou-sand lives, assisted over 20 thousand boaters in distress and prevented the loss of more than 185 million dollars in property. The Auxiliary always answered the call, remaining in lockstep with the Coast Guard's response to every major incident. In 2010, unique Auxiliary talents were brought to bear in the interna onal response to the Hai an earthquake, blazing new trails in the applica on of social media to locate and save dozens of trapped vic ms.

Also during that year, well-qualifi ed Auxiliarists fi lled essen al incident command post watch posi ons and augmented ac ve duty units to support the Deepwater Horizon response. Simi-larly in 2012, Auxiliary commitment following Super Storm SANDY and Hurricane IRENE was instrumental to eff ec ve Coast Guard response and recovery opera ons. The Auxiliary consis-tently found innova ve ways to support the Coast Guard, including establishment of the Auxilia-ry Food Services program which trained Auxiliarists to augment Coast Guard galleys, afl oat and ashore. Auxiliarists involved with Public Aff airs, Interpreter Corps, America's Waterway Watch, and many other programs further contributed to Coast Guard success by volunteering their professional talents, mastery of trade, and disciplined ini a ve wherever and whenever need-ed. The Auxiliary's unwavering eff orts directly contributed to unprecedented na onal boa ng safety achievements, highlighted in 2013 with the fewest boa ng fatali es in 50 years. Despite incredible challenges amid keen compe on for America's volunteers, the Auxiliary grew its membership, provided over 22 million hours of inspira onal support to the Coast Guard, and kept our Na on's coasts, lakes, and waterways safe and secure. The professionalism, pride, and devo on to duty displayed by the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary are in keeping with the highest tradi ons of the United States Coast Guard."

P. F. ZUKUNFT

Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard

Commandant


Flotilla 72 St. PetersburgJack Lee, Flotilla Vice Commander

Sector St. Petersburg South Moorings, USCGC Venturous by D. Riley

Flo lla 72 will off er the “About Boa ng Safely” course one day every month start-ing on July 12, 2014. Adver sing for the class has begun. We will con nue to off er the nine-week Boa ng Skills and Seaman-ship class.

Our members con nue to support B-0 SAR Standby missions to Sta on St. Petersburg and marine observa on missions.

Flo lla 72 began coxswain training (table-top only sessions). Members of other fl o- llas within our division are par cipa ng.

Boat Crew Training completed with two new Boat Crew members for Flo lla 72: James Campau and Henry Norris. Con-gratula ons to both!

Members Gene Keller, Cliff ord Holen-sworth, and David Langdon resolved the problem with comple on of the Instruc-tor Qualifi ca on for Tony Hooper. Appar-ently, there was an issue with being able to see the proper repor ng within Aux Data. Others encountering a similar issue may fi nd the ‘How-To’ instruc ons by Da-vid Langdon benefi cial.

Great credit goes to Franco Ripple and other members for assis ng with the prepara on and planning for Sector St. Petersburg's Open House on May 17, 2014. Ripple arranged for several digni-taries to a end and present Na onal Safe Boa ng Week (NSBW) Proclama ons to the Coast Guard. The ceremonies went off well and were a great success!

Other NSBW ac vi es appear in other pages of this issue of Intercom as well as the ar cles about our many on the water missions in support of the Coast guard.

Rick Short (far left) and Rick Smith (center) demonstrate the hardships that our members undergo while on B0-SAR stand-by at Station St. Petersburg. Volleyball is incredibly challeng-ing when your opponents are young and fi t Coast Guardsmen! All kidding aside, friendly interactions like this go a long way to developing a sense of 'Team Coast Guard'! Photo provided by Richard Short

Franco Ripple, member of Flotilla 72 acts as emcee for the National Safe Boating Week ceremony conducted at Sector St. Petersburg during their Open House on May 17, 2014. May 17 was coincidentally, also Armed Forces Day. Photo by Richard Risk


Flotilla 74 BrandonJames Mulligan, Flotilla Commander

Williams Park, Riverview, Fla. by D. Riley

The members of Flo lla 74 con nue their outstand-ing ac vi es in support of our Recrea onal Boa ng Safety missions.

We received Na onal Safe Boa ng Week Proclama- ons from Lakeland, Bartow, Haines City, and Lake

Wales. An unexpected result was that all of these cit-ies except Lakeland requested ‘About Boa ng Safely’ classes and will provide classrooms at no cost to the Auxiliary.

We presented the ‘About Boa ng Safely’ class on May 10. This was in addi on to our con nuing Boa ng Skills and Seamanship program.

Our Polk County Detachment held a special event in conjunc on with Ile Yacht Club Kids Fishing Tourna-ment. Ninety-two children and parents par cipated. Children prac ced pu ng on life jackets in support of the Wear It! campaign and received coloring books while parents safe boa ng literature.

The Polk County Detachment also par cipated in a special Public Aff airs event at Marchant Stadium on June 11 to promote hurricane preparedness. Al-though we were forced to end the mission early be-cause of lightning in the area, we successfully made numerous contacts before closing.

Polk County Detachment par cipated in a special Ves-sel Examina ons/Public Aff airs event, “The Float” held by Chain of Life, a group that supports recre-a onal boa ng on the Chain-of-Lakes in Winter Ha-ven, Florida. We conducted Vessel Safety Checks and distributed boa ng safety literature.

Our members conduct Vessel Safety Check week-ly alterna ng between Williams Park and the Riv-erview Boat Ramp. The Polk County Detachment conductS Vessel Safety Checks at both Lake Arianna and Lake Summit, and our Recrea onal Boa ng Safety-Program Visitor eff orts are ongoing.

A special Vessel Examina ons mission will be held at Williams Park on June 28 in support of law enforcement “Opera on Dry Water,” an an -alcohol ini a ve.

The fl o lla’s outstanding contribu ons to Recrea onal Boa ng Safety missions was recognized at the Division 7 Annual Awards Luncheon. Flo lla 74 received the Krough Award for Public Educa on, the William Waldo Chase Memorial Award for Recrea onal Boa ng Safety, and The Captain’s Jug for the four cornerstones of the Auxiliary. Galen Johnston, Flo lla Staff Offi cer-Public Educa on, received the award for the greatest number of Public Educa on hours. We congratulate all of our members!

Jim Mulligan, a member of the United States Coast Guard Pipe Band, par cipated at Bri sh Cemetery Me-morial Services in the outer-banks of North Carolina to honor those who gave their lives defending the Eastern shores before America entered World War II. Addi on-ally, members par cipated as watch-standers at Sector St. Petersburg Open House and as watch-standers at Tampa Bay Boat Show at the Florida State Fairgrounds.


Flo lla 75 recently swore in member Robert Martel-lucci as Flo lla Staff Offi -cer-Vessel Examina ons. Despite having no staff of-fi cer coordina ng vessel examiners for the fi rst fi ve months, we reached 31%

of our goal for the year.

Recrea onal Boa ng Safety ac vi es are ongoing. We presented “Suddenly in Command” at the SouthShore Library to kick-off Na onal Safe Boa ng Week, stood watches at the Tampa Bay Boat Show at the Florida State Fairgrounds May16-18, and par cipated as vol-unteers during the Sector St. Petersburg Open House on May 17, 2014.

Another fun event was our par cipa on in a Cinco de Mayo public outreach event at Ruskin Elementary School celebra ng the Wear It! “Wear Your Life Jacket to Work” campaign. Members Patricia Stone, Judith Clapp, and Maria-Elena Taylor coordinated our par ci-pa on in that event and took many photos of teachers, pupils and parents wearing life jackets to post on the offi cial Wear It! website.

In the Public Educa on arena, Tampa Cruise-A-Cade Club invited Flo lla 75 to make a presenta on early in June. An About Boa ng Safely class is scheduled for three days in July, and a Sailing Skills and Seamanship course is scheduled for late August through early De-cember.

In Opera ons, Alastair Taggart completed the Boat Crew program and is presently crew qualifi ed. He is a welcome addi on to our Opera ons program.

Two new VHF-FM marine radios were installed and calibrated by Jack Sa erfi eld, Assistant Staff Offi cer-Communica ons, Division 7. The standing wave ra o of one antenna is too high and needs to be checked, but Ruskin Radio returned to ac ve service on May 20, 2014, and provided radio guard for a vessel from Flo lla 79. Despite radio problems on the vessel, the Ruskin Radio team tracked and supported the vessel throughout the mission.

Flo lla 75's annual “Nau cal Flea Market” was a re-sounding success with 24 vendors and over 600 buy-ers; 23 fl o lla members (with friends and family) par- cipated.

ebra ng the Wear It! Wear Your Life JacketeleSchool ccampaign. Members Patricia Stone,e, JJududitithh k”to Work

dd MMarariaia E-Ellena TTayllor coordinated our par ci-ndndClClapappp, aannhat event and took many photos of teachers,n thpa on in parents wearing life jackets to post on thendpupils an

ear It! website.Weofficial W

Flo lla 75'ss anannunualal “NaNauu ccalal FFlelea MMa krket” was a re-sounding success with 24 vendors and over 600 buy-ers; 23 fl o lla members (with friends and family) par- cipated.

Flotilla 75 RuskinGuy Mandigo, Flotilla Commander

E.G. Simmons Park, Ruskin, Fla., boat ramp by D. Riley

Members of Flotilla 75 wore their life jackets to the fl otilla meeting on May 14, their version of the National Safe Boating Week “Wear Your Life Jacket to Work” Campaign. From left are BM1 Greg Pascume, liaison to Flotilla 75 from Station St. Petersburg, Guy Mandigo, and Alastair Taggart. Photos by Patricia Stone


Flotilla 78 Pass-a-GrilleBradley Marchant, Flotilla Commander

Division 7 named Valerie Fernandes “Auxiliarist of the Year.” While Division 7 bestowed this honor upon her, Fernandes was off hiking at almost 13,000 feet al tude in the Reserva An sana in Ecuador!

The Division 7 Auxiliarist of the Year award recognizes the most exemplary performance by an eligible Aux-iliarist during the previous calendar year. Only those Auxiliarists who demonstrate sustained, excep onal standards of profi ciency and conduct, and whose ap-pearance and bearing are consistently impeccable, are considered.

Of all of the deserving candidates submi ed, one per-son stood out who is truly deserving of this recogni on — Valerie Fernandes.

Fernandes embraces the Auxiliary’s core values, projects excep onal uni-form appearance and bearing at all mes, and consistently delivers out-standing performance in terms of leadership and professionalism, Auxiliary program skills, personal and work ethics, and Auxiliary knowledge.

Congratula ons, Valerie! Both the award and the vaca- on are well deserved!

St. Pete Beach, Photo from Wikimedia Commons; Author: Ebyabe; licensed for reuse

Valerie Fernandes, named Division 7 "Auxiliarist of the Year," devotes a great deal of her time to the division's Op-erations program. Fernandes (front center) is seen here aboard the Bayou Bengal with Keith Westbrook, Guy Man-digo, and Patricia Stone from Flotilla 75 on January 25, 2014, setting out for the Gasparilla boat parade. Photo provided by Valerie Fernandes was taken by a passerby (owner of the dogs who wanted to go along for the ride!)


Flotilla 79 TampaMichael Massimini, Flotilla Commander

Flotilla 79 Tampa, Fla. by D. Riley

Seven Niner received fi rst place in the District 7 Pub-lica ons contest in the fl o- lla category. Congratula- ons to Do e Riley and all

who contributed to such a successful publica on!

At the Division 7 Annual Awards Luncheon on June 7, 2014, Flo lla 79 received the Oalmann Award for Member Training, the McKendree Award for Special-ity Course Advancement, and the Ne ling Award for Opera ons for 2013.

Tampa Radio One supported crew training at Gandy on May 24 and 28, 2014. On May 28, Tampa Radio One provided coverage for two vessels prac cing night op-era ons and naviga on in prepara on for qualifying examina on, and then on Saturday, May 31, supported the crew training qualifying examina on for six vessels.

His name is Gunwale, and while he accompanies John Simone as often as possible, he is only pretending to be a member and does not have a member number!

In the early morning hours of May 31, 2014, six Auxiliary vessels with crews, trainees and Qualifying Examiners prepare to launch from the Salty Sol Boat Ramp behind Flotilla 79. The weather prediction was for rain, and fortunately, the qualifying examination mission was completed before the downpour. Photos by Betty Hagan


Flotilla 7-16 GulfportD. Terry Hershman, Flotilla Commander

Member Don Rimel con-tributed an ar cle (oppos-ing page) about traveling to Bainbridge, Ga., to con-duct Vessel Safety Checks. We are proud of Rimel and his team of Vessel Examin-ers who have earned the

Presco Award for Vessel Examina ons and the Shin-gledecker Award for Program Partner Visita ons sev-eral years running. Our members' commitment to the Recrea onal Boa ng Safety missions is self-evident.

We conducted four major Vessel Examina ons blitzes the last half of May and are presently exceeding Ves-sel Safety Check performance expecta ons set for this point in the year. We also partnered with Flo lla 11-3 and par cipated at the Hurricane Seminar held at the City of Seminole Complex.

We are working with the City of Gulfport to set up a recrui ng table at City Hall and at the Senior Complex in Gulfport and have been invited to par cipate in the

Gulfport Fourth of July Parade. Addi onally, we are working to confi rm a date for “Suddenly in Command” class to present at Boca Ciega Yacht Club.

Gulfport Radio was on the air May 30, 2014; from 6 to 11 p.m. Tom Bodi was lead Telecommunica ons Operator (TCO). Members Bill Zinner and Terry Hersh-man (both qualifi ed TCOs) assisted. Jessica Hathaway and Jim Armstrong (Flo lla 78) assisted as trainees. The team provided radio guard for Luv@1st Site from Flo lla 72 for a rou ne marine observa on mission. A severe storm warning played a signifi cant role and adjustments were made accordingly. The mission had excellent results from both a training and opera ons viewpoint.

One sad note was the loss of member, Bruce Cardall. Flo lla 7-16 and members of Division 7 assisted his family in sca ering Cardall's ashes in the bay on April 26, 2014. Fair winds and following seas!

A view of the bay in front of Flotilla 7-16 Gulfport. Photo by Dottie Riley

The crew of Miss Marla, Auxiliary fa-cility from Flotilla 72, spreads fl ower petals where Bruce Cardall’s ashes were scattered on April 26, 2014. Cox-swain of Miss Marla is Rick Short with crewmembers Rick Smith, David Lang-don, Jack Lee, and Jim Campau. Photo taken by James Newman, coxswain of Lay Low, which hosted Cardall’s family members.

We are proud of David Main, editor of Beacon, the Flo-tilla 7-16 newsletter, for earning the Ritchie Award for Publications at the Annual Awards Luncheon.


Member Travels Over 300 Miles to Conduct Vessel Examina ons Don Rimel Par cipates in Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament Vessel Examina on BlitzContributors: Don Rimel and Charles Truthan

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary conducted

the fourth annual Vessel Safety Check Blitz for the Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament An-glers, on March 9, 2014, at the Bainbridge High School, Bain-bridge, Georgia. Bainbridge is located within District 8-Coast-al Region, near the border of District 7. The Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament includes the top 100 bass anglers in the world.

The closest fl o lla to the event was Flo lla 12 (D8CR) Apalachee Bay, at 56 miles from Bainbridge and the fur-thest par cipant traveled from Flo lla 7-16 (D7) Gulfport, at 307 miles (one-way). This was our own Don Rimel, from Flo- lla 7-16.

Rimel drove to Ocala on March 8, 2014, and got a motel room because on the morning of March 9 the clocks were set ahead one hour and he was to meet with other Auxiliary Ves-sel Examiners at 7 a.m. He got a room, ate, and picked up an extra sandwich for the Vessel Examina ons Blitz, and the following morning, le the motel in me to meet the motor coach in which the members were riding to Bainbridge. Rimel thought the Auxiliarists on the mo-tor coach were interes ng and enjoyed learning about their diff erent backgrounds.

Once in Bainbridge, within the narrow three and a half hour window allo ed to them, the 13 par cipa ng Vessel Examiners conducted 49 Vessel Safety Checks and awarded 40 decals. Rimel completed four Vessel Safety Checks. (Two additonal members accompanied the group to perform administra ve du es.)

This year’s event received direct support from the V Directorate, which made it easier for Charles Truthan,

event Coordinator, to organize par cipa on across dis-trict lines.

The event was well planned and ran smoothly. Rimel enjoyed par cipa ng in this event and told Truthan that he wanted to do it again next year.

Now we know why Donald Rimel holds the record for Vessel Safety Checks within our division. He is willing to drive over 300 miles to par cipate in a Vessel Safety Check event!

Don Rimel (standing in the inside front right) from Flotilla 7-16 Gulf-port was one of 15 Auxiliarists who participated in the Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament Vessel Safety Check Blitz on March 9, 2014, in Bain-bridge, Georgia. Participants included (listed by fl otilla) Fran D. Keat-ing, Apalachee Bay; Kenneth B. Weeks, Mark E Waltman and Joseph P. Giangrosso Jr., Destin-Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.; Leslie H. Combs, Panama Beach; Robert Miller and Gene Hall, Marietta, Ga.; Richard C. Bogden, Central Lakes Ga. (Eatonton/Milledgeville); Charles E. Truthan, Victor Dvorak, Joyce Dvorak, George Hendricks, Shon Limor, and Nathan Rich-ards, Ocala. Photo provided by Charles Truthan, event coordinator.


Division 7 Awards Luncheon Not Your Usual Awards Luncheon!Dottie Riley, Staff Offi cer-Publications 7

The Division 7 Annual Awards Lun-cheon held June 7, 2014, at the Spa-

ghe Warehouse in Ybor was defi nitely like none other! While as in previous years, it celebrated the achiements of our members, it also ushered in new elected leaders when the division’s vot-ing board elected Jeff rey Gines as Divi-sion Commander and Gene Keller as Di-vision Vice Commander.

Dis nguished guests represen ng the Auxiliary included COMO Walter Jaskie-wicz, Immediate Past District Commo-dore, Braxton Ezell, District Captain-West, Karen Miller, Division Commander 11, Paule e Parent, Immediate Past Di-vision Commander 8, and Donald Hoge, Auxiliary Sector Coordinator St. Peters-burg.

Represen ng the Coast Guard were CDR Sco Calhoun, Chief, Preven on Depart-ment, Sector St. Petersburg, and LTJG Shawn Antonelli, Auxiliary Liaison, Sec-tor St. Petersburg. While Ezell conducted the elec on, CDR Calhoun joined COMO Jaskiewicz in administering the oath of offi ce to Gines and Keller.

Gines quickly moved the program for-ward to its primary agenda: honoring the accomplishments of the members of Division 7. This year off ered a few surprises as awards long held by a one fl o lla were presented to another. Note the qualifi ca on “few.” Two awards in par cular, the awards for Vessel Exami-na ons and Recrea onal Boa ng Safety-Program Visitor remained solidly with Flo lla 7-16. Their record appears to be unbeatable! A complete list of awards and its winners appears separately.

We congratulate all of the winners of this year’s awards, especially Valerie Fernandes of Flo lla 78 who received the esteemed “Auxiliarist of the Year” award. Unfortunately, Fernandes was not present to receive the award. Fer-

The Division 7 Annual Awards Luncheon on June 7, 2014, at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Ybor also included elections of new division leaders. From left, newly elected offi cers Gene Keller, Division Vice Commander, Jeffry Gines, Division Commander, with COMO Walter Jaskiewicz, Immediate Past District Com-modore, and CDR Scott Calhoun, Chief, Prevention Department, Sector St Petersburg, who offi ciated at the oath of offi ce. Photo by Linda Brandt, FL 74

The Spaghetti Warehouse in Ybor, site of the 2014 Division 7 Awards Luncheon, provided lots of ambiance and a great Ital-ian menu. Over 60 members and guests attended this year. Photo by Linda Brandt, FL 74

Con nued on page 15


nandes is with us li le more than half a year, yet in those months, manages to make a major diff erence to Division 7 Opera ons and Member Training. Fer-nandes also publishes Flo lla 78’s monthly newsle er, “Scu lebu .” Thanks to email, Fernandes manages to publish nearly every month despite her absence in the summer.

Again, congratula ons to all of our award winners. We thank every member who contributed to the success of his or her fl o lla, to our division, and in support of the United States Coast Guard and United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

FLOTILLA AWARDS

Mike Award for Personnel ServicesFlo lla 7-16

Oalmann Award for Member TrainingFlo lla 79

Ne ling Award for Opera onsFlo lla 79

Presco Award for Vessel Examina onsFlo lla 7-16

Shingledecker Award for Program Partner Visita ons Flo lla 7-16

Krough Award for Public Educa onFlo lla 74

Richie Award for Public Aff airsFlo lla 72

McKendree Award for Specialty Course AdvancementFlo lla 79

William Waldo Chase Memorial AwardFlo lla 74

Richie Award for Publica onsFlo lla 7-16

Duignan Award for FellowshipFlo lla 75

The Captain's JugFlo lla 74

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Public Educa on Instructor HoursGalen Johnston

Public Educa on Aide HoursJim Fogle

Member Training Instructor HoursTim Teahan

Skipper HoursDavid Perillo

Crew HoursJudy ClappSAR Assists

Richard SmithVessel Examina ons

Don RimelProgram Partner Visita ons

Don RimelJulie Award

Terry HershmanVans Evers Award

Bill and Elanor ZinnerAuxiliarist of Year Award

Valerie Fernandes

Bill and Elanor Zinner, members of Flotilla 7-16 Gulfport are the recipients of the Vans Evers Award. In honor of Vans and Gran Evers, this award is presented annually to a couple or an indi-vidual who has demonstrated exceptional dedica-tion to the ideals of the Auxiliary. The Zinners are highly regarded by their fellow members. Photo by Linda Brandt, FL 74(Photo below also by Linda Brandt)

Con nued from page 14


Flotilla 72 Member Assists in Production of National Safe Boating Week Public Service VideoBy Dick Risk, Senior Editor, Breeze, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary District 7

Jim Fogle, member of Flo lla 72, St. Petersburg, an-swered the call from the Eckerd College Waterfront

Program to help locate an open powerboat capable of holding 12 to 15 people to use in the produc on of a public service video, which debuted on May 17, 2014, in conjunc on with Na onal Safe Boa ng Week (NSBW), May 17-23. He provided his own boat and served as captain.

The television spot, “Live the Life,” shares the experi-ence of two families and a dog as they spend the day boa ng and fi shing. It was shot at St. Petersburg’s Eck-erd College on April 5 and will be distributed by the Na onal Safe Boa ng Council (NSBC) throughout the U.S. and Canada for the 2014 North American Safe Boa ng Campaign, which is a yearlong eff ort focused on spreading the message of boa ng safety and the cri cal importance of consistent life jacket wear. In ad-di on to life jacket wear, the campaign also reminds boaters of the importance of boa ng safely, including taking a boa ng safety course and never boa ng under the infl uence, knowing naviga onal rules and having a proper lookout. Simply known as Wear It!, the annual

campaign con nues throughout the year.

Jim Fogle (right) from Flotilla 72 pilots his power-boat for a video shoot on April 5 from Eckerd Col-lege in St. Petersburg for the National Safe Boat-ing Council’s Wear It! life jacket campaign. The “family” pictured are paid models. Photo courtesy National Safe Boating Council.

Flotilla 75 Adds a Twist to "Wear Your Life Jacket to Work" DayBy Patricia Stone

Division 7 NSBW Highlights

Members of Flo lla 75 added a unique twist to the Na onal Safe Boa ng Week “Wear Your Life Jacket to Work” day Campaign. Members wore their life jackets to their fl o lla mee ng on May 14. What a great way to emphasize the ‘wear your life jacket’ message!

On Friday, May 16, fl o lla members Judy Clapp, Patricia Stone, and Maria-Elena Taylor, took the Wear It! campaign message to Ruskin Elementary School for their Cinco de Mayo celebra on where they set up a water and boa ng safety educa- on booth visited by

approximately 400 pu-pils and parents. Since this was the offi cial “Wear Your Life Jacket to Work” day, parents and children posed for photographs to post on

the offi cial Wear It! websites.

Some of the "Wear Your Life Jacket to Work" photos include

(from left) pupils and parents at Ruskin Elementa-ry School; and fl otilla members Dotty Engel, Judy Clapp and Ted Cohen.


Division 7 NSBW Highlights

Flotilla 78 Participates in "Wear Your Life Jacket to Work"

Zelda Troiano, Flotilla Vice Commander 78, wears her life jacket to work on May, 16, 2014. Troiano volun-teers at the St. Pete Beach Library. (Photo from May issue of Scuttlebutt, newsletter for Flotilla 78.

“Ready, Set, Wear, It!” Gets Boost from Social Media Campaign: Social Networking Used to Increase Boating Safety Awareness By Dottie Riley

This year, the “Ready, Set, Wear It!” campaign, spon-sored through a partnership between the Na onal Safe Boa ng Council and Canadian Safe Boa ng Council, added a new twist to its annual life jacket awareness promo on.

While the Ready, Set Wear It (RSWI) Facebook page has been around for several years, two years ago, they add-ed the “Wear Your Life Jacket to Work” campaign that invited people to take photos of themselves wearing their life jackets to work and post them to Facebook.

Darren Hart, The Na onal Safe Boa ng Week coordina-tor for Division 7 Tampa Bay, and a social media enthu-siast, took this one-step further by crea ng a Twi er campaign invi ng others to take a photo of themselves commonly known as a ‘selfi e’, wearing their life jack-et, and send it via Twi er or post it to Facebook. This ‘tweet’ was ‘re-tweeted’ (reposted/forwarded) by the Na onal Safe Boa ng Council and garnered over 500 responses. Selfi es came from as far as Alaska and in-cluded Coast Guard units and state and na onal gov-ernment agencies in addi on to hundreds of private individuals.

Some of the more notable ‘selfi e’ contributors included the Na onal Transporta on Safety Council Board, Na- onal Associa on of State Boa ng Law Administrators,

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conserva on Commission, BoatUS, Mustang Survival Corpora on, Discover Boat-ing, and WFLA 970 Newsradio in St. Petersburg.

While this ‘selfi e’ campaign is in its fi rst year, it proved quite eff ec ve in helping to increase boater’s aware-ness about the importance of wearing a life jacket.

NASBLA

DiscoverBoating

NTSC

Alaska Coast Guard

Jim Fogle at 970

Newsradio


The Air Force Thunderbirds scream across the sky while performing death-defying aerial feats at MacDill Airfest 2014. Photo by Zac Lessin, FL 79

The Coast Guard Auxiliary was a hit at the 2014 Mac-Dill Airfest held Mar. 20-21, 2014, at MacDill Air

Base. The Division 7 Public Aff airs display featured the Coast Guard Recrea onal Boa ng Safety BAT/PAC trail-er, the Auxiliary facility JoBe owned by Be y Hagan, a kayak, and a 1958 Lyman wooden an que runabout owned by Flo lla 79 member, Jim Frijouf.

The BAT/PAK trailer, staff ed by Bruce Wright, U.S. Coast Guard Recrea onal Boa ng Safety Specialist and Sta-cey Wright, member of Flo lla 6-11 Miami United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, in-cluded an appearance by Sammy the Sea O er, ever a hit with crowds.

As in previous years, Cinda Hitchcock and Zac Lessin organized the Auxiliary’s par ci-pa on in this event. Hundreds of people stopped by and re-ceived Recrea onal Boa ng Safety litera-ture or signed up for a boa ng safety course. They also conducted a signature raffl e and

one lucky winner earned a free Boa ng Skills and Sea-manship course.

In addi on to Hitchcock and Lessin, other member par cipants included Heleyde Aponte, Jim Frijouf, Jack Lohman, Larry Ivey, Jennifer Logan-Porter, T. D. Par-rish, Be y Hagan, Glen Leroy, Thomas Pate, and Ernie Costa from Flo lla 79; Dean Hoskins from Flo lla 72; Marty Seiden, Len Chiacchia and George Papabeis from Flo lla 74. If you missed this year’s event, be sure to

volunteer next year. Witnessing the Thun-derbirds’ fl ying skills makes this one of the most thrilling events to a end!

The Coast Guard exhibited both their immense HC-130 Hercules aircraft and an HH-60 Medium Range Recovery helicopter ( pictured below) at the MacDill Airfest held in March 2014 at MacDill AFB. Photo by George Papabeis

Volume XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014 Page 19VVVolololo umu e XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014 Page 19

FLASHBACK:Historical look at the

Coast Guard Auxiliary at MacDill Airfest

Division 7 set up a 40-foot display area March 20-21, 2014, at MacDill Airfest That included two vessels, a PWC a kayak, and the Coast Guard Rec-rea onal Boa ng Safety BAT/PAC. Persons shown

include (from rear le ) Stacey Wright from Flo lla 6-11, Heleyde Aponte, Cinda Hitchcock, Ernie Costa

from Flo lla 79, Marty Seiden , from Flo lla 74, and front, Bruce Wright, U.S. Coast Guard Recre-a onal Boa ng Safety Specialists, and Zac Lessin,

Auxiliary Air, member of Flo lla 79. Photo by George Papabeis, SO-PA 7.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary set up a 40-foot display area on May 20, 1961, at MacDill Airfest which also

included boats and boa ng safety informa on. Shown mid-page are Col Morrow and Elizabeth Morrow, Jack Wools and Pop Cooper. Members

shown on the lower right image are Col and Elizabeth Morrow, Bert Craddock, Pop Cooper and

Earl Colley and his wife. The photo takes in the en re dispay area.


Opera on High de: Auxiliary Assists in Training for the UnthinkableContributors: Rick Short and Do e Riley

The thrill of being out on the water, conduc ng pa-trols, and the opportunity to support the Coast

Guard in its training is just one reason why many Auxil-iarists undergo the diffi culty of the Auxiliary Boat Crew Training Program. Some missions are simply fun to watch even when the Auxiliary’s limited role is to pro-vide a security zone for the primary par cipants. Op-era on High de, conducted April 4-5, 2014, was one of those missions that for members of the Auxiliary was fun to watch.

The High de An -Terrorism Exercise tests the response of federal, state, and local resources in the event of an iden fi ed chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident. In addi on, it tests the federal, state, and local responders' ability to implement a Unifi ed Command Structure on scene, provide logis c support,

and inter-agency communica ons.

At federal level, par cipa ng agencies included the Federal Bureau of Inves ga on (FBI), the United States Army Reserve, and the Coast Guard.

Some of the state and county agencies included the Florida Na onal Guard 48th Civil Support Team, Florida Division of Emergency Management, the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Hillsborough County Emer-gency Management, and the Tampa Fire Department. In all, at least 16 agencies par cipated in the training.

For Auxiliary members par cipa ng in Opera on High- de, the day started early. Rick Short, coxswain aboard

Miss Marla, opened orders with Tampa Radio One at

Dean Hoskins from Flotilla 72 looks out at the United States Army Vessel (USAV) New Orleans (LCU 2031) during Operation Hightide, an anti-terrorism exercise to test the response of federal, state, and lo-cal resources in the event of an identifi ed chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident conducted April 4-5, 2014, on Tampa Bay. Photo by George Papabeis

Con nued on page 21


5:20 a.m. This, of course, meant that those providing radio watches started a bit earlier!

Short and his crew; Dean Hoskin, Jack Lee, Rick Smith (Flo lla 72), and George Papabeis (Flo lla 74), report-ed to Unifi ed Command at the Gandy Ramp and distributed life jackets for the FBI, a er which Short, his crew and the crew of Chasin’ Tail, with John Simone, coxswain, had a pre-under-way briefi ng. Simone’s crew mem-bers were Linda Churchill, Larry Ivey, and John McLoughlin, all from Flo lla 79. Terry Hickox (Flo lla 79) also cox-swained an Auxiliary facility with crew Robin Conn and Paul Cooke (Flo lla 79); and Galen Johnson (Flo lla 74).

Most of the on-the-water responsibili- es were to escort the United States

Army Vessel (USAV) New Orleans (LCU 2031) to its anchorage point and to maintain a security zone around the vessel. That was not a bad thing be-cause that is where all of the ac on was! The ‘target’ of the exercise was a suspected terrorist aboard the New Orleans bent on making a CBRN a ack on Tampa, so they were able to watch all of the par cipa ng agencies play their parts in containing the threat.

Unfortunately, Simone experienced some engine troubles and had to re-turn to port. Linda Churchill trans-ferred to Miss Marla to con nue with Short’s crew.

At the conclusion of the mission, Miss Marla escorted the New Orleans back to port and stood by while they trans-ferred personnel. Short later met with Capt. Chris Atherton, 48th Civil Sup-port Team, Brad Geeslin, from the FBI, and LTJG Shawn Antonelli, Unites States Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, for a debrief at Unifi ed Command Center. They reported that the exercise went well. Only then did Short return to his home port in St. Petersburg — a long and exci ng day!

Above: Terry Hickox (Flotilla 79) with crew Robin Conn and Paul Cooke (Flotilla 79); and Galen Johnson (Flotilla 74) participate in maintaining a security zone around the USAV New Orleans LCU during Operation Hightide, an inter-agency anti-terrorism exer-cise conducted April 4-5, 2014. The excercise tested the response of federal, state, and local resources in the event of an identifi ed chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident. Photo by John Simone

Below: Click on the image below to watch the Florida National Guard 48th Civil Support Team video describing the event from planning to execution.

▶


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-fb3WO3tLc&list=UUpKLu8VkLf6vVLM6fEFXi2Q



Page 22 Intercom USCG Auxiliary Division 7, District 7PPage 2222 Intercom USCGG Au ixililiary iDi ivi ision 77, DiDist irict 77

Auxiliary Protects Swimmers During Annual Tampa Bay Marathon SwimJohn Simone, FL 79, Photos by George Papabeis, SO-PA 7

Thanks to geography and weather, Tampa Bay hosts several annual swim and boa ng events through-

out the winter months. These include but are not limited to the Frogman Swim, the Tampa Bay 24-Mile Marathon Swim, Dragon Boat Races and several sail-

ing rega as. These serve to keep the Coast Guard and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary busy provid-ing safety zones around racecourses and keeping rec-rea onal boaters from placing swimmers in jeopardy.

What set apart April 19, 2014, from previous years is that two major events were scheduled on the same day, the Tampa Bay 24-Mile Marathon Swim and the Davis Island Yacht Club J/24 Fleet Race. To complicate ma ers, the fl eet race ran in an area that could be crossed by swimmers already exhausted from being in the water six to nine hours on a day with 20-knot northern winds and wakes up to four feet high.

With a star ng point near the Skyway Bridge in St. Pe-tersburg and a fi nish line near the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa, the course off ered Division 7 fl o llas on both sides of Tampa Bay an opportunity to par ci-pate. John Simone, coxswain aboard “Chasin’ Tail” was one of the par cipants along with crewmembers John Mcloughlin and George Papabeis, and Jennifer Logan-Porter, trainee. All are from Flo lla 79 Tampa except Papabeis, who is a member of Flo lla 74 Brandon.

The 24-mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim, one of the longest marathon swims in the world, is held on Earth Day (April) every year in Tampa Bay and includes both solo swimmers and relay teams. Now in its 17th year, the annual Tampa Bay Marathon Swim is one of the most challenging open-water events in the world. Most years, compe tors complete the course in between 10 and 14 hours, but this year, due to weather condi ons, the fastest me was 12 hours and 18 minutes- two to three hours longer than expected. The extended me also meant longer hours for the Auxiliarists maintaining the safety zone.

Con nued on page 23Google map displaying the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim course


Simone and his crew stayed busy star ng with contact-ing the Fleet Race and asking them to move one mile west to avoid jeopardizing the swimmers. Just a er noon, they received a request for as-sistance from a vessel operated by the swim organizers. They arrived on scene to fi nd them removing a swimmer from the water who ap-peared hypothermic, disoriented, shivering and weak. Simone contact-ed the Fire Rescue boat, which had a paramedic on board and stood by while the swimmer was transferred to their vessel. By this me, the seas were already three to four feet with winds approaching 15 to 20 knots. Simone’s engine was vibra ng, and with high winds and diminishing vis-ibility, they followed the rescue boat back to the dock. Fortunately, they were underway again in approxi-mately 20 minutes.

Later that a ernoon, they followed several swimmers across K-Cut, one of the primary shipping channels in Tampa Bay. The day was long and some mes stressful, if for no rea-son other than fa gue from wind, water and sun. Throughout the mis-sion, they no fi ed numerous plea-sure boats of the event, and once the winds hit 15 knots, they were requested to perform frequent “roll calls” to provide status updates. Sim-one and his crew started their day at 9 a.m., and returned to base and closed out their orders at 6:30 p.m.

The Marathon Swim requires a lot of planning and coordina on. Swim-mers were spread out by as much as 12 miles during the event. Sim-one noted that there is no effi cient way to cover the en re course and educate all boaters about the event. Sector St. Petersburg, however, did broadcast a no ce to mariners every 30 minutes.

St. Pete Fire Rescue kept to the rear of the event with the thought that the weakest or slowest swimmers might be the ones who presented the most need as the event progressed. Con-

sidering the 24-mile length of the swim, the Auxiliary covered the event and was available where and when needed. Bravo Zulu to all who par cipated!


Above: Prior to getting out on the water, John Simone, coxswain, briefs his crew, John McLoughlin, George Papabeis (not shown), and Jennifer Logan-Porter, trainee, about the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim on April 19 and what was expected of them during the 24-mile race.Below: Richard Rioles, coxswain, with crewmembers Dean Bell and Miguel Marquez-Reines, all from Flotilla 79, approach Simone's boat along the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim course. All photos by George Papabeis including lead photo of swimmers in the water.

Page 24 Intercom USCG Auxiliary Division 7, District 7PPPaaPPaPPaPaPaPaPaPaPaaaPaaPaaaaPaaaPaPPPPaPaaggggegegegeggegegeegeeegggggegggggegegegegegegegegeggegge 2222222222222222222222222244444444444444444444444444 IIIIIIInnnntnnnnntnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn ercom UUSCSCS GG AuAuAuAAuAuAAAAuAuAuAuAuAuAuAuAuAAAuuAAuxixixxixxx liliilil ararrrrararrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yy DiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDDDDDiDiDiDDiDDiviiviviviiivivivivviviiivvivvvvvvivvisisissisissisissssississisisisisisssssssss ononononoonoonoonoonooonoooonooonnonoonnnnonoooooo 7777777777777777777777, ,,, ,,, DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDisisisiiiissssssssstrrrrrrrrrtrttttttttt iciccicccccccciccctttttttt tt t 7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777

How I Shoot Photographs as an Auxiliary Public Aff airs Offi cer and Photo Corps Member.George Papabeis SO-PA 7, D7

The physical stuff

I shoot with a Canon T2i with the standard kit lens. It is lighter and cheaper than my Canon 5D which I use pro-fessionally. I will, however, use my 5D on an Auxiliary photo shoot, if on an assignment that I know is going to be used for high-resolu on prints.

I use a polarizing fi lter to lop off the high end (hot spots). This gives be er depths in the shadows, be er color, and clarity.

I use an eye loop to look at the LCD screen even though I use the viewfi nder when shoo ng. The eye loop al-lows me to see menus without glare and review pho-tos, and compare my image colora on with the real world in the fi eld. I also use it to view my iPhone in bright sunlight and the back of my GoPro LCD. It hangs around my neck on a strap and magne cally a aches to an add-on metal frame on my camera.

I use one addi onal lens; an EF 100-300mm used Can-on zoom lens (cheap). On occasion, I use a DIY splash box I made for the T2i. I also use waterproof case for organiza on and peace of mind.

Inside the Camera

I hack all my Canon Cameras with Magic Lantern (ML) fi rmware/so ware. Not for the faint of heart or for the amateur! It adds an assortment of features to the cam-era. I keep the camera set to “Neutral” as “Standard” mode over saturates colors. I shoot in RAW mode, not all the me, but I prefer it.

My start se ngs are as follows: 1/125 shu er speed, 8f aperture, Auto ISO, and manual white balance (con-trolled by thumb wheel via ML) and use LCD displaying cross hatch (1/3rds) for quick frame-ups.

While I’m shoo ng

I look through the eye loop at the LCD display and dial in the white balance using ML. I tend to go neutral color or a smidge on the warm side. This se ng will change as the day progresses and as the color temperature of the sun changes.

I generally leave the f-stop at 8f unless I am shoo ng in very low light and adjust the shu er speed according to condi ons. On occasion, I will lock down the ISO; for example, indoors low light or outside shoo ng into the shadows. (I just blow out the hot spots and concen-trate on the subject.) I check the posi on of the polar-izing fi lter o en.

I use only the center focusing dot and turn the others off . I will move the dot to the object I want focused, hold the shu er halfway down, focus, frame up, and depress the shu er the rest of the way.

When framing my photos; I use rule of thirds and try to create depth using foreground, mid-ground, and back-ground elements. I tend to frame shots “cinema cally.”

My primary infl uences are two movies: “A Touch of Evil,” by Orson Wells, and “The Seven Samurai” by Aki-ra Kurosawa. Each shot in those two movies could be framed and hung on a wall.

Some other stuff

GoPros: I use an LCD backpack to help me frame up. I set the camera to “one bu on mode” and the inter-valometer ( me-lapse controller) to three 3 seconds. When I turn the camera on it takes a picture every three seconds un l I turn the camera off . I have the Go-Pro in a life jacket pocket with a lanyard, or use a pipe clamp on a boat… with a safety lanyard.

I took the AUX 20 Intro to Auxiliary Public Aff airs course. If you take photos while under orders or dur-ing any Auxiliary or Coast Guard func on/mission, an understanding of Auxiliary Public Aff airs is a must, no ma er what your offi ce or posi on in the Auxiliary. In lieu of that…

ALWAYS contact your Flo lla Public Aff airs or Publica- ons Offi cer before publishing or pos ng photographs,

and remember that any photographs you take as an Auxiliarist belong to the Coast Guard.

Volume XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014 Page 25VVVV llolollllollllume XXXXXXXVXVXVXVXVXVVVXVXVVXVXVVVXVVXVXVVVVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssueueuuuueeeeeeuueuueueuuuuueeeeeeeeu 222222 SuSummmmerer 20201414 PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPagagagaaggaagagaggaagagagagaggagagaagaggggggggagagaggggggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeee 2522525252525252252255525252522225252525252522522552555525525225252525

Photo Corps and Division 7 Media Feed Commi eeCoopera on and collabora on foster new measures to support Division 7 and the Coast Guard. Do e Riley, SO-PB 7, D7

George Papabeis has been quite busy since stepping into the offi ce of Staff Offi cer-Public Aff airs for Di-

vision 7. Papabeis recognized the need for increased communica on between fl o llas and the division, and between departments.

Public Aff airs ac vi es have always been cri cal func- ons within our fl o llas. Without eff ec ve Public Af-

fairs campaigns, we cannot fi ll our Public Educa on classes, increase boaters' awareness about the Auxilia-ry’s Recrea onal Boa ng Safety programs, or grow our membership. To that end, Papabeis fi rst order of busi-ness was to get to know the Flo lla Staff Offi cer-Public Aff airs, and off er guidance and support, especially to the new offi cers.

In the previous year, Papabeis served as Assistant Staff Offi cer-Publica ons. From this experience, he realized how much Public Aff airs and Publica ons relied upon each other. External media releases and newsle er ar- cles have much in common. They must be well writ-

ten, off er interes ng imagery, and accurately refl ect our missions and ac vi es.

This inspired the forma on of the Division 7 Photo Corps. Following policies set at na onal level, Papabeis next set out to form a Division 7 Photo Corps. While the corps primary mission is to, ‘generate photograph-ic enthusiasm and pride, to acquire content for media and publica ons (especially for our award-winning In-tercom), and to catalog the history of Division 7,’ the availability of photographers has drawn the a en on of the Coast Guard. They have taken advantage of the corps to augment their Public Aff airs Offi ce capabili es and to photograph training and other ac vi es at both Sector St. Petersburg and Air Sta on Clearwater.

One of the stated objec ves of the Photo Corps is to ‘Liaise with Communica on Services and Informa on

Systems’. To this end, Papabeis liaised with members experienced with electronic and social media. They as-sembled a team of fi ve to launch and administer the new division social media, networking, marke ng and press release program.

Called the Division 7 Media Feed Commi ee, the team’s fi rst endeavor was during Na onal Safe Boat-ing Week with the #PFDselfi e campaign. Using a newly created division Twi er account, the goal was to have people send ‘selfi es’ wearing life jackets to promote the ‘Wear It!’ campaign. It was a huge success, which gar-nered over 500 selfi es! Using social media campaigns like this, the team can promote every event at fl o lla and division levels. They will use Division 7 Facebook, Twi er, Instagram, press release, and other accounts.

The Division 7 Media Feed Commi ee is also charged with wri ng news releases and ar cles for external news releases, Auxiliary newsle er ar cles and con-tent for the social media campaigns. This will expand resources available to every fl o lla and help to prevent duplica on of eff orts.

Papabeis has made great strides in building the Pub-lic Aff airs department and in improving and enhancing available resources for Division 7 and its fl o llas. Ser-vices and support between levels is interdependent. It requires collabora on and coopera on at every level.

Interested in ge ng on board? Help spread the word about the Auxiliary! Contact George Papabeis or Do e Riley for more informa on. You do not need to serve on a commi ee to help. Just send your photographs, news releases, ar cles (or notes and outlines) to Papa-beis or Riley and we will take it from there!

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The original intent...“In the interest of (a) safety to life at sea and upon the navigable waters, (b) the promotion of effi ciency in the operation of motorboats and yachts, and (c) a wider knowledge of, and better compliance with, the laws, rules, and regulations governing the operation and navigation of motorboats and yachts, and (d) facilitating certain operations of the Coast Guard, there is hereby established a United States Coast Guard Reserve...which shall be composed of citizens of the United States and its Territories and posses-sions...who are owners (sole or in part) or motorboats or yachts....

“The new Coast Guard Reserve was to be a civilian organization. Members were not to hold military ranks, wear uniforms, receive military training, or "be vested with or exercise any right, privilege, power, or duty vested in or imposed upon the personnel of the Coast Guard." Reservists were invited to place their boats at the disposal of the Coast Guard "in the conduct of duties incident to the saving of life and property and in the patrol of marine parades and regattas" - with the understanding that each such boat would be commanded by a regular Coast Guard offi cer or petty offi cer.”

Source: http://www.uscg.mil/auxiliary/administration/aux-history.asp

75 YEARS OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE75 YEARS OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE

HONORING THE PASTHONORING THE PASTPREPARING FOR THE FUTUREPREPARING FOR THE FUTURE


75 YEARS OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan a acked on Pearl Harbor. Four days later, Hitler declared war against the United

States. Long before that, however, Germans were set- ng mines in the channels from the Gulf of Mexico to

Nova Sco a, and German U-boats torpedoed merchant vessels off our Eastern coast.

While the United States was offi cially neutral un l that declara on of war, the Germans' intent was to stop oil and other supplies from reaching Canada and Britain. The Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve (Auxiliary) patrolled our Eastern coast lines, looked for distress signals and rescued survivors of these a acks. A er Germany declared war and less than a year a er its forma on, Auxiliary missions took on other func ons.

“On 28 April 1942, the District Director of the Coast Guard Reserve and Auxiliary reported that on 9 April orders had been issued to dispatch as many Auxiliary vessels as possible to the shipping lanes between St. Augus ne and the Jupiter Light, 7 p.m. to sunrise, to look for distress signals and to rescue survivors. The report noted that given the dangers of mistaken iden- ty, "The possibility of loss of Auxiliary personnel and

boats on this patrol should be considered." It conclud-ed that in the future it would be safer to sta on vessels close to the beaches. In this way they could be out of the shipping lanes, but be near enough to be able to respond to distress calls.

"On 5 May, the Commandant of the Coast Guard sent the following to the 7th District Commander: "In view

of the heavy losses among personnel of torpedoed ves-sels along the coasts, the Commandant directs that im-mediate steps be taken to u lize vessels and members of the auxiliary to the fullest extent for the purpose of rescuing survivors."

“In spite of hazards, during one 2-week period, Auxilia-ry crews rescued 151 survivors of submarine sinkings. The tanker, Halsey, was torpedoed just before dawn on 7 May. Coast Guard Auxiliary and commercial fi sh-ing vessels rescued 32 men. Also in May two Mexican tankers were sunk, a week apart. Members from three Auxiliary fl o llas rescued 22 survivors from the Petrero de Lano that was engulfed in fl ames "while hundreds of civilians lined Miami Beach or watched [the rescue opera on] from skyscraper hotel windows," as the ship was torpedoed a short distance from shore. The Aux-iliarists "drove their li le boats right into the fl ames" that had spread over the water to take on the men. Ac ve duty Coast Guard crews rescued 28 from the second Mexican ship. Auxiliarist Kit Johnson and crew rescued 22 merchant seamen from lifeboats off the SS Java Arrow that had been torpedoed on the night of 5 May. Johnson's overloaded boat was in a sinking condi on when he brought it into the dock at the Fort Pierce Coast Guard Sta on.”

Source: h p://history.auxpa.org/collec ons/textar- cles/ar cle0002.htm

Gum card image courtesy Joseph Gianna asio, BC-ASP

District 7 Coast Guard Auxiliary During the War Years:War adds new purposes and dimensions to Auxiliary missions.

How it played out...

Source: http://history.auxpa.org/collections/textarticles/article0002.htm


Sector St. Petersburg Holds Open House to Kick-off Na onal Safe Boa ng Week.Auxiliary adds new elements to this annual event.Franco Ripple, FL 72

What be er way to kick off Na onal Safe Boa ng

Week and draw a en on to the safe boa ng message than for Sector St. Petersburg to re-ceive the Na onal Safe Boat-ing Week proclama ons dur-ing their annual Open House?

While Sector’s Open House ac vi es usually include awe-inspiring search and rescue displays, opening their cu ers to the public, and informa- on booths staff ed by both

the Coast Guard and Auxiliary, this year, on Saturday, May 17, 2014, the Coast Guard also held ceremonies which read the Na onal Safe Boat-ing Week proclama ons into record. Coincidentally, May 17 was also Armed Forces Day which added to the special meaning of the Open House event.

Dignitaries from several mu-nicipali es and other elected offi cials par cipated in the cer-emonies. These included State Representa ve Dwight Dudley, House District 68, St. Petersburg; Darden Rice, City Councilmember District 4, St. Petersburg; and Vito Sheeley, Outreach Director for U.S. Congresswoman Be y Castor, Florida 14th District, Tampa. Elected of-fi cials who did a end but who sent proclama ons in-cluded State Senator Jack Latvala, Senate District 20, North Pinellas; and Bob Buckhorn, Mayor Tampa.

LTJG Jessica Vogel, United States Coast Guard, opened the ceremonies at approximately 12:30 p.m. and Fran-co Ripple, an Auxiliarist from Flo lla 72 St. Petersburg, acted as emcee. Ripple's remarks noted the signifi -cance of the proclama ons, the importance of the sup-port for Na onal Safe Boa ng Week from our elected representa ves, and a brief background of this na on-al ini a ve. He then presented the proclama ons from the Florida Senate and City of Tampa to CAPT Gregory

D. Case, Commander, Sector St. Petersburg, United States Coast Guard.

Ripple next introduced Councilmember Rice, who of-fered brief remarks and presented the City of St. Pe-tersburg's proclama on, followed by Representa ve Dudley who presented a proclama on from the Florida House of Representa ves to CAPT Case. On behalf of Be y Castor, Sheeley presented a U.S. fl ag fl own over the U.S. Capitol to the Coast Guard and to Flo lla 72, the primary organizers of this event.

CAPT Case then spoke of the importance of boa ng safety in the Tampa Bay region, and Ripple concluded the ceremony by asking those present to always wear a life jacket any me onboard a vessel, and to get a free vessel safety check.

A er the ceremony, CAPT Case invited the Auxiliary to

A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules from Air Station Clearwater performs a "dirty" low pass during the Sector Saint Petersburg Open House on May 17, 2014. In the foreground is Keeper class coastal buoy tender USCGC Joshua Appleby. Photo by Dave Langdon, FL 72

Con nued on page 29


present the U.S. fl ag from Congresswoman Castor to Sector St. Pe-tersburg at their all-hands mee ng in June. Flo lla 72 will encase the fl ag and present it formally at that me.

Later that a ernoon, CAPT Case spoke to Jeff rey Gines, Division Commander 7, about the proclama ons and expressed his appre-cia on for all that the Auxiliary put into play to make the Open House and Na onal Safe Boa ng Week kick-off a great success.

LTJG Vogel and other members of the United States Coast Guard said that receiving this recogni on from elected offi cials was a new element of their annual Open House while the elected of-fi cials who a ended were grateful for the opportunity to par ci-pate.

In addi on to the proclama ons presented at the ceremony, Flo- lla 72 received a proclama on from Janet Long, Pinellas County

Commissioner, at the County Hall in Clearwater.


Members of Divisions 7, 8, 11, and Auxiliary Air along with members of the active duty Coast Guard participating in Sector St. Petersburg's Open House on May 17, 2014, pose for a group photo in front of the public information booths. Photo by Linda Brandt, FL 74 Top right: A child proudly displays her Coastie the Safety Boat 'tatoo' at one of the Auxiliary staffed public information booths.Center right: Pat Prado, a Coast Guard Academy Recruiter from Flotilla 79 points to the academy recruitment table set up next to the Auxiliary booths.Below right: The public loved touring the Coast Guard cut-ters during the Sector St. Petersburg Open House on May 17, 2014.All photos at right by Carl Mogavero, Flotilla 11-10


Sector St. Petersburg Open HouseMay 17, 2014

Left: Auxiliary Facility Chasin' Tail' prepares to be towed by a Coast Guard 25-foot Response Boat-Small (RB-S) during one of Sector's Open House dem-onstrations. Coxswain aboard is John Simone with crew members, Larry Ivey, John Mc Loughlin and Jennifer Logan-Porter (trainee), all from Flotilla 79. Photo by Linda Brandt, Flotilla 74

Right: Attendees fi ll the deck of the USCGC Joshua Appleby. Photo by Richard Risk, Flotilla 72

Left: Auxiliary Facility Chasin' Tail waits alongside a Coast 25-foot RB-S during one of Sector's Open House demonstrtions. In the background are various aids to navigation. Coaboard Chasin' Tail is John Simone with crew members, LaIvey, John Mc Loughlin, and Jennifer Logan-Porter (traineefrom Flotilla 79. Photo by Carl Mogavero Flotilla 11-10

Above: Persons attending the Sector Open House line up tthe USCG Auxiliary's information tables. Photo by Carl MoFlotilla 11-10

Volume XXXVII Issue 1 Spring 2014 Page 31 Volume XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014 Page 31

Guard ra-oxswain arry e), all

to see ogavero

Right: Donald (Terry) Hershman, Flotilla Com-mander 7-16, prepares to take a photograph of the ceremonies during the Sector St. Pete Open House. Photo by Richard Risk, Flotilla 72

Below, page center: Heleyde Aponte, Flotilla 79, is charmed by a child at one of the Pubic Affairs information tables staffed by the Coast Guard Auxiliary during Sector's Open House. Photo by Linda Brandt, Flotilla 74

Below, mid-page right: Attendees of the Sector St Petersburg Open House watch a SAR dem-onstration from the decks of the USCGC Joshua Appleby. Photo by Richard Risk, Flotilla 72

Below: CAPT Gregory D. Case, Commander, Sector St. Peters-burg, USCG, addresses those attending the Open House on May 17, which coincided with the fi rst day of National Safe Boating Week and Armed Forces Day. Photo by Richard Risk, Flotilla 72


Broadening the "Team Coast Guard" Experience:Auxiliary Supports Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Unit Training.Dorothy Joan Riley, SO-PB 7

CDR Eric Bernstein, Unites States Coast Guard, Com-manding Offi cer of PSU 307, a former Auxiliarist him-self, requested Auxiliary support during the unit’s two-week ac ve duty period, late April thru early May. They conducted a variety of ac vi es both afl oat and ashore to train personnel and to assess their readiness to de-ploy.

Port Security Unit 307 is a Coast Guard Reserve (US-CGR) unit that provides waterside and shoreside pro-tec on to key assets, such as pier areas, high value vessels, and harbor entrances. It is an Expedi onary Warfare Unit serving as part of the Coast Guard and is homeported at Air Sta on Clearwater, Florida. The unit is air deployable and can be anywhere in the world, mission ready, within 96 hours. It is self-suffi cient for

30 days once at des na on, which means that they can be sent anywhere, any me and provide their own fi eld berthing and messing as well as opera ons, com-munica ons, logis cs and maintenance. They operate well-armed 32-foot Transportable Port Security Boats (TPSB) powered by two 315 HP inboard diesel engines with outdrives. Normal crew complement is four.

Donald Hoge, Auxiliary Sector Coordinator-St. Peters-burg was the Auxiliary coordinator who organized the Auxiliary member volunteers. Auxiliary support pre-sented members a great opportunity to observe and support, and to broaden the team Coast Guard experi-ence with a very special unit that has already deployed

Con nued on page 33

With his camera set to shoot at intervals, George Papabeis, SO-PA 7, catches a 'selfi e' while checking his camera during the emergency egress portion of the Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Unit 307 training conducted between April and May 2014 at Air Station Clearwater. Papabeis was one of several photographers who volunteered to create a photographic record of the unit's training.


to hot spots around the world.

Auxiliary support func ons ranged widely and included providing ves-sels to act in the role as a high value asset (HVA) transi ng Tampa Bay. PSU 307 crews exercised underway escort tac cs with vessels from Di-visions 7 and 11. Coxswains from Division 7 included Richard Short, David Perillo, and Terry Hickox, and crewmembers Paul Cooke, George Hornby, James Desanto, Gene Keller, John Simone and Richard Smith.

Addi onal support included Aux-iliary members ac ng as civilians entering and leaving an established camp (entry control point, vehicle searches, etc.), during protests/civil unrest drills. These members, act-ing in a non-contact non-combat-ant capacity, enhanced the realism of the force protec on training. Di-vision 7 members John Greenhalgh and Patricia Prado joined volun-teers from Divisions 8 and 11 in this capacity.

Other support requests included providing a qualifi ed EMT poolside for the survival training at Air Sta- on Clearwater. Bradford Dykens

from Flo lla 7-16 fi lled this role.

A fi nal support request was for Aux-iliary photographers to capture US-CGR members conduc ng mission drills, training and other ac vi es, both s lls and video, for Public Af-fairs and training purposes. George Papabeis and Zac Lessin, members of the Division 7 Photo Corps, ful-fi lled this request. In all, 13 mem-bers of Division 7 par cipated.

Suppor ng the Coast Guard dur-ing the PSU training presented a win-win for both the Coast Guard and the Auxiliary. The Coast Guard benefi ted in that we were able to provide vessels and actors to as-sist in their training exercises as well as from the great photographers that the Auxiliary provided. Auxiliary members gained an increased respect and admira on

for the members of the United States Coast Guard and an apprecia on for the intensive training that its mem-bers undergo to keep our ports safe.


Top: The Unites States Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Unit 307 operates well-armed 32-foot Transportable Port Security Boats (TPSB) powered by two 315 HP inboard diesel engines with out-drives. Normal crew complement is four. Auxiliary photo by Walter Murray

Below: Coast Guard Reserve PSU 307 practices urban terrain train-ing using a number of scenarios which include crossing both open and urban areas, evading a simulated gas or biological IED attack, setting up and maintaining base camps, locating and detaining “bad guys,” giving aid to victims, and other tasks. Auxiliary photo by Ste-ven Johnson (More photos on following pages)

Page 34 Intercom USCG Auxiliary Division 7, District 7g

Auxiliary Supports USCG Reserve Port Security Unit Training

The Unites States Coast Guard Reserve Port Security Unit (PSU) 307 prac ces emergency water training on April 27, 2014, in the pool at Air Sta on Clearwater.Team members are fully clothed including boots and carry full com-bat gear: helmet, rifl e and body armor. Each reservist has two fl ota- on devices, le and right respec vely, that should ac vate when im-

mersed in water. In case of non-infl a on, the procedure is helmet off , then rifl e, then body armor. Then they surface to manually release and infl ate one air bladder, and then retrieve their helmet.The training is conducted in stages. They fi rst prac ce in the shallow end of the pool. A er the shallow end prac ce, they move on to the deep end of the pool. First, they jump off the deck into the water, and then off the high dive. The series of photos by Zac Lessin and George Papabeis at le chronicles the exercise from the dive board into the water.

Above: Flanked by two instruc-tors, a member of USCGR PSU 307 is captured on camera as he enters the water in full gear. Photo by George Papabeis.Le : A PSU 307 32-foot Transport-able Port Security Boat escorts the “Robon,” an Auxiliary facility from Flo lla 11-10 which served as a high value asset (HVA). Auxil-iary photo by Walter Murray

Volume XXXVII Issue 1 Spring 2014 Page 35 Volume XXXVII Issue 2 Summer 2014 Page 35

Top left and mid-page left: The Coast Guard Reserve PSU 307 unit encounters simulated enemy fi re and approaches the enemy in a V-formation to the site of a 'truck crash'. An IED explodes (simulated by a red smoke canister), and unit mem-bers don their gas masks before cautiously moving forward. Photos by Steven JohnsonTop right: ME3 Jonathan Cruz, Maritime Enforcement Specialist with the Coast Guard PSU 307 unit, checks IDs of persons entering the camp. Auxiliary photo by Patti KuhnMid page right: Members of the Coast Guard Reserve PSU 307 Unit detain and search "bad guys." Auxiliary members volunteered as actors to provide realism to the training. Auxiliary photo by Gerald HottingerLeft: YN1 Lauren Moore practices donning protective clothing de-signed to shield from chemical and biological agents. The complete suit includes boots, protectice head gear and gloves. Auxiliary photo by Patti Kuhn


From March 21 through 23, 2014, Valerie Fernandes a ended Auxiliary Food Service (AUXFS) training at Air Sta on Clearwater. No, it is not a new program. The name “AUXCHEF” was changed to “AUXFS” in Octo-ber 2013 to bring us in line with the ac ve duty Coast Guard.

Along with the name change came several other chang-es. AUXFS candidates must now get a health screening and a Hepa s A vaccina on. Uniform and grooming standards were also updated.

Fernandes’ training started on Friday morning at the Air Sta on Clearwater Annex with 17 students. Aux-iliarists from as far South as Miami and from as far north as Spring Hill and Tarpon Springs a ended. The instructors were Paule e Parent, Assistant District Staff Offi cer-Human Resources/Auxiliary Food Service D7 and Toni Borman, Assistant District Staff Offi cer-Public Aff airs D7. Both live in Sarasota, and both paid their own way to Clearwater to teach this class. Very im-pressive!

The fi rst two days of AUXFS consisted of classroom training in tools and equipment, sanita on and safety, and an introduc on to food prepara on. All of the stu-

dents successfully passed their wri en examina on on these topics.

During our second day of training, the Coast Guard treated them to a ride in a C-130 Hercules. This was the icing on the cake! Fernandes, who holds a private pilot license earned “many moons ago,” reports that she is always up for a ride on an airplane, helicopter or hot air balloon. The fl ight took them south to Marco Island about 1,100 above the shoreline then turned north to return home.

The last day of training was hands-on experience in the galley at Clearwater. They split the students into groups of four and gave each specifi c tasks to perform to assist the Air Sta on food service staff with food prepara on for the dinner meal. Some prepared dough to bake rolls, some baked cookies, and some diced and sliced vegetables. Several of them also worked the food serv-ing line and dished out lunch to the ac ve duty Coast Guard and re rees.

The next step in becoming a "qualifi ed" AUXFS is to complete about 20 Performance Qualifi ca on Stan-

Another Opportunity to Serve our Coast Guard Partners:

Auxiliary Food Service Training

Photos and ar cle by Valerie Fernandes, FSO-PB 78

Con nued on page 37


dards (PQS) at an actual galley. These must be signed off by a qualifi ed AUXFS or a unit Coast Guard Food Service Specialist second class (FS2) and above.

A er working two days at the Sta on St. Pete galley the last week with Chief Lewis, Food Service Offi cer and his crew, Fernandes was able to complete all her PQS requirements. She will become a qualifi ed AUXFS as soon as the Assistant District Staff Offi cer-Human Resources receives her completed paperwork.

Fernandes met some very dedicated Auxiliarists and members of the ac ve duty Coast Guard during the course of her training.

Fernandes fi nished by saying, “Many thanks to our in-structors and especially to Paule e Parent for all her eff orts to further the AUXFS program.”

Con nued from Page 36

Right: Valerie Fernandes poses in front of a C-130 Hercules while attending the Auxiliary Food Ser-vice training conducted at Air Station Clearwater March 21-23, 2014. Fernandes, who holds a private pilot license, reports that she is "always up for a ride on an airplane, helicopter or hot air balloon."

At the AUXFS training held in March 2014 at Air Station Clearwater, students make cookies from scratch. Yum!


Coast Guard Sta on St. Petersburg Recognizes Auxiliary Ombudsman Marla Short.USCG Public Aff airs Detachment, Clearwater Air Sta on, Fla.Reprinted from “Breeze,” Volume LX, Spring 2014, offi cial publica on of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary 7th District

ST. PETERSBURG — Coast Guard Auxiliarist Marla Short, ombudsman at Coast Guard Sta on St. Petersburg, Fla., recently received the Auxiliary Commenda on Medal at a ceremony at Coast Guard Sta on St. Petersburg.

As the sta on’s ombudsman, Short coordinates family gatherings and holds training for 72 Coast Guard mem-bers and their families. She developed a monthly news-le er to keep the crews and their families informed of unit events and accomplishments. She networked with neighboring unit ombudsmen to coordinate region wide family events.

“Coast Guard ombudsmen are communica on links, referral resources and advocates for our unit’s family members,” said Senior Chief Eamon McCormack, of-fi cer in charge at the sta on. “Mrs. Short is not only

a great ombudsman, but she also serves the Coast Guard Auxiliary under Flo lla 72 and is one of only six Auxiliarists ac ng as Coast Guard Ombuds-man na on-wide. She embod-ies, and inspires other to live out the Coast Guard’s core values. She genuinely cares for the men and women of Sta on St. Petersburg, and her service highlights the importance and the impact the Coast Guard Auxiliary has in suppor ng our Ac ve Duty [members], Re-serve Forces and families at home.”

Senior Chief Petty Offi cer Eamon McCormack, offi cer in charge of Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg, Fla., presents the Auxiliary Commendation Medal to Coast Guard Auxiliarist Marla Short, om-budsman for Station St. Petersburg, at the station March 26, 2014. As the station’s ombudsman, Short coordinates family gatherings and holds training for 72 members and their families. Photo by Rick Short

USCG Photograph, USCGNEWS.COM


Plan now to attend the 2014 National Convention of the

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary in Orlando, FL

August 21 – 24, 2014A great way to celebrate our

75th Anniversary!y

Enjoy the amazing room rate of $95/night for sin-gle/double excluding state/local taxes applicable.

Reserva ons may be made by calling their toll free number 1-800-204-7234 or booking online

via Hotel Online Reserva ons. You must request the group rate for Coast Guard Auxiliary Associa- on to receive the conven on room rate. To make

reserva ons online go to:

h ps://bookings.ihotelier.com/Rosen-Centre/bookings.jsp?hotelID=2018&groupID=1208240

The hotel reserva ons must be made by 5:00 pm on Wednesday July 23, 2014. Reserva ons a er the cut-off date will be accepted based on hotel availability at the group rate. Check-in me a er 3:00 p.m. Check-out me 11:00 a.m. Self-parking

for hotel guests is complimentary.

Registra on is required for all a endees par ci-pa ng in conven on ac vi es. Go to:

h p://cgauxa.org/nacon/registra on_intro.php

The mail in registra on form is now available at: h p://cgauxa.org/nacon/registra on_intro.php.

Admiral Paul Zukun as-sumed the du es of the 25th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on May 30, 2014. He leads America’s oldest con n-uous seagoing service and the largest compo-nent of the Department of Homeland Security, comprised of 41,700 ac ve duty, 7,800 re-serve, 8,300 civilian and 31,000 volunteer Auxil-iarists.

Prior to this, Admiral Zukun served as Com-mander, Coast Guard Pacifi c Area, where he was opera onal commander for all U.S. Coast Guard missions in an area encompassing more than 74 mil-lion square miles and provided mission support to the Department of Defense and Combatant Commanders. Other Flag assignments include Commander of the Eleventh Coast Guard District and Director, Joint Inter-agency Task Force West, where he served as execu ve agent to United States Pacifi c Command for comba ng Transna onal Criminal Organiza ons in the Asia-Pacifi c Region.

In 2010, Admiral Zukun served as the Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the Deepwater Horizon Spill of Na onal Signifi cance where he directed more than 47,000 responders, 6,500 vessels and 120 aircra dur-ing the largest oil spill in U.S. history. His senior staff assignments included Chief of Opera ons, Coast Guard Pacifi c Area and Chief of Opera ons Oversight, Coast Guard Atlan c Area where he directly supervised all major cu er opera ons in the Atlan c and Pacifi c the-aters. He also served as Chief of Staff , at the Fourteenth Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Admiral Zukun has commanded six units and served extensively in the cu er fl eet where he commanded the cu ers CAPE UPRIGHT, HARRIET LANE, and RUSH.

Admiral Paul F. Zukun Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard

Admiral Paul Zukunft, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard. (USCG photograph)

Rosen Centre Hotel


D-Day: June 6, 1944The Day That Changed the Course of History

“In World War II, 70 million people are killed — 70 million! It is the most signifi cant event of the Twentieth Century bar none. Nothing comes close to it in terms of shaping the world we

live in. And so, when you stand at that cemetery, these are the men who made that difference. These are the men who did more to shape the world that you live in right now, more than any-

body else, and you should understand that!”

Nova, American Experience: D-Day; Voice-over for scene of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial by Adrian Lewis, PhD, military historian and author.

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"My eyes were glued to the boat coming in next to ours, and on the water in between, boiling with bullets from hidden shore emplacements, like a mud puddle in a hail-storm. It seemed impossible that we could make it in without being riddled." -A Coast Guard coxswain describes the waters off Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944.

Photo credit: The Jaws of Death. A photo by CPHOM Robert F. Sargent, USCG. A Coast Guard-manned LCVP from the U.S.S. Samuel Chase disembarks troops on the morning of June 6, 1944 at Omaha Beach. Coast Guard Photo #2343.

“On June 6, 1944, Allied forces began the largest amphibious invasion of all me on the coast of France at Nor-mandy. D-Day saw 160,000 troops land at Omaha Beach thanks to nearly 200,000 naval and merchant marine personnel on approximately 5,000 ships. Among those ships were 60 Coast Guard cu ers providing search and rescue opera ons for the invasion force. Coast Guard personnel also manned the ships delivering soldiers to the beach.”

The Coast Guard pays tribute to the heroism and sacrifi ce of the Coast Guardsmen who took part in D-Day opera- ons, par cularly those who gave their lives. - See more at: h p://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2010/06/remember-

ing-d-days-coast-guard-heroes/#sthash.s8pjnN1F.dpuf

http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2010/06/remembering-d-days-coast-guard-heroes/#sthash.s8pjnN1F.dpuf


District 7 Board Mee ng and TrainingSept 18 – 21, 2014

Florida Hotel and Conference Center 1500 Sand Lake Road

Orlando, Florida, 32809 407-859-1500

(For reservation - mention CGAux) $101.00 room rate per night

District 7 Board Meeting and Training• Put faces to the names you work with

daily! Meet your fellow members from throughout District 7

• Come for the training • Come for the fun!To register online:http://www.exhibitservices.net/#!dtrain2014/c1kme(Specifi c conference information, such as classes and meals, is not yet available.)

http://www.cgmahq.org/


PRIVACY ACT STATEMENTThe Privacy Act of 1974 protects names, addresses, telephone/fax numbers and e-mail addresses of Auxiliary members which may appear in this or other USCGAUX publica ons. As a ma er of policy, informa on described above is not made available to the general public or outside groups without that member’s express and/or wri en consent. When such informa on appears, its privacy shall be safeguarded and the informa on will be clearly labeled. Publica on of this informa on by the general public and/or outside groups is prohibited by the Privacy Act.

Nau cal terms to know...Scu lebu is slang for rumor or gossip. An analogy is a water cooler in an offi ce se ng, which at mes becomes the focus of congrega on and casual discussion. Water for immediate consump on on a sailing ship was conven onally stored in a scu led bu : a bu (cask) which had been scu led by making a hole in it so the water could be withdrawn. Since sailors exchanged gossip when they gathered at the scu lebu for a drink of water, scu lebu became Navy slang for gossip or rumors. (Source: Wikipedia)

FWC Releases 2013 Boa ng Safety Sta s csSource: h p://myfwc.com/media/2804464/2013-Boa ngSta s cs.pdf

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conserva on Commission Division of Law Enforcement (FWC) released the 2013 Boa ng Accidents Sta s cal Report. Florida con nues to lead the na on with a total number of 896,632 registered vessels in 2013. There were a total of 736 reportable boa ng accidents in 2013. This is up from 704 reportable accidents in 2012.

Flo da leads the na on in boa ng accidents and fatali es. This means we have our work cut out for us!

2013 Reportable Boa ng Fatali es

• 42% of the fatal accidents were falls overboard (22 accidents). Boaters fall-ing overboard remains the main cause of boa ng fatali es.

• The leading cause of death in fatal boa ng accidents was drowning (74%).• The deadliest month in 2013 was December with 12 fatali es.• Alcohol or drug-use played a role in 15% of boa ng fatali es.• 84% of the vic ms of fatal boa ng accidents were males (52).• The total fatality count for 2013 is reported at 62.• 72% (41) of the 57 operators involved in fatal accidents were over the age of 35.• 49% (29) of all fatal accidents in 2013 involved vessels 16 feet or less in length.

2013 Boa ng Educa on Sta s cs• FWC issued 36,251 Boa ng Safety Educa on ID Cards in 2013.• 43% of the cards were issued to persons 21 years of age or younger.• Of the 36,251 cards issued, 26,714 were issued to males, 8,613 were issued to females, and 924 cards did not specify the person’s gender.• 63% of the operators involved in fatal accidents had no formal boater educa on.

http://myfwc.com/media/2804464/2013-BoatingStatistics.pdf

Documents

Intercom Summer 2014