Can You Tell by His Epaulettes Who He Is? Maybe His Smile Will Give You a Clue

SALT SPRAY U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary 8th District Coastal Region Division 1 Newsletter

Volume 38, Number 2 Website: http://wow.uscgaux.info/content.php?unit=081-01 April 2015

Do you know this person? Can you tell by his epaulettes who he is? Maybe his smile will give you a clue.. give up?

“I am the voice of the webinar” … by Ellena Roland Have you experienced a webinar (telephone meeting) where the first voice you hear is “Welcome... (member’s name), this is Allen”. Well, let me introduce you to the “Voice of the Webinar”. It is Allen R. Harding our District Commodore of Eighth Coastal Region. Commodore Harding is a qualified coxswain, personal water craft operator, public education/auxiliary search and rescue instructor, telecommunications operator, AUXOP, vessel examiner and assistant pollution investigator. He has served as a staff officer at the national level and local level. He has served in elected office as flotilla commander, division commander, district captain and district chief of staff. Commodore Harding is a recent graduate of the Auxiliary senior officer course which is a 2 years program. Commodore Allen Harding served in the Air Force from 1964-1968. He attended the University of Texas El Paso, Texas. He worked at Raytheon for 41 years at various Senior Level Engineer positions. His job took him to Raytheon /E-Systems in Australia until 1986 as a supervisor overseeing data analysts. He returned to the USA and continued his employment with Raytheon/E-Systems as a technical instructor. He prepared training budgets for installa- tion contracts until retirement. Commodore Harding lives in Tool, Texas with his wife Jan. It is a pleasure to say Hello and Welcome Commodore Allen R. Harding. If you see him around, go and shake his hand. He loves to meet members of the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary every- where he goes. SEMPER PARATUS.

Editor: Ellena Roland Panama City Beach, FL 32408 (850)233-9228/(850)691-2939 C Email: [email protected] Salt Spray is a publication of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Eighth Coastal Region Region Coastal Eighth Auxiliary, Guard Coast States United the of is a publication Spray Salt authoriza- prior by unless authorized not are or photographs of articles Reprints 1. Division Editor. the tion from

SALT SPRAY 2

On This Issue Follow me…...

Front Page– “I am the Voice of the Webinar”… by Ellena Roland Page 13 & 14-FEBTRAIN 2015

Page 2– On This Issue—Follow Me…. Page 15-Historical Note– SPAR Olivia Hooker.

Page 3– Preventative Search and Rescue Page 16– Message from Mark Simoni, National Event. By Stan Smith Commodore- Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2015. Page 4-Division 1 Vice Commander- T J Del Bello- Page 17– Vehicle Decal Program Termination.

Page 5-Guess What Lurks in our Beaches? Page 18– VT-2 Safety Stand Down

Page 6, 7, & 8– Interpreter Corps– by John Mount, BC-IAO

Page 9– Division 1 Winter Conference

Page 10– Collage of pictures from Division 1 Winter Conference 2015

Page 11-PE in Recreational Boating Safety, An “All Hands” Effort… by R. Kim Sheldon

Page 12-National Commodore’s Diversity Policy

SALT SPRAY 3

A Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) Event

Dateline: 28 March 2015, Destin, Florida

On Saturday 28th March Flotilla 14 mounted a large combined preventative search and rescue (PSAR) event involving our trailer, Coast- ie, vessel safety examiners, and an educational program. The day be- gan with an early aids to navigation (ATON) patrol by one of our facilities with a crew of three and two trainees. After the patrol they moored at Postil Point Marina on Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) where they presented a water safety program to 108 students for the explo- sive ordinance school (EOD). About the same time the “Invasion on the Bayou” program kicked off 3-4 miles away at the Bluewater Bay Marina. A Coastie team entertained kids and their parents while a four man VE team conducted exams, previously scheduled as part of the invasion program activities. A third team of four or five people set up across the marina at the dry storage area with our educational trailer, videos running and conducted more vessel safety checks (VSCs). All in all one third of Flotilla 14 was involved. Bravo Zulu to all.

Stan Smith, Flotilla Commander 081-01-04 Destin, Florida

SALT SPRAY 4

Division 1 Message from the Bridge…

Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) is Mission One for the 8th Coastal District. Save a Life, Save the Day! We accomplish this mission when we educate the public about boating safety. This education process is proven to re- duce SAR events and marine accident statistics. Division One is focused upon boating safety as mission one. All flotillas are tasked to create PSAR crews. There is room on deck for you, and we are seeking your help. Call your flotilla commander and become active.

Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) is a different way to plan events (ramp days, education classes.) public education, vessel examiners, program visitors, publications, member training and public affairs have generally worked independent of each other for years. An analogy could be a wide bird shot pattern.

National Safe Boating Week is a vitally important event. Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) crews will offer maximized event planning and implementation. Market- ing and advertising plans will be developed with program visitors and vessel safety examiners, advertising and publications all working as a unified crew to insure a strong boating safety education event for NSBW week.

Come on aboard and help us maximize the work we do! Save a Life, Save the Day.

T. J. T. J. Del Bello Sr., Vice Division 1 Commander Leadership, Initiative, Innovation.

SALT SPRAY 5 Guess what lurks in our beaches… See how close to the people at the beach.

SURPRISE… This was found on the beach at Laguna Beach, FL. (measuring 6 feet)

SALT SPRAY 6

John Mount BC-IAO. It has been said that the International Affairs - Interpreter Corps is one of the best kept secrets in the USCG Auxiliary. It appears that is probably true because, at a time when most areas of the Auxiliary are being told to cut back on their activities due to a lack of funding, the Interpreter Corps remains active. Unfortunately however, there has been a cut back in our activities supporting the Africa Partnership Station due to seques- tration. The Interpreter Corps constantly receives requests from the U.S. Coast Guard for the use of interpreting services of members of the Interpreter Corps. Because of these requests, the Interpreter Corps needs to increase its interpreter assets by adding qualified Auxiliarists to its ranks. In this way, the CG Auxiliary acts as a force multiplier. Over the past 14 years since the formation of the Interpreter Corps, the active duty Coast Guard has gained confidence in our linguistic skills. In the future, we are expecting more diverse utilization from the Coast Guard, as well as other military services and government agencies, and it is very important that the Corps keeps up with the increasing demand for qualified interpreters. The major mission of the Interpreter Corps is to provide competent language interpretation services to the USCG, the Department of Defense, other military services and governmental agencies. At present the Inter- preter Corps has over 440 Auxiliary Interpreters qualified in 48 different languages. The Interpreter Corps arranges for the selection of qualified interpreters who, when under orders, are capa- ble of interpreting at such events as the TRADEWINDS exercise in the Caribbean and the North Pacific Coast Guard forum. At the latter event, we provide services in four Asian languages. We also arrange interpreters for visits of foreign dignitaries attending places such as USCG headquarters, or for visits of Tall Ships from different nations when in U.S. ports. The Interpreter Corps provides the USCG, the Department of Defense and the Auxiliary with the same high level of program and document translation capabilities. This allows the agencies to develop training materials or to translate Public Affairs notices and documents in those same 48 languages. A prime example of this was the management of the PA efforts surrounding Deepwater Horizon (the BP oil spill), in which we provided interpreters from locations all over the United States, to translate a

SALT SPRAY 7 steady stream of PA notices for the USCG in 11 different languages. Almost 100 interpreters provided this service from the comfort of their own homes. At present, we have a shortage of Chinese, Russian, Japanese and Creole speakers and are especially interested in recruiting Auxiliarists who are fluent in these languages. Auxiliary Interpreters are accepted on two competency levels. The first, a Level ”A” Interpreter, is someone who fluently reads, writes, speaks and understands a foreign language in addition to English and the second is a Level ”B” interpreter who speaks and understands a foreign language, in addition to English, but does not necessarily read or write the language. The Interpreter Corp only accepts applications from Auxiliarists with a Level ” A” competency and only accepts Level “B” competency applications when there is a Level “A” as a primary competency. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Interpreter Corps measure up to the highest quality standards and have already provided over 50,000 mission hours mainly in Coast Guard operational support. If you think you would be interested in joining this select group of members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxilia- ry. Please get in touch with either John Mount BC-IAO Interpreter Corps at e-mail [email protected], or Dennis Marrero ADSO-OP-I Interpreter Corps, Eighth Coastal Region at e-mail [email protected] . One of us will gladly respond to any questions or concerns you may have in regards to the Interpreter Corps. Article By, John Mount BC-IAO International Outreach International Affairs/Interpreter Corps. UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AUXILIARY.

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L2 Auxiliary Leadership Link

The digest of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary activity

12 March 2015 Edition

To: All Auxiliarists

Interpreter Corps Openings

The Interpreter Corps is seeking qualified interpreters/translators in specific languages. Based upon demand over the last three years, there is a need for Auxiliarists that can speak, write and read fluently in the following languages:

Arabic Danish Korean

Cantonese Farsi Latvian

Creole Gaelic Vietnamese

Croatian Japanese

Additional information and Interpreter Guidelines can be located on the Interpreter Corps web page on the Inter- national Directorate web site. This may be found at: http://icdept.cgaux.org/

Interested Auxiliarists can contact Dal Bailey, Deputy Director of the Interpreter Corps at [email protected]

SALT SPRAY 9 Division 1 Winter Conference...by Ellena Roland, SO-PA/PB Dateline: 28 February 2015 The Winter Conference was held at the Emerald Grand Hotel in Destin, Fla.. Did you attend? Maybe at next Conference we will get to meet you there. Lots of efforts and hard work was placed by the conference chairperson and its assistants for a one day conference. However, to have a conference anywhere, but mainly at a luxury hotel, involves more than we think. It takes the conference chair and the assistants, the staff officer (SO) member training, public affairs/publications, whatever PROP (like Coastie) is to be there for show or training, finance to know what to pay for, vice division commander and the division commander to give the OK to each one of the sections for hold- ing one conference. However, it does not stop there, it involves the district, Sector Mobile and the stations on our Area of Responsibility (AOR) to know it is coming and if they want to participate. The conference took place in Destin. Stu Smith, Vice Flotilla Commander, Flotilla 14 was the chairperson and Lynn Mott the so-member training, who outdid themselves with the training that took place. We then went to lunch as a group outside the hotel, but still within the Boardwalk. This is part of one of our 4 Cornerstones. The lunch was exquisite, but the camaraderie was even better. Member training, for this conference, was about Coastie training, vessel examiners workshop, finance training (dues going up), CPR/First Aid training, Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) training, and much more. For those of us who attended, our hats off to member training and the conference workers. Present as invitees were Commander Craig Neubecker, Director of Auxiliary (DIRAUX), Allen R. Harding, District Commodore, Eighth District Coastal Region. Eric DeVuyst, Division 1 Commander and T. J. Del Bello, Vice Division 1 Commander presided the Conference. The photos that follow will give you a hint what went on at this conference. The Summer Conference will take place in Tallahassee in June 2015. Flotilla 12 Apalachee Bay will be the hosting flotilla. Watch for information to be released on this conference, once it is all accepted and contracts signed for. See you there!

SALT SPRAY 10 Venue: Division 1 Winter Conference (continue) Pictures by Eric DeVuyst and Lynn Mott. Place: Grand Panama Hotel, Destin, Florida.

Training Sessions -

SALT SPRAY 11 Public Education in Recreational Boating Safety: An “All Hands” Effort – Not Just for Instructors

We are fond of coining new and catchy phrases to jazz up things that have become mundane or have fallen into disuse or neglect. Such is the case with recreational boating safety (RBS) and the programs which support this Auxiliary mission area: public education, vessel examinations and program visit- ation. The new mantra, “Preventative Search and Rescue,” or “PSAR,” is a well-intentioned effort to ele- vate the traditional classroom or dock-bound programs in perceived importance to a level commensurate with the more active and popular operational mission areas that Auxiliarists naturally gravitate toward. There is a tendency for flotilla members to view the roles of classroom instructors or vessel examiners as unworthy of their time; that the real fulfillment of being an Auxiliarist (not to mention the fun and adventure!) comes from serving as a boat crewmember or coxswain; being where the “action” is! Hence, the burden of carrying out these equally important missions typically falls upon a relative few of the members within a flotilla, and their attempts to engage with the boating public get little help in the areas of planning, promotion or execution. When one considers how infrequently the Auxiliary is actually called upon to assist the Coast Guard with bonafide operational SAR missions, it is clear why the service truly sees the Auxiliary’s most important support role as RBS, and that to the extent that the Auxiliary can prevent incidents from happening in the first place by providing the information and knowledge a boater needs to avoid trouble, the Coast Guard’s task is made considerably easier. Thus, RBS education is the force multiplier that the Coast Guard most values and appreciates from the Auxiliary “having its back.” So, we plan a few classes and ramp days, recruit a few qualified flotilla members to carry them out or show up, and put it on the flotilla calendar and the Auxiliary website. How hard is that? But it’s not enough to plan and schedule boating safety classes or courtesy vessel exam ramp days. The boater who has considered the need for education and preparation all by himself and goes looking for it is not likely to be the boater who ends up a statistic. For him, our passive advertising is adequate. It is the ignorant boater; the one who wrongly believes that driving a boat at sea is an intuitive skill and that he has little to learn, who is our biggest potential problem and the one most in need of the education that he is not looking for. Hence, engaging the public and raising the community’s level of awareness of the availability of these programs and events requires active and aggressive promotion and publicity. Everyone has a crucial role to play in this effort: (1) public affairs, through his contacts and relationships with print, television and radio media can make the promotion effort an active, as opposed to passive one; (2) program visitors can serve as conduits for brochures advertising RBS events to all of their literature distribution sites; (3) public education instructor staff can promote not only their classes, but the courtesy vessel safety check (VSC) program and scheduled events; and (4) vessel examiners can support their teammates in the flotilla as well by informing the boaters they encounter with brochures for upcoming classes. If we liken the public affairs, public education, program visitor and vessel examiner roles to the cylinders of an internal combustion piston engine, the output of a flotilla’s RBS effort is far more effective if all the cylinders are firing in unison, rather than if one or two are misfiring or not working at all.

Robert “Kim” Sheldon SO-Public Education Division 1

SALT SPRAY 12

Dependability, Integrity, Diversity” Diversity is about our commitment to embrace men and women of all racial, cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds as full, equal, and vital members of our organization.

National Commodore's Official Policy It is the policy of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary to ensure that all citizens, regardless of race, gender, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, religion, or physi- cal or mental disability have an equal opportunity to become a volunteer of this organization. It is after all, part of our mission to become the volunteer organization of choice. As the National Commodore, I will personally lead the diversity initiatives and challenge all who serve to do the same through leadership, mentorship, service, and example. As someone committed to diversity, I understand that providing training is one of the strategies that helps build an inclusive environment, which is crucial to attracting and retaining top talent, building member engagement, and fostering crea- tivity and innovation. Our Strategic Plan for Managing Diversity will guide us in our efforts towards accomplishing this goal. Diversity of thoughts, ideas, and competencies of our people, keeps the Auxiliary strong and empowers us to mission readiness and excellence. Diversity is an imperative to the Auxiliary; it can increase morale and impact our success. In essence every member is responsible for fostering an inclusive team at- mosphere and being a contributing part of Team Coast Guard. The Auxiliary is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment, a jour- ney guided by the deeply held values of Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty, as America's Guardians, we understand that diversity is not a problem to be solved, but is an asset to be developed. Mark Simoni,

National Commodore

SALT SPRAY 14

Eric DeVuyst, Division 1 Commander

Commander Craig Neubecker, Commodore Allen Harding, Division 1 Commander Eric DeVuyst and Rear Admiral Kevin Cook.

Commodore Larry King and his wife Carole SEPTRAIN 2015

Joe Reichal, DDS

Eighth District Coastal Region Leadership enjoy- ing a Cornerstone evening at FEBTRAIN, Mobile, Alabama

Commander Craig Neubecker and his wife Kimberly Commodore Allen Harding

SALT SPRAY 15

Historical Note:

SPAR Olivia Hooker First African American Woman in the Coast Guard

In February 1945, Olivia Hooker was sworn in by a Coast Guard officer, becoming the first African- American female admitted into the United States Coast Guard. Hooker joined the service to become a SPAR (Semper Paratus Always Ready), the acronym used for female service personnel during World War II. A survivor of the infamous 1921 Tulsa Race Riots, Hooker’s family moved to Columbus, Ohio, where she earned a degree at Ohio State. During World War II. Hooker tried to join the WAVES, but was rejected due to her ethnicity. She applied to the Coast Guard, where she was received cordially, and completed her basic training in March of 1945. She attended yeoman school for next nine weeks and spent the rest of her service time in Boston. She remained in the Coast Guard until the war- time SPARs were disbanded by mid-1946. Dr. Hooker later earned a doctorate in psychology and had a long and distinguished career as a professor in New York, retiring at the age of eighty- seven. Article written by: William H. Thiesen Atlantic Area Historian

www.uscg.mil/history/people/HookerOliviaBio.pdf

SALT SPRAY 16 A Message from the National Commodore

Sexual Assault Awareness Month - 2015

Fellow Auxiliarists,

Rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment impact our community, and statistics show one in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives (Black et al., 2011). Our mission is to eliminate sexual assault from the Coast Guard and the United States Coast Auxiliary and ad- here to the Coast Guard's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program. The Commandant’s call to action is NOT IN MY COAST GUARD; I respectfully would add, NOT IN MY AUXILIARY.

As your National Commodore I will not tolerate sexual harassment, sexual assault, or sexual misconduct of any kind in the Auxiliary and as a member of Team Coast Guard. If you see something that is wrong and against the Coast Guard policy on sexual misconduct, you need to have the courage to say something. This includes having the courage to intervene when you witness sexual assault, predatory behavior, sexual harassment or other misconduct. You may be the only one who notices the misconduct. I implore you to ask questions, encourage your shipmates, and challenge or report inappropriate behavior, whether it is directed at you, or someone else. Shipmates, there are no bystanders in the prevention of, or response to, sexual assault. Your devotion to duty is demonstrated by doing the right thing, the right way, at the right time, for the right reason. Dedicat- ing yourself to the maintenance of the high moral, professional and personal standards that come with service in our Coast Guard is but one more way to demonstrate your devotion to duty.

Please review the following ALCOAST and if you have the opportunity to wear Service Dress Bra- vos while assigned to duty (or wear blue/teal clothing on civilian attire) on 08 April please do so. Al- so, if you can present the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Training Session (AUXLMS code 810045/AUXDATA Short Title "SAP") at your next flotilla meeting to show support of the Coast Guard's commitment, that would be most appreciated. You can download MT materials at the Train- ing Directorate website at http://wow.uscgaux.info/content.php?unit=T-DEPT&category=mandated- training

Very respectfully,

Mark Simoni

National Commodore

SALT SPRAY 17 TO: ALAUX From: CHDIRAUX SUBJ: VEHICLE DECAL PROGRAM TERMINATION -006/15

1. The Coast Guard terminated the personal vehicle decal program in September 2014. If not already removed, all Coast Guard-issued vehicle decals, including those issued to Auxiliarists as described in section 5.O.3. of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Manual (COMDTINST M16790.1 (series)), must be removed from personal vehicles and destroyed immediately.

2. As a reminder, proper identification including a valid Coast Guard, Auxiliary, DHS, DOD issued identification card, or State driver's license is needed to be granted access to Coast Guard and DoD facilities. Additionally, vehicles are required to be registered, inspected, and insured in accordance with State and local laws in order to be operated on such facilities.

3. This change will be included in the next revision of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Manual.

4. The purpose of this list is to keep Auxiliarists as well as all other interested parties abreast of current developments, policies, manuals, etc. All information contained herein and linked is OFFICIAL policy and information

5. Internet Release and Distribution is Authorized.

SALT SPRAY 18 VT-2 Safety Stand Down

On April 13, 2015, Flotilla 081-01-07 was asked to participate in VT-2 Safety Stand-Down at Whiting Field in Mil- ton, FL. This was set up where the members of VT-2 would visit for 15 minutes each of the 5 stations. These stations consisted of First Aid for over heated conditions, rescue breathing and CPR, mandated training for Sexual Harassment, Fire safety by one of the stations fire fighters, Aviation hazards and Water safety put on by the USCG Auxiliary.

Auxiliarist Kim Sheldon discussed the requirements of general water safety. Bob Hensel, Flotilla Commander spoke about kayak and stand up paddleboard requirements and safety. John Mount, Vice Flotilla Commander talked about the risks of parasailing.

The members were very attentive and seemed to learn more about boating safety from the dis- cussions offered.

Photos and written by Ms. Lynn Mott (USCG AUX)