U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY Flotilla 12-3 Lake Murray, South Carolina Flotilla Island, Johnson Marina Road, Chapin, SC

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1 Newsletter publication of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 12-3 Lake Murray, SC December 2014 U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY Flotilla 12-3 Lake Murray, South Carolina Flotilla Island, Johnson Marina Road, Chapin, SC Page 1

2 U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY Flotilla 12-3 Lake Murray, South Carolina Flotilla Island, 2390 Johnson Marina Road, Chapin, SC Visit us online at Newsletter Staff: Barbara Burchfield, John Mezynski, Russell Jernigan N W Photo by Michael Mikutaitis LAKE MURRAY MARINER is the official newsletter of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 12-3 and is intended as a publication to keep the membership apprised of the activities of the Auxiliary. All articles and photographs submitted must be consistent with the policies of the Coast Guard and the Auxiliary and may not be returned. Personal information of members is protected by the Privacy Act of The use of these rosters, addresses and telephone numbers on any computer or online THE NOVEMBER MEETING IS CANCELLED Brief business will be conducted at the Change of Watch on 01 DECEMBER SEVENTH COAST GUARD DISTRICT COMMANDER Rear Admiral John H. Korn DIRECTORY OF AUXILIARY DISTRICT 7 DIRAUX Commander William E. Seward DISTRICT SEVEN Commodore Chief of Staff John Tyson Robert Weskerna U.S. COAST GUARD SECTOR CHARLESTON Captain of the Port CAPT Ric Rodriguez U.S. COAST GUARD STATION CHARLESTON Senior Chief BMCS Justin Longval AUXILIARY LIAISON Sector Charleston Station Charleston LT Jeffrey Prebeck BMC John Palmer AREA SECTOR COORDINATOR ASC Lyle Letteer DIVISION 12 Commander Vice Commander Al Crothers John Murphy Flotilla Meeting Minutes are published online in the Member Zone: FLOTILLA 12-3 LEADERSHIP & STAFF OFFICERS Flotilla Commander Vice Commander Flotilla Staff Officers: Communications Communication Services Diversity Finance Human Resources Materials Member Training Operations Public Affairs Public Education Program Visitors-RBS Secretary/Records Vessel Examinations Festus Burchfield Russell Jernigan Kenneth Plesser Barbara Burchfield Gerald Ruschkofski Peggy Peterson Festus Burchfield Michael Mikutaitis Barbara Burchfield Festus Burchfield Billy Lindsay Kent McCoin Festus Burchfield Peggy Peterson Clay Goodwin On the cover: Susan Carty, Flotilla Staff Officer-Publications, with her ever-present camera, observes and photographs boat crew training exercises on June 29, 2014, at Lake Murray, as coxswain Festus Burchfield critiques the towing evolution just performed. Photo by Barbara Burchfield, Flotilla Page 2

3 Thank you, Sue! Flotilla 12-3 membership has been blessed with having Susan Carty in its fold, not only as a member but as a friend and mentor to all. Susan is leaving the Auxiliary this year to pursue other interests - we wish her well in all her endeavors. When the flotilla was without a newsletter, Sue stepped up to become the Publications Flotilla Staff Officer in 2013 and set about making sure the flotilla was well advised of Auxiliary policies, events, meetings and membership information. She published not one, but two newsletters each month; a formal newsletter and a social newsletter sent only for members to foster fellowship within the flotilla. Sue supported the Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Coast Guard for many years since joining the Auxiliary in In the past five years, she contributed over 3,300 volunteer hours to promote the Auxiliary, the Coast Guard, and its core mission of recreational boating safety. Camera at the ready, Sue was prepared to tromp through the brush, bushes and trees at Dreher Island Park in pursuit of good photos of Sea Cadets with their canoes at the Great Portage Race. With a positive attitude and her ever-trusty camera, Sue supported public affairs events and community activities such as National Safe Boating Week, the South Carolina Boating Fatalities Memorial Service, U.S. Navy Sea Cadets Great Portage Race, Clemson University s 4H2O Youth Water Science Camp, and the U.S. Army Safety Stand-down at Fort Jackson. As Human Resources Flotilla Staff Officer, she stepped up in January 2014 to learn the position and the requirements of the job, then guided prospective members and applicants through the laborious and lengthy membership process with incredible patience and kindness. Because of Sue s tireless efforts, the flotilla continues to strengthen its membership. Thank you, Sue. Page 3

4 Festus Burchfield, Flotilla Commander This year so far we have completed 23 patrols with operational facility Voyager under orders from Station Charleston, including three land events: Fort Jackson Safety Stand-down 22APR, Gilbert Peach Festival 04JUL and Columbia s Veterans Day Parade 11NOV. In addition to providing safety zones for regattas and scheduled water events, on-water and land training has been extended to include our northern region flotillas this year, such as the boating crew training weekend in August. I am pleased to announce the appointment of 2015 Flotilla Staff Officers: Communications FSO-CM Kenneth Plesser Communication Services FSO-CS Barbara Burchfield Diversity FSO-DV Peggy Peterson Finance FSO-FN Barbara Burchfield Human Resources FSO-HR Festus Burchfield Information Systems FSO-IS Michael Mikutaitis Marine Safety FSO-MS Scott Iverson Materials FSO-MA Michael Mikutaitis Member Training FSO-MT Barbara Burchfield Operations FSO-OP Festus Burchfield Public Affairs FSO-PA Billy Lindsay Public Education FSO-PE Kent McCoin Program Visitors-RBS FSO-PV Scott Iverson Secretary/Records FSO-SR Lucy Wingard Vessel Examinations FSO-VE Clay Goodwin In addition to the Staff Officer positons, special event appointments are: John Mezynski Chairman, National Safe Boating Week Steven Pstrak Parade Coordinator ( Parade Meister ) My sincere thanks to everyone who stepped up to take a leadership role next year. We have some challenges ahead that will be more attainable and more fun with a little help from everyone. If you are interested in becoming a Flotilla Staff Officer Assistant, just mention it to me or the FSO. Also, we could use a grant writer, mentors for new members, and a boat show coordinator. For many of us who knew him, the passing of Bob Mathewes, Flotilla 12-8 Charleston, in December was a sad day. We will miss him and his highly proficient standards that set him apart. The December 29 flotilla meeting is cancelled. Instead, I m asking Flotilla Staff Officers and any interested members to meet 1300 December 29 at the Lexington Library conference room #1 to make plans and prepare for 2015 flotilla activities. I hope to see you at the Change of Watch on December 1st. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your families. Page 4

5 LOOKING AHEAD - MARK YOUR CALENDARS 01 December Flotilla Change of Watch 1800 San Jose Mexican Restaurant, Broad River Road, Irmo, SC December U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton commissioning ceremony, Charleston 07 December Pearl Harbor Day memorial service 1100 at Patriots Point, Mt. Pleasant. Sponsored by VFW Post and SC Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. 13 December Wreaths Across America ceremony 1200 at Ft. Jackson National Cemetery, 4170 Percival Road December Merry Christmas 29 December Staff Officers Meeting 1300 at Lexington Library Conference Room - All members are welcome to come. Flotilla Meeting Cancelled 01 January Happy New Year 17 January Division 12 Quarterly Meeting & Change of Watch Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort, Ocean Highway at Pawley s Island/ Litchfield Beach, SC 26 January Flotilla Meeting 1900 at Flotilla Island, end of Johnson Marina Road, Chapin February Columbia Boat Show at the State Fairgrounds in Columbia Flotilla 12-3 participates in the Lake Murray Association booth 23 February Flotilla Meeting 1900 at Flotilla Island, end of Johnson Marina Road, Chapin March Palmetto Sportsmen s Classic at the State Fairgrounds in Columbia Feature: Captain Wild Bill from Discovery Channel s Deadliest Catch 30 March Flotilla Meeting 1900 at Flotilla Island, end of Johnson Marina Road, Chapin Special training events, potlucks and public education classes announcements will come soon - check your . During the Christmas and holiday season, let s give thanks to America s service personnel that are serving our country and cannot be with their families and loved ones, especially those in harms way. Page 5

6 Hello from New York! Flotilla 12-3 member Burnette Sheffield sends greetings to everyone from New York City, where she and her husband John reside. Check out that cool t-shirt she s wearing with the Flotilla 12-3 logo! Burnette explains the setting: The Brooklyn Bridge shows clearly, and I think you can recognize the World Trade Center also. This is looking across the East River to our "home island" Manhattan. We live near the northeast corner of Central Park, a train ride of about six miles from where this photo is taken. Hello everyone! Leader in Vessel Exams year after year, Burnette received multiple awards for her performance and dedication to boating safety. She recently received the Commodore s Certificate of Excellence for conducting over 100 vessel safety checks in Bravo Zulu, Burnette! She says, The Fort Jackson vessel safety checks have been the highlight of my Flotilla 12-3 experience. So glad others are carrying on. Where will you be seen wearing your flotilla logo t-shirt? Send your photo to: cgauxlakemurray@earthlink.net Page 6

7 Is Your Personal and Contact Information Correct? Have you moved, changed your address or phone number? Take a minute to check your information on the 7028 Webform website and update your information on Form 7028 (Change of Member Information) Enter your member ID and Member Zone password (the same ones you use for AuxDirectory). If you do not have a password, click on Obtain or Change Password and follow the instructions. You must have immediate access to to confirm your password. Take a look at your own personal information. Scroll down to the Auxiliary Skills Bank System. The Skills Bank is a powerful tool for use by the Auxiliary and active-duty Coast Guard in times of national, regional, or local emergencies to locate willing volunteers having particular skills unrelated to their Auxiliary service. All Auxiliarists nationwide have been asked to use the 7028 Webform and bring all of their information up to date. It s how we stay connected. Using Everbridge to Connect with Division 12 Members Everbridge is a state-of-the-art electronic alert system that uses , home phone, cell phone, and sometimes text messages to inform Auxiliarists of coming incidents such as hurricanes, floods, other natural disasters, and terrorism threats or incidents. Accounting for members, post event, is another use. The Everbridge system is also used to send non-emergency messages, such as meeting notices, coming events and information requests. Critical messages or of an emergency nature are usually sent at the request of USCG Sector Charleston. The messages usually will be sent using all three methods , home phone, and cell phone. You need to read or listen to the entire message and acknowledge receipt by taking the action requested. Please note that Caller ID is the dummy number used to ID Everbridge. Please answer the phone if you see this number. Do not hang-up or ignore the call. These drills are conducted quarterly. Each flotilla is rated by the percentage of response. Let s make Flotilla 12-3 response 100%. Page 7

8 VETERANS DAY PARADE It was quite a presentation with a U.S. Coast Guard boat from Station Charleston followed by two Coast Guard Auxiliary boats in the Veterans Day Parade in downtown Columbia on November 11, Flotilla 12-3 members Clay Goodwin, Lucy Wingard, Scott Iverson, Barbara Burchfield and Festus Burchfield met up with Flotilla 12-1 Lake Marion members Jay Dahlgren, Joe Livingston, William Hayes, John Owen and Willie Hanton. Station Charleston active duty Petty Officer Mahire A giza, E3 William Johnson and E3 Shelley Villamertte lead the way with a 29 foot response boat. There were about 80 entries in the parade and our boats were #28. Beautiful 75F weather contributed to streets lined with people and many veterans wearing their service uniforms. It was an honor to pay tribute to them. Honoring those who have served and those serving now. Page 8

9 MEMBER TRAINING REPORT by Barbara Burchfield You might think November would be a slow month for member training, but not so much! Let s give a round of applause for our newest Vessel Examiner: Scott Iverson Program Visitors: Rafael Fernandez and Scott Iverson This year the flotilla has added 4 new Vessel Examiners and 3 new Program Visitors. Kudos to Flotilla 12-3 members who completed and passed these auxiliary courses: Clay Goodwin - Auxiliary Procedures Course John Byers, Kent McCoin and Peggy Peterson - Aviation Safety Seminar Rafael Fernandez - Incident Command Systems 100 & National Incident Management System 700 Clay Goodwin - completed LMS mandatory courses: Ethics, Influenza, Civil Rights Awareness Scott Iverson - completed LMS mandatory courses: Ethics, Suicide Prevention, Privacy Awareness, Security Education & Training Awareness, and Sexual Assault Prevention Rafael Fernandez - Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Security Education & Training Awareness Four members attended Learning Management System (LMS) Webinar courses presented from November, including Sexual Harassment Prevention. Sexual Assault Prevention & Response, Civil Rights Awareness, and Security Fundamentals: Billy Lindsay, Kent McCoin, Festus Burchfield and Barbara Burchfield. The first Beta test of LMS Webinar on 13NOV was presented by Ralph Tomlinson, Auxiliary National Education Director, to more than 550 members online. Attending this webinar course offered an opportunity to listen to an instructor instead of reading online by yourself, and there was no test! Since it is a national workshop, your attendance is entered into AuxData directly by the instructor. More webinars will be offered - give it a try and let FSO-MT know what courses you ve taken. It s easy. FSO-MT met with and assisted four members individually to help with website navigation, passwords, forms and reporting, and computer work. Need help? FSO-MT and phone number is on the flotilla website Sign in with your AUXID and password - click on About Flotilla 12-3 and Staff List. Have you taken any FEMA or NIMS Incident Command System courses and want those added to your Auxiliary record? Send your scanned certificates to FSO-MT to be included in AUXDATA. Page 9

10 November 2nd started out clear and cold but that didn t stop Clay Goodwin, FSO-VE, Scott Iverson, VE trainee, and Vessel Examiners Festus Burchfield and Barbara Burchfield from making a day of it at SouthShore Marina and two other locations to perform vessel safety checks. Scott was able to get qualified for both Program Visitor and Vessel Examiner. Rafael Fernandez finished up his Program Visitor (PV) qualifications on 12 NOV. Nice work guys! Festus Burchfield offers advice to Scott Iverson about placement of the VE sticker. Scott inspects a life jacket and lets the boat owner know what to look for that makes it serviceable or noncompliant. Page 10

11 Want to become a Vessel Examiner? Ask this guy! Clay Goodwin, FSO-VE Want to become a Program Visitor? Ask this guy! Scott Iverson, FSO-PV 2015 IS THIS A BOAT? WHAT DO YOU THINK? your response and reasons why or why not to cgauxlakemurray@earthlink.net Page 11

12 Division 12 Quarterly Meeting & Change of Watch United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Twelfth Division, District 7 January 17, 2015 Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort Ocean Highway; Pawley's Island/Litchfield, SC Make hotel reservations directly with the Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort at ; Mention US Coast Guard Auxiliary Dinner to reserve one of the rooms in the room block; Deadline to reserve your room is December 12, Schedule of Activities Day Time Activity Location Saturday, 1/17 1:00PM Commander s Call & Division Meeting Francis Marion Banquet Saturday, 1/17 6:00PM Reception Cash Bar Francis Marion Banquet Saturday, 1/17 7:00PM Change of Watch Banquet Francis Marion Banquet Don t miss the fun and fellowship! Photos courtesy of Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort Page 12

13 Public Education Challenge Why is a PE Challenge needed? Last year there was a 12% decline in PE graduates in District Seven. This trend has to be reversed because we are witnessing an increase in boating accidents and fatalities in Many of those accidents include 3 to 4 fatalities in one accident. Sadly, most of those accidents involved boaters who had never taken a boating safety course. The PE Challenge is directed toward increasing the number of our Public Education course graduates with the goal of decreasing boating accidents. We can do it! How is the PE Challenge set up? Beginning on November 1, 2014 and ending May 31, 2015, the District will provide flotillas that increase their year-over-year Public Education graduates with the following recognition: 2% increase/minimum of 25 graduates to qualify $50 Yellow Streamer 5% $100 Green Streamer 15% $150 White Streamer 20% $200 Red Streamer 25% $250 Blue Streamer A Challenge Coin may also be presented to those members who demonstrate exceptional performance in PE instruction or a related RBS activity. Additionally, the two flotilla s that achieve the highest number of Public Education graduates during the year will receive a grant of $1000, to be used for the purchase of materials or equipment for the flotilla s PE program. Educating the boating public on the importance of safe boating practices is a mainstay in our missions. By accepting the PE Challenge flotillas will gain the satisfaction of knowing they have increased their contribution to preventing a boating accident or fatality and have gained a monetary award that helps sustain their Public Education Program. Let s go for it!! Semper Paratus. Bob Weskerna Judith Hudson John Tyson DCO(e) DCOS(e) DCO Page 13

14 WHAT IS A BOATING ACCIDENT? Boating accidents must meet at least one of the six criteria below to be classified as "reportable"; a person dies, a person disappears under circumstances that indicate possible death or injury, a person receives an injury requiring medical treatment beyond immediate first aid, there is at least $2,000 aggregate property damage to the vessel (s) or other property, or there is a total loss of a vessel. COAST GUARD CHANGES PFD LABELING NO MORE TYPE 1, II, III, IV, V The U.S. Coast Guard published a final rule to remove references to type codes in its regulations on the carriage and labeling of Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices, or PFDs. The purpose of this final rule is to facilitate future adoption of new industry consensus standards for PFD labeling that more effectively convey safety information, and to help harmonize our regulations with PFD requirements in Canada and in other countries. Under these amendments, the number and kind of PFDs required to be carried on a vessel will not change, but the terminology used to refer to approved PFDs will. This final rule is effective Oct. 22, MORE WHAT WILL CHANGE AND WHEN Type coding is being removed as a USCG requirement as of October 22nd. However, manufacturers will continue to use Type I-V coding until newer labels are designed and approved, and new standards are adopted. Removing type coding is simply the first step in a multi-year process, which includes designing new labels and developing new, harmonized standards. Once that is accomplished, manufacturers will then be able to get jackets approved under the new standards. It s at that point that we ll see life jackets without the current type coding on their labels. Our friends in the life jacket manufacturing community further advise that 2017 is likely the earliest they could potentially see any new life jacket standards on production lines. Current life jackets that have Type I-V coding on their labels will be legal to sell and wear for the useful life of the jacket. Courtesy of BoatUS Page 14

15 Flotilla 12-3 Lake Murray Change of Watch & Member Recognition Ceremony Monday, December 1, 2014 San Jose Mexican Restaurant Broad River Road Irmo, SC No host bar & social 1830 Welcome & Introductions Dinner 2014 in Review 1900 Certificates of Appreciation Installation of 2015 Officers Awards & Recognition Page 15