HEARTLAND GUARDIAN AMERICA S HEARTLAND GUARDIANS BY OUR MEMBERS FOR OUR MEMBERS Volume 4 Issue 3 March 2014
You Spoke, We Listened Page 3 Skills Bank Page 4 Commodore Announcement Page 5 Best of the Web Competition Page 5 New Member Spotlight Page 6 Spotlight on Division 2 Page 7 S.P.A.R. Olivia Hooker Page 7 Spotlight on Division 11 Page 8 Spotlight on Division 11 (Cont) Page 9 Article and Photo Requirements Page 10 HEARTLAND GUARDIAN STAFF Left: Randy Ventress, DSO-PB randyv19@comcast.net Right: Norm Arbes, ADSO-PB shrinemariner@hotmail.com Left: Valerie McQueen, ADSO-PB thebeacon@fuse.net Right: Diane Gilman, ADSO-PB dbgilman@mindspring.com Please email any of the Staff with questions, concerns, suggestions, articles and photos. 2
YOU SPOKE, WE LISTENED Randy Ventress DSO-PB I would like to take Editorial Privilege and lead off this month s newsletter with a short note to you, the reader. In case you didn t see the header on the cover of this month s edition, Heartland Guardian is back! To give you a little background as to why the name change; at Fall DTRAIN we decided to go to one issue of Pilothouse per year. We are making this a hard copy as well as an electronic copy newsletter. It was my thought, at the time, to save on confusion that we could change the name of Heartland Guardian to Pilothouse and publish electronic copies each month. Through phone calls, emails, and face-to-face meetings, I found that many of you were not fans of the change; that you wanted Heartland Guardian to come back. So, at Spring DTRAIN 2014, the Board was gracious enough to vote to bring back the name of Heartland Guardian, leaving Pilothouse to continue to be the Year in Review for the previous year. So, to sum up, you spoke, we listened and now we have Heartland Guardian back on schedule. This newsletter will continue to be By Our Members, For Our Members. This is your newsletter and your contributions each month are necessary for the continued success of this informational media. We want to know what is going on in your Divisions and Flotillas. Articles and photos from our members are the mainstay of this newsletter. If you have a photo pictorial of an event, send it to us with short captions and credits for the photographer, as well as those in the photos. If you do not consider yourself a writer, contact our Publications Staff and we will assist you. You will find the Staff s email addresses on Page Two under the Table of Contents. Please send any concerns, questions, and importantly, your contributions to our newsletter to us. There are two monthly features we are working on for Heartland Guardian we think you may like. One, we will be featuring two Divisions each month and putting them in the Spotlight on Divisions section. We ask our Division Commanders who are in the next months rotation to send us a summation of what happened in your areas and with photos if possible. We will call or email the Division Commanders giving you plenty of time to do this. This month we are spotlighting Divisions Two and Eleven. Another item we are doing is a special section on new members. We will be doing two of these each month. What we are looking for is an introduction of the new member, tell a bit about them, which flotilla they are in, where they plan to go, how they got here, etc. Please include a photo as well, preferably a head shot. Norm Arbes submitted two last month so if you would like to have a better idea of what we would like to have, please go to the February issue of Pilothouse found on the District website. This newsletter, as well as Pilothouse is found on the District website http://a082.wow.uscgaux.info and will be posted each month by the last day of the month, barring any unforeseen circumstances. When you get to the District website, look on the left-hand menu bar and scroll down to Auxiliary Media. We have a great Staff for Heartland Guardian, and we have fun working on each edition that we put together. Our team works well together and I think I can speak for all of us that we appreciate your involvement with the effort of producing a quality and informative media By Our Members, For Our Members. We are looking forward to a great year in 2014 with Heartland Guardian! 3
SKILLS BANK Rick Schal, DCOS Skills Bank is a web-based system that enables users to search for Auxiliary member knowledge, skills, abilities, and qualifications, including expertise not otherwise captured in AUXDATA. It is designed for use in contingency planning, deployment, support, and augmentation. It allows Auxiliary members to input their own information and to update, verify, and check this information for accuracy. Skills Bank provides a rapid match between US Coast Guard needs and the skills of Auxiliary members. It is a single resource that replaces time-consuming and costly methods currently in use to locate specific skills. Most importantly, it allows the Coast Guard or the Auxiliary to access this information. Skills Bank will allow the user to search for knowledge, skills, abilities, qualifications, and/or locations. The search criteria are user-specified, and reports can be generated in CSV, PDF, text, or e-mail formats. Skills Bank CSV files can be uploaded to the current Auxiliary Everbridge system for rapid distribution. Members can easily input their own Skills Bank data by utilizing the following steps; 1. Log onto the Auxiliary website, www.cgaux.org 2. Click on the AUX MEMBERS tab 3. Click on the AUXILIARY DIRECTORY 4. Log on with your Auxiliary Member ID and Member Zone Password 5. Follow the onscreen directions if you don't have a Member Zone Password 6. Enter your last name or member number on the right hand side 7. When your member information appears scroll down to SKILLS BANK DETAIL 8. Click on Correct above Information (7028 Web form) to add or change your SKILLS BANK INFORMATION For additional information there is a seventeen slide PowerPoint presentation, from National, on Skills Bank that Randy Ventress, DCAPT-S or I can forward to anyone who is interested. This would make an excellent presentation for Flotilla and/or Division meetings. The final step will be to train key members on how to access Skills Bank data. Information on this training process has just been developed and will be forwarded to key Auxiliary members in the near future. Note: Please see the new District Ops Plan on the District website, http://a082.wow.uscgaux.info 4
POSITION CHANGE Effective March 20, 2014 I have appointed George R. (Rick) Schal, District 08E Chief of Staff, as the new Auxiliary Sector Coordinator replacing John Ellis. John has served us well for many years, but due to new business obligations, he has asked to be replaced. Rick Schal is also selected as the head of the Skills Bank project for our Region. Como Bill McGonigal DCO 08E BEST OF WEB COMPETITION District 08E Nancy Reece District 082E announces the Best of the Web Competition at Spring DTRAIN. This competition is open to all District Eight Eastern Region websites based on the following criteria: Competition to be announced at Spring D-TRAIN Committee will be appointed to review sites Final criteria to be determined by end of April Websites must be submitted for consideration Sites will be reviewed in August Awards will be announced at Fall D-TRAIN Selections will be made based on: All submitted sites must be on the National Approved Site List Content appropriate, informative, helpful to both new and old membership Layout and design appealing to the eye User friendly Use of photos/graphics Quality of photos/graphics Alt tags on all photos/graphics No broken links Links to appropriate/helpful outside websites Site solicits new membership For more information contact Nancy Reece, DSO-CS at: nancyreece@bellsouth.net 5
NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT! LYDIA SMITH Division 18, Flotilla 6 Gerlinde Higginbotham, DVC-TS; DDC-L Lydia Smith joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary in 2013. Lydia has been working at the Columbus, Ohio Coast Guard Recruiting Office training to be a recruiter. The USCG training and her other interests have kept her busy until recently. Lydia finally found time to study and pass the exam to become qualified as a Program Visitor and is now a FSO-PV. Lydia was not excited about becoming Crew or Coxswain but when she learned about the Program Visitor Qualification she thought this was for her. She is a very personable and a very outgoing person. Lydia enjoys meeting new people and doing Program Visits was a perfect fit. She comments, I hope to be in it for years to come and one day help to develop new ways to communicate or aid Marine Boat Dealers in staying abreast of the current schedule of all PE courses and VSC stations. But for now she will be busy taking handouts to the dealers for distribution to customers. Leon Weisenberger FC 18-6 and Anna Reed FSO-PE 18-6 have served as her mentors. Lydia added They have been instrumental in helping me stay on track through a sometimes difficult course. Lydia s aim is to become a District Staff Officer one day. She not only wants to volunteer in the Auxiliary component of the Coast Guard, but one day also to be in the Coast Guard and have the best of both worlds. She graduated from Cedarville University in Ohio in 2009 with a Bachelor s Degree in Electronic Media. She keeps busy being a musician and fine tuning her skills as an Electronic Media Specialist. She has been performing in different bands for 16 years. NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT! JEFF GEPHART Division Sixteen, Flotilla 7 David Maul DCDR 16 Jeff Gephart joined Flotilla 16-7 in January 2014 and lives in Hixson, Tennessee. Jeff is a long time boater growing up on a lake in Oklahoma. He has done much sailing and power boating plus has extensive experience sailing in the Florida Keys, Caribbean and Carolina coasts. He has a degree from Erskine College in SC and a MBA from Columbia Southern University. Since college he has spent the last 30 years living up and down the East Coast and now is enjoying the Tennessee River. He currently is working in sales and marketing for a manufacturer of medical devices. Jeff is looking forward to the many educational and volunteer opportunities the Auxiliary has to offer. His extensive experience in marketing, sports medicine, and teaching should translate into useful skills to help support the organization. His goals are to finish the Boat Crew qualification within the next few months and then work towards Coxswain. Plus, having just finished the Vessel Examiner certification, he is ready to begin helping local boaters become better educated, one boat / boater at a time. He sees this as a great opportunity to serve the boating community and the Auxiliary. 6
Division Two was well represented at the Big Sandy RV & Boat Show in Huntington, West Virginia January 17-19. This was an excellent example of teamwork in that we had members of both Flotillas 02-1 and 02-3 staffing the information booth. There were eight members involved with this endeavor including a recent transfer into the division. This is how to get people involved and to maintain their enthusiasm. In the photo on the right from left to right John Whiteley, Martha Kean, Donny Cone, Gene Redecker, and Gene Lister. Others who assisted were Malvin Bailey and Bill Turner. DIVISION SPOTLIGHT! DIVISION TWO John Gorell DCDR 082-02 Photo: Commander Lee Boone, Commanding Officer of Marine Safety Unit, Huntington U.S. Coast Guard History Program SPAR Olivia Hooker: First African American Woman in the Coast Guard Submitted by Gerlinde Higginbotham, DVC-TS; DDC-L 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 enter 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. Reprinted with the permission of: William H. Thiesen Atlantic Area Historian 7
DIVISION SPOTLIGHT! DIVISION ELEVEN Jack Wood DCDR 082-11 WINTER DOESN T SLOW UP DIVISION ELEVEN With boating season still a few months away, we at Division 11 try to keep busy with other projects during the Winter time. Metropolitan Nashville Office of Emergency Management requested Marine Safety Detachment Nashville to spear-head a Boating Safety Class for Metro Nashville Employees. MSD Nashville asked Division 11 to present the class. Randy Ventress DCPT-S, a member of Flotilla 11-5 was the Instructor with an assist from LCDR. Doug Salik, Supervisor at MSD Nashville, explaining the legal requirements for boaters. This was a great opportunity for the Boating Public to gain insight into the legal aspects of boating requirements. From this class came the opportunity for Randy to perform Vessel Safety Checks on two of the Water Departments facilities. Also the demand for more classes has a second class being scheduled. LCDR Salik instructing Photo: Randy Ventress DCAPT-S Division Eleven volunteered to clean up the Nashville Governments launch ramp near the Opryland Hotel. This ramp is used for Nashville s Emergency Services to launch facilities and is used by the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary as well. Jack Wood DCDR-11, foreground and Randy Ventress DCAPT-S in the background Photo: Timm Menuier, SO-PB-11 CONTINUED PAGE NINE 8
DIVISION SPOTLIGHT! DIVISION ELEVEN (Continued) Division Eleven participated in a Polar Plunge in Nashville at J. Percy Priest Lake, with several of our members taking the Plunge. We raised over $600.00 in donations for the Tennessee Special Olympics. Photo: Jim Grant, foreground, John Gholson, rear (Flotilla 11-5) and an unknown volunteer exiting the chilly waters of J. Percy Priest Lake. Photo: Timm Menuier, SO-PB-11 To take advantage of the down time during the winter months, we held a Division-wide Flotilla Leadership Course with Instructors Michael Brzezicki and Randy Ventress DCPT-S, instructing. Photo: Michael Brzezicki, Flotilla 11-5 Photo: Randy Ventress, DCAPT-S NOTE: Division Commanders please poll your flotillas and send your submissions for SPOTLIGHT ON NEW MEMBERS as well as SPOTLIGHT ON DIVISIONS each month to the Publications Department. 9
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary History A Proud Tradition, A Worthy Mission District Eight Eastern Region U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Public Affairs Department Please Contact District Historian: Randy Ventress ADSO-PAH randyv19@comcast.net or call (615) 509-6025 For more information on how you can grow your Division or Flotilla History Program. Submission Requirements for Heartland Guardian The following requirements are suggested for articles and photos submitted to Heartland Guardian. Photos should be.jpg format and sent as an attachment. Photos should not be imbedded in the article or a part of a social media, such as Flicker, etc. NO cellular phone photos unless the quality of the photo is clear and crisp Credits for photos are required with Name and Unit Photos not taken by an Auxiliary member or copied from outside sources should be labeled as such Please send a caption with the photo, not embedded in the photo itself NO facial photos of minors without proper accompanying release signed by guardian (s) Articles should be original unless credit is given to the author and permission has been acquired Articles with photos should be no larger than one page due to space limitations Articles should be noted with name of Author and Unit No Personal Identifying Information will be printed in the newsletter, so please do not submit this. Examples are Member Numbers, Social Security Numbers, phone numbers, addresses, or email addresses. If including an email address is important to the article, please have member send via United States Postal Service or via email a letter authorizing use of the email address to the Staff of Heartland Guardian. Deadline for submissions is the 20th of each Month Your assistance with these items is greatly appreciated by the Staff of Heartland Guardian 10