THE SCUTTLEBUTT

Aug. 2010 U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Scuttlebutt Flotilla 12-8, 7th District Charleston, South Carolina Vol. 36, 35, No. 8-August 3-March 2009 2010
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Flotilla Web Site: http://www.uscgauxcharleston.org

Commanders Corner
Alan Miles, FC 12-8
Welcome to the August SCUTTLEBUTT. At the July staff meeting, members discussed plans for the remaining months of 2010 as well as some preliminary planning for 2011. I am very excited about our future program. With all this activity everyones help will be needed. We have been requested to provide a few more public display booths in July and August, as well as the Holiday events in December. On July 28th, our Flotilla recognized OM3 Brandi Ingram as Sector Charlestons Shipmate of the Quarter for 2nd QTR 2010. The all hands ceremony was held at base Charleston. Please join me in recognizing her for her outstanding contributions. On a similar note, Flotilla 12-8 is looking for nominations for our own Auxiliarist of the Quarter. Anyone can nominate a member, either by sending me an email or by submitting their choice at the next flotilla meeting. The selectee will be announced at the September Flotilla meeting. At the August meeting, the guest speaker will be our own AUXLO, BM1 Miller who will be giving us a briefing on heat stress/stroke symptoms and treatment. We are also planning for him to teach a future CPR class. Other future events planned are the Oc(Continued on page 5)

Vice Commander
Richard Daniel, VFC 12-8
We have recently changed our meeting format a bit so that we can present better quality programming with guests and keep our meeting time reasonable, interesting and interactive. Inside The July meeting was FC ............. 1 our first real jump into this for- VFC .......... 1 mat. Our FC Alan Miles did a CM ........... 4 wonderful job with presenting CS ............. 5 guest speakers. Our own BM1 FN ............. 6 Jason Miller gave us pointers on HR ............ 6 having guests aboard our OP- IS .............. 2 FACS and other training aspects. MA ........... 7 As a bonus surprise, we had our MS ............ 4 Division Commander, Bob NS..N/A Weskerna give us some insight MT............ 2 OP.N/A into the bigger picture of the divi- PA ............. 6 sion. PB ............. 2 The really outstanding PE ............. 2 highlight was the tug boat presen- PV...7 tation by Capt Chris of Moran SR ............. 3 Towing. The life and technical VE ............ 4 skills of tug boats and their tasks Calendar... 8 painted a picture of high skills, Trivia........ 7 danger, adventure and tremendous service to the Port of Charleston ferrying the mammoth ships in and out of our home port. Our staff officers continue to labor
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Confidentiality Notice: Telephone numbers and addresses of members are protected by the Privacy Act of 1974. As a matter of policy, rosters of names, addresses and telephone numbers shall not be made available to the general public or any outside organization. Privacy of all rosters shall be safeguarded and the page clearly labeled. The publication of these rosters, addresses, and telephone numbers on any computer on-line service including the Internet is prohibited by the Privacy Act of 1974. The Auxiliary is guided by the current equal opportunities policies of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. No Person shall be subject to

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Member Training
Bob Mathewes, SO-MT
he AUXACN (AUXNAV) class is moving into the home stretch. We still have twelve of the thirteen students we started with. They are applying themselves and I appreciate their efforts. When the AUXACN class is over (sometime in September) I will consider offering one more Specialty Course class this calendar year. The newly revised AUXCOM class looks like a good possibility but I am open to suggestions. Bob Mathewes, SO-MT

you click on submit The majority of problems are omissions. The next most common is the omission of one digit in a patrol order number. There are still folks who are not reporting hours. Thirty-three of our one hundred members have reported hours for the year. I know that is the majority of our activity but not all of it. The AUXINFO/AUXDATA page that John Sikes has posted on our flotilla web site and which is updated on a weekly basis should prevent any REYRs occurring this year. If you cant access the page contact me and I will tell you how you stand with your qualification(s). Bob Mathewes, FSO-IS

Publications
Bob Mathewes, FSO-PB
ost of the elected and appointed officers of the flotilla came through again this month with articles. I will, once again, credit the missing articles to the Summer doldrums. Sometime before the deadline passes in August you need to get a large pitcher of sweet tea, a well air conditioned room and your word processor together. Then sit down for whatever time it takes to write your report to the flotilla on what has occurred in your area of responsibility since the last issue. Bob Mathewes, FSO-PB

Public Education
Chuck Chirila, FSO-PE

Information Services
Bob Mathewes, FSO-IS

or the most part you are doing a good job in filling out your 7029s, 7030s and other forms. I would urge you to read over them before

y the time this article appears, the Boating Skills & Seamanship program will have been completed with five graduates. Bravo Zulu!!! The next boating program, About Boating Safety, will be conducted this fall. With all the new members, you are encouraged to attend this program and/or the BS&S program when offered. You will need them to become both BQ qualified and Crew qualified. For clarification, the BS&S program is much more detailed and informative. Firm dates will be forthcoming. Also, if instructing is your calling as a member of the USCG Aux, the Instructor qualifications (open book test and demonstration) are very easy to complete. Feel free to contact me for more information. Remember one of the Auxiliarys goals is to promote boating safety through education to the boating public. Semper Paratus and Safe Boating! Chuck Chirila, FSO-PE

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Secretary Records
Meeting Minutes
The 14 July meeting was called to order at 1900

Human Resources-Paul Thomas gave an update on the people and applications status of a large group of new members. Publications- Bob Mathewes made a request to get articles in on time. Member Training- Bob Mathewes reported that the AUXACN class was still in progress. Information Services-Bob Mathewes said the membership is doing a much better job turning in their 7029 hours and the report shows a very favorable trend. Communication- Dean Creed- No report Operations-Joe Fleming reported that we now have two boats back from maintenance and ready for patrols. Navigational Services-Joe Fleming- No report. Communications Services- John Sikes- No report Materials- Tom Beauchemin reported that the demand for materials had slowed as we moved out of the Boat Show season. Tom noted we are in good shape at this time. Vessel Exams- Paul Berka reported that there would be a vessel exam blitz at the Wappoo Creek boating landing on 24 July from 0900 to1200. Public Affairs-Barbara Thibodaux- No report. Historical Committee- Marguerite BishopNo report
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with the Pledge of Allegiance lead by FC Alan Miles. Those present: Attendee list not available. Visitors: Were presented to the membership and a warm welcome was given to all. FC Alan Miles gave a general sector report covering DNR and the greatly reduced manpower they have suffered as a result of the budgetary cutbacks. Discussed were the website for both our flotilla as well as the D7. FC Miles also reported activation of reserves as part of the Gulf oil spill and a possible need for qualified Auxiliarists to deploy to the Gulf as volunteers. It was noted that volunteers must have specifically needed qualifications. FC Miles noted an aggressive program to bring in interesting and talented guest speakers for each of our remaining 2010 meetings. He also discussed upcoming needs by the membership for the balance of 2010 with a jump start on 2011. VFC Daniel called for the Staff Officers condensed reports so that more time could be utilized for our guess speakers. Finance- Frank Leister- A printed report was circulated throughout the membership for their review and comments. Marine Safety- Bob Orenstein reported that Gary Barnum continues to give us lots of his extra time for the program. He noted a MER class by Mr. Barnum on Saturday, 17 July in the Brass Buckle.

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Fellowship Committee- Marguerite BishopAbsent but Agnes Wright and Eric Kilpatrick noted refreshments would be served at business close. VFC Daniel, with no further reports, tuned the meeting back over to FC Miles. Guest speakers BM1 Jason Miller, Division Commander, Bob Weskerna and Tug Boat Capt. Chris, with Moran towing made their informative presentations. Old Business: None discussed New Business: None discussed Comments by Membership: Some general items were brought up and commented on until all matters were cleared. Meeting was adjourned at 2045 followed by fellowship. Respectfully submitted: Richard Daniel

Communications
Dean Creed, FSO-CM

Vessel Examinations
Paul Berka, FSO-VE s of July 24, 2010, 12-8 has completed sixty-four Vessel Safety Checks. A number of the VE's have not met their requirement of five Vessel Safety Checks for the current year. Our next scheduled blitz will be at the County Farm Landing from 0900 to 1200 hours on August 15, 2010. The blitz at Wappoo Cut Landing on July 24 was cancelled because by 0900 hours the parking lot was full. I would like to thank Bob Mathewes for making the journey to the landing. Paul H. Berka, FSO-VE

hanks to Joe Fleming and Bob Mathewes for joining me in conducting a successful Radio Net on 21 July. We evaluated our capacity for communications between one base and two mobile AUX Radio Facilities. Things worked fine, but our flotilla needs more radio facilities to increase our coverage & reliability, which could be key in supporting the active duty side if asked. All it takes is: (1) Earn your TCO Certification or pass the course mentioned below, and (2) Properly install a VHF or amateur radio. If you earned TCO qualification in our course last year, please follow -through and help us increase our communications capacity by installing a radio then calling me to inspect it. I encourage all members to review the contents of the new Communications Specialty course at www.cgaux.org/ training/AUXCOM.html . It is great knowledge for anyone involved in boating. Let me know if you're interested - if enough members are, I will coordinate the course. Dean Creed, FSO-CM

Marine Safety
Bob Orenstein, FSO-MS

he Pollution Investigator training is going full throttle again. In the coming months, there will be another boom deployment and everyone who has completed the PI class will have an opportunity of sitting for "THE BOARD". This is run by the Gold Side and must be completed to receive the PI designation. Any questions, call me. Bob Orenstein, FSO-MS

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tober Cookout/Fish-Fry, the November Elections, and the December Parades and Awards Banquet. Please check the calendar on the Website often for details on future events. The Flotilla Web site can be found at www.uscgauxcharleston.org. We have several new members who have enlisted recently into the Auxiliary. They are Robert B. Dyer, James L Byrd, Laura V. Meehan, William T. Meehan, Pamela G. Bray, Dwaine G. Harris, and Matthew G. Seel. Its worth noting that Matthew G. Seel is the official 100th member of Flotilla 12-8 and an article was submitted to District 7 for publication. I wish to personally welcome all the new members and challenge them to find an area of interest and dig in, but dont forget to have fun along the way. A Bravo Zulu to FSO-HR Paul Thomas for his time and talents recruiting some great new members. Alan J.P. Miles, FC Ill see everyone at the next monthly meeting. Semper Paratus,
(VFC, Continued from page 1)

under loads that are designed for more than one person. Most staff positions really need you to help. Give at least one weekend a month for 2010 and watch accomplishments grow as we enjoy each others fellowship. Clear up any REYR so you can help FC Alan have the best Flotilla in the Division. See you at the August meeting. Richard Daniel, VFC

Communication Services John Sikes, FSO-CS

hats my job in the flotilla? If youre interested, the answer to this question may be found in The Guide for

the Communications Services Officer. A brief description is copied below. The Communications Services (CS) program is aimed at the improvement of internal Auxiliary communications by utilizing technology to facilitate the relay of information between Auxiliary members and down the Auxiliary chain of leadership and management. The CS Program provides support services to facilitate internal Auxiliary communications and improve the Auxiliarys capability to achieve its goals and accomplish its mission. In 1998 an Auxiliary Long Range Planning Committee identified a number of internal communications problems. In their report, "Communications within the Coast Guard Auxiliary," they made eleven recommendations for improving these problems. Five of these recommendations provided much of the foundation for the CS program, which was established by the Chief, Director of Auxiliary in February 1999. Since its establishment, there has been rapid growth of the CS program. Much of this growth is due to the value of the technology to our activities, the efforts of CS Officers, and advances in available tools. The CS Officer's Guide provides CS Officers at all levels a tool that provides them easy access to the information needed to effectively perform their jobs and to focus CS activities where they are most needed. Use of an electronic document for the CS Officer's Guide allows use of the CS Guide Section capabilities of hypertext, which has permitted us to include both needed policy and how-to-do-it information in one, easy to access document. John Sikes, FSO-CS

Have you filed out your 7029 for July? If not, why not?

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Finance
Frank Leister, FSO-FN
t is that time of year again, dues time. As of now, you owe the flotilla $35 annual dues for the year 2011. These dues are collected now and paid, usually in the first quarter of 2011. District 7 and Division 12 get $26 of your annual dues. The flotilla retains $9. Should one member fail to pay their dues, the District/Division portion still gets billed and paid. Do the math, and you will see one member failing to pay sops up three members flotilla's retention. You will get an email around August 1st billing your dues. The email will come from your records in AUXDATA. If your email is not up to date, your diligent FSO-FN will track down your operative email and bill you. If you do not respond, you will be called. Pursuing reluctant nonpayers isn't any fun or very useful. You can, of course, avoid all this by sending a check now, made out to: USCG Flotilla 128 for $35. Send to: Frank Leister PO Box 122 Jonas Ridge, NC 28641 If you have questions, email me at [email protected] or call me at 843-9911118. Don't wait for the email bill. Pay now, please. Frank Leister, FSO-FN

Public Affairs
Barbara Thibodeaux,

t has been pretty quiet on the PA front. We participated in two Emergency Preparedness Expos last month, one at Lowes James Island and the other organized by the Town of Isle of Palms. The latter had a real heavy turnout and the town plans to repeat it again next year. At both events we had active duty personnel and a Coast Guard vessel in addition to our participation. We will have participated in another Expo at Lowes on Northwoods Blvd. by the time you read this. We have been reminded by Sector Charleston to set aside September 18th to participate in the Clean Beach Sweep at Folly Beach. Please put this on your calendar and plan to participate. Barbara Thibodeaux, FSO-PA

Human Resources
Paul Thomas, FSO-PS

Editorial
We have the good fortune to have MST2 Gary Barnum at Sector Charleston. Gary has spent many hours of his own off duty time training members of Division 12 in various aspects of the Trident Program and Marine Environmental Response. All this has been done in addition to his regular duties. Bravo Zulu, Gary! R.H.M.

s of July I have submitted the Flotillas 101st. member application to the FC to forward up to division. I continue to pursue the twenty-six applications that are still outstanding. We currently have three applications in progress. Remember recruitment is a joint effort and I thank all the members that send potentially new members my way. Any suggestions from past HRs on how to improve my recruitment efforts would be appreciated. Paul V. Thomas, FSO - HR

Beat the Heat. Come to the Flotilla Meeting. Have a real cool time.

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Nautical Trivia
The question last month was to identify the sequence of three letters that preceded the adoption of SOS as the international distress signal in 1908. The question elicited the largest number of responses we have had to any question this year. Eight people correctly said that the letters CQD were used prior to the adoption of SOS. CQ was the signal that was used to transmit the phrase All Stations This is still the call you frequently hear on VHF radio to proceed an important message for mariners. It is now rendered as Hello all stations given three times. The D that followed CQ indicated distress. The three letter transmission then reads as All stations: Distress. The eight people who found the correct answer included two brand new players. They are James Andrews of Flotilla 12 -12 and Chris Heironimus of 12-8. James gave me a very interesting story on an early rescue at sea involving the use of CQD Six more regulars submitted correct answers .They are Karen Andrews, Dean Creed, Reggie Hollar, Dick McLaren, John Sikes and Agnes Wright. With the use of GPS for navigation purposes becoming common the Coast Guard the Coast Guard terminated transmission of LORAN C signals on 8 February of this year. Loran was a terrestrial radio navigation system using low frequency radio transmitters that used multiple transmitters to determine the location and speed of the receiver. LORAN, which stands for Long Range Navigation, was originally developed to provide radio navigation service for U.S. coastal waters & was later expanded to include complete coverage of the continental U.S. as well as most of Alaska. Twenty-four U.S. LORAN-C stations work

in partnership with Canadian and Russian stations to provide coverage in Canadian waters and in the Bering Sea. The system provided better than 0.25 nautical mile absolute accuracy for suitably equipped users within the published areas. and provided navigation and location, services for both civil and military air, land and marine users. Dedicated Coast Guard men and women have done an excellent job running and maintaining the LORAN-C signal for 52 years. It is a service and mission of which the entire Coast Guard can be proud. On 1 April 1986 a Coast Guard LORAN station came under attack. Where was the station located and who were the attackers?

Partner Visitor
Rick Miller, FSO-PV

P I

aul Thomas passed the test for Dealer Visitation and will complete his required trainee visits in the next 30 days. Pauls qualification will enable the flotilla to expand our coverage in North Charleston and Charleston Air Force Base Outdoor Recreation Center. Rick Miller, FSO-PV

Materials
Tom Beauchemin, FSO-MA
am looking for someone who would enjoy a bit of a quest. I have been asked to locate some materials from several different sources to help the cause and could use your help. This could be interesting and would give you the opportunity to see what the materials position is about. Please contact me at 843 873 0363 and leave a message Thank You Tom Beauchemin FSO-MA

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August 2010
SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 8 15 22 29

2 9
New Moon

3 10 17 24
Full Moon

4 11
Flotilla Meeting 1900

5 12 19 26

6 13 20 27

7 14 21 28

16 23 30

18 25

31

Flotilla Officers
Flotilla Commander Alan Miles [email protected] Finance Frank Leister [email protected] Flotilla Vice Commander Richard Daniel [email protected] Human Resources Paul Thomas [email protected] Communications Dean Creed [email protected] Communication Systems John Sikes [email protected]

Information Services Materials Bob Mathewes Tom Beauchemin [email protected] [email protected] Navigational Services Joe Fleming [email protected] Public Education Chuck Chirila [email protected] Operations Joe Fleming [email protected] RBS Visitor Rick Miller [email protected]

Marine Safety Member Training Bob Orenstein Bob Mathewes [email protected] [email protected] Public Affairs Publications Barbara Thibodeaux Bob Mathewes [email protected] [email protected] Secretary Records Vacant

Vessel Examination Paul Berka [email protected]

IPFC Joe Fleming [email protected]