Division Eleven Wins International ISAR ... - USCGAUX District 7
Division Eleven Wins International ISAR ... - USCGAUX District 7
Division Eleven Wins International ISAR ... - USCGAUX District 7
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<strong>Division</strong> Seven: Success Through Unity.<br />
By: Dorothy Joan Riley, ADSO-PB, SO-PB7<br />
Page 26<br />
“Changes. Improvements. More changes to come.” As members of the Auxiliary, we<br />
hear those words frequently, and may wonder, “just what has been accomplished, and<br />
what comes next?” The members of <strong>Division</strong> Seven know what has been accomplished<br />
within our <strong>Division</strong> in recent years. We experience first hand the benefits of these<br />
changes, and I dare add, we like it better these days. Conrad Palermo, DCP, and Peter<br />
Lore, VCP, are putting into action goals initially set for our <strong>Division</strong> under the leadership<br />
of Richard Erett, IPDC, while Conrad Palermo was Vice Captain. Like all plans, it took<br />
on a life of its own, and the ripple effect changed ways of doing things that may not have<br />
been anticipated in the initial vision, but Conrad Palermo successfully directed those ripples<br />
to produce many positive, long term effects.<br />
In addition to supporting the individual flotillas in their initiatives, <strong>Division</strong> Seven has<br />
shifted many of the non-public program responsibilities to division level. Many activities<br />
remain by necessity at flotilla levels. All of our flotillas continue to offer Public Educations<br />
programs, Vessel Safety Checks, Marine Dealership Visitations, and other programs and<br />
services that are best provided where the boating public can more readily access them.<br />
Other programs, such as Member Training, Operations, and Public Affairs, to name a<br />
few, have many projects and events conducted at division level, which provide a great<br />
deal of interaction between members from different flotillas. More importantly, volunteer<br />
hours, facilities, and other resources can be shared.<br />
The QE mission in June included vessels and members of every flotilla in <strong>Division</strong><br />
Seven. Thirteen members successfully qualified as crew.<br />
In March through June of this year, we<br />
offered our first <strong>Division</strong>-wide crew<br />
training program. The thirteen week<br />
training involved vessels, mentors,<br />
instructors, coxswains, and crew and<br />
trainees from every flotilla. The training<br />
was organized by Cliff Martin, SO-<br />
OP, and successfully qualified thirteen<br />
new crew members. One of the<br />
benefits of centralized training is uniformity<br />
in training, and the ability to<br />
draw members and vessels from<br />
every flotilla. This sharing of resources<br />
helped make this venture a great success.<br />
Other division level training initiatives<br />
include, but are not limited to,<br />
Team Coordination Training, Hazardous<br />
Materials patrols (HAZMAT), Harbor<br />
Patrol training (HARPAT), and a<br />
Search and Rescue (SAR) exercise in<br />
August.<br />
The <strong>Division</strong> website maintained by<br />
Terry Modica, SO-CS, has become a vital tool in keeping the <strong>Division</strong> on course. The<br />
division maintains an on-line calendar. Flotillas that offer trainings post these dates to<br />
the calendar, and members are encouraged to check the calendar regularly for programs<br />
they may wish to attend. For example, in October, Flotilla 72 in St. Petersburg offered<br />
the Auxiliary Operations Patrol program, one of the courses required to earn the Auxiliary<br />
Operations (AUXOP) device.<br />
In addition to our calendar, the site maintains up-dated member rosters for each flotilla,