ONE TWO — THREE U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY District 7 Lake Murray Flotilla 12-3 Chartered 1947

Columbia, South Carolina Meetings: Last Monday of each month on Flotilla Island at 1900. Next meeting: 30 March 2009

Information contained in this newsletter is for official US Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary use only, under the Privacy Act of 1974. The Auxiliary is guided by the current equal opportunity policies of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. No person shall be subject to

discrimination in the Auxiliary or its programs because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or disability. Editor: COMO Jay Dahlgren, 803-536-6538

Flotilla Meritorious Achievement Medal 1997

I want to thank everyone who worked at boat show; your efforts made this year’s show a success. Our display emphasized the importance of selecting the proper Life Jackets, highlighted the need for boater education and provided us with an opportu-nity to meet the boating public. Looking forward, March is also going to be a busy

month as spring approaches and activity picks up on the lake. COMO Jay Dahlgren with Master Chief has already begun safety patrols so let’s follow Jay’s lead and get our facilities out of storage and begin pre-spring opera-tions. Start by having each facility re-inspected, doing the inspections now will en-

sure that all our facilities are available and ready to go for the upcoming boating season. Unit One has already been inspected and is ready to go so let’s take advantage of this resource. See FSO-CM article on page 4 regarding patrol log books. Also on page 4, check the highlighted article relating to POMS and life jackets/mustangs/wet suits. Most of our coxswains and crew must also re-qualify this year. If this is your year to re-qualify contact either Jerry Ruschkofski or Don Davis and find out what is required to re-qualify .Let’s show the QE’s how good we really are by beginning to working on those tasks now. We will try to get the QE’s here early this summer to do the re-qualification. Finally, our detachment has competed the process to become Lake Marion Flotilla 12-1. Currently it appears chartering is imminent with the official presentation being made at 1500, 11 April at Lake Marion. It would mean a lot if each of you could find the time to attend. Please extend your congratulations to all of their members for the hard work they have done to achieve this goal, and my thanks to each of you who have had a part in making this happen. Ω

MARCH 2009 Volume II Issue 3

To e-mail any of the flotilla elected/staff, click on their first name.

“No matter what you accomplished in the Auxiliary, a mentor probably helped you.”

COMO Dahlgren

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March 2009

ABC 0800 Fl. Isl. ICS 210 Chas

ABC 0800 Flotilla Island

Spring 21 Det. 1 Wateree USAF Rec. Center

Flotilla Commander Richard G. Miner

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BMCS Will Lindsay Group Charleston

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BMC Travis Andrews Group Charleston AUXLO

ONE TWO — THREE In no particular order, the following members stepped up to work the Columbia Boat Show: Richard Miner, Jerry Ruschkofski, Bill Lindsay, Richard Lesnieski, COMO

George Jeandheur, COMO Jay Dahlgren, Don Davis, Ken Uschelbec, Russ Jernigan, Steve Pstrak, George Mendenhall, Juanita Mendenhall, Anthony Giunta, Kent McCoin, Dale McCoin, Ladd Harrelson, Don Carty, Steve Rodvansky, Larry Odom, and Krystal Kingkade. This represents fifty-eight percent (58%) participation of the members at Lake Murray. This turn out is much improved over the last two years, and we greatly appreciate everyone’s time and effort. We focused on two main themes this year: our upcoming ABS class on 7 and 14 March and the wearing of life jackets. We also made significant contacts with West Marine and an elementary school near Newberry. Both will offer us increased opportunities for public education and vessel safety checks; more about that in the coming weeks. Recently, I was given an ACLOC for duties surrounding the boat show, the detachment, and the Commandant’s visit. I was surprised, since I frankly do not believe that I personally did anything to deserve it. In each instance, many members stepped up to help carry the workload. You and I both know who you are! Everything that is done by this flotilla is done for us, and by us. I sincerely believe any awards given are in truth our awards. The ACLOC was accepted on behalf of our flotilla. Individually, there is not very much we Auxiliarists can accomplish. Working as a team, there is not very much we can-not accomplish. Ω Semper Paratus

We need everyone to promote the upcoming ABS (America’s Boating Safety) (formerly ABC America’s Boating Course) class in whatever way you can. Remem-ber, the class will meet on the two Saturday mornings of 7 and 14 March. We had a

good response at the boat show, so it may be conceivable to have a decent size class this time. In any case, we need your help to promote it, so do what you can. And remember - ABS classes are the Flotilla's only source of income apart from our dues. Ω

MARCH 2009 Page 2

Most of us who have served their country in the past can tell you of the pride and satisfaction we felt when doing so. For those of us who have served in the past, and for those who have never had the opportunity of service to our country, work-ing in the Trident Program will give you the opportunity to know the pride of service

to your country. Click on the following link for the full details in earning the trident: http://www.auxmdept.org/TridentMain.htm Ω

"Flattery is like chewing gum. En-joy it but don't swallow it."

Hopefully this year we can get more members interested in becoming a Program Visitor (PV) by highlighting some of the advantages re-lated to this function. Basically, as a PV, members have the opportu-nity to serve as an ambassador for the Auxiliary by promoting boating safety/

education and increasing our visibility among the public. Please consider the many advantages to the Auxil-iary by serving in this capacity. Also, don’t exclude becoming a Vessel Examiner. This position allows you to go one on one with all recreational boaters and that is very interesting. Ω

This article is going to be more about announcements for upcoming member training activi-ties. I had previously announced that I would be doing a TCT refresher class at our Febru-ary 23 meeting. The FC has asked me to move that training back to the March 30 meeting to allow comments from visiting Station Charleston Coast Guard guests who will be at our

February meeting. There are several of us in the Boat Crew program who need to complete the ICS 210 level class. This class is required for Coxswains and pilots. The deadline for this class was originally March 31, 2009. I under- stand this date has been extended to sometime in the fall 2009. At any rate it would not be a good idea to wait and take this class because its offerings are not easy to find. This class will be offered at the Coast Guard base in Charles-ton on March 7 at the Brass Buckle start- ing at 0900. It will be a four hour class. So far the following Flotilla 12-3 members have been enrolled: Jerry Ruschkofski, Ken Uschelbec, Roger Deaton, George Jeandheur, Kent McCoin, and Joe Richbourg. Please advise me or the FC if you are planning to attend. Ω

Marine Safety & Environmental Protection

Billy Lindsay

Member Training Jerry Ruschkofski

Public Education Al McCallister

Program Visitor/ Vessel Examiner Burnette Sheffield

Flotilla Vice Commander VFC Marty Delk

PREVENTION

Richard Miner, FC 12-1

Each of us as members can and do have an obligation to help recruit new mem-bers that will strengthen us as a flotilla. It makes no difference if you serve in a specific office or not. Each of us has a circle of friends and associates that we

talk with or see almost weekly. Why not use some of these opportunities to talk about the Coast Guard Aux. and explain what it is and what we do. Invite those who show some interest to our next meeting and offer to bring them and introduce them to other members. This way it won’t make the potential member feel ill at ease and alone. If all of us would work on this I KNOW WE WILL GET A FEW NEW GOOD MEMBERS. Our organization is not for everyone but those who love boating and helping others and their country will find what they are looking for. I promise you if we remain quiet about our organization and do not talk it up it will remain one of the best kept secrets of the century! Ω

Looking for a lightweight alternative to Adobe Reader? Foxit Reader fits the bill. Version 3.0 adds multimedia handling, so you don’t need Adobe’s app to see graphics-intensive PDFs. It is still only a 4MB download, and it is pretty

fast. As with many free programs, you have to endure some advertising. The installer asks to add a Foxit toolbar and an eBay shortcut, and offers to set your home page to Foxit Software. And though the free ver-sion lets you alter content handily, it adds watermarks that vanish only when you buy the $40 Pro Pak ver-sion. PDF reader takes up far less space than Adobe’s, and runs much faster. Ω

ONE TWO — THREE MARCH 2009 Page 3 LOGISTICS

Lazy Thinking or “Thinking as You Write” Years ago, IBM’s Think magazine ran a contest for employees to collect the “clunker” of the month – convoluted writing from internal documents. Here is one of the “winning” se-lections:

You can include a page that also contains an Include instruction. The page including the Include instruction is included when you paginate the document, but the included test referred to in its Include instruction is not included. Many reports, letters, or e-mails are poorly written because writers do their thinking on paper. They pour out every-thing on the paper and then come to a conclusion while writing through the details. Worse, the author never comes to a conclusion but rather leave the conclusion and interpretations up to the readers. Ω

How do I know what I think until I hear what I say? Oscar Wilde

All five of our ever popular and demanding AUX-12 Public Affairs & Marketing C Schools are sold out for the year! Public Affairs and Publications Officers, Elected Officers, and others interested in public affairs are urged to take a look at our on-line offerings. See

http://www.training.auxpa.org/e-learning.shtml for more information and to register for these courses. Those interested in participating in AUX-12 during 2010, get your applications in ASAP once the course locations are announced. This rigorous course is in high demand. It’s the PA and PB officer boot camp that mixes the glue that binds the Auxiliary. Ω

To the members that worked the Columbia Boat Show: Well Done! I will make out the 7030’s. Last Saturday, 7 February, we had a training day for those seven cox-swain and four crewmembers that need to re-qual this year. Only two for crew and

three coxswains attended. Requalifying without a little review is quite difficult. We have an event coming up on Saturday, 12 September hosting the U.S. ARMY Ft. Jackson parachute Brigade. They will be jumping into Lake Murray. We need every coxswain and crewman in our flotilla to par-ticipate. They are requesting 10 boats. Each boat would carry one of their people to get into the water and help with the recovery of the jumper and chute. Fulfilling this request is why it’s so important for all coxswains that have not taken four hour ICS 210 to get to Charleston on 7 March to take it. Failure to do so will place you in REYR until you do. Let our Flotilla Commander know if plan to attend. The course begins at 0900 and is conducted on the base. This is the only time it’s given here this year. Our FC 12-3 has already enrolled you in this class because space is limited. Ω

Communications Services Ladd Harrelson

Information Systems Don Davis

Public Affairs Marty Delk

PuBlications COMO Jay Dahlgren

Personnel Services Russ Jernigan

The owner of an Aux Facility must maintain a facility log book indicating all personal and CGAUX hours of use. The log book pages should be continuous and not capable of removal or insertion. Common fixed page log books are acceptable, loose leaf binders are unacceptable. A Coast

Guard approved log book is available at the District Store. This requirement must be followed to ensure proper documentation of all operational hours and will be used to verify and determine the dollar value of damage claims. For example if you are using the facility for personal use and you have a major engine failure you might be able to submit a claim to the Coast Guard for a portion of the repair cost based on the hours the facility was used in Aux Service. Please ensure that you are maintaining a current log book and that it is kept aboard. Ω

ONE TWO — THREE MARCH 2009 Page 4

After special consideration for our Auxiliary members safety by the Coast Guard, the inflat-able vests listed in the Rescue and Survival Systems Manual, COMDTINST M10470.10F will continue to be authorized after 01 JUN 2009 for use on facilities that can exceed 35 MPH in lieu of Type III dynamic strength tested vests rated for 50 MPH.

Specifically, the vests as listed in the R&SS Manual are: * LSC 485CG INFLATABLE * LSC 481CG/481CGM INFLATABLE * MUSTANG MD3183 INFLATABLE * MUSTANG MD0450 22 INFLATABLE In addition to inflatable’s, Mustang Survival, Inc. has independently certified their MJ6214 (Type III Float Coat) to the 50 MPH Dynamic Strength Tested standard. For any facility (including PWCs) that is capable of exceeding 50 MPH, it is recommended that an appropriate speed dynamic strength tested vests be used. Ω

12-3 COAST GUARD UNITS

CGA UNIT 4 CGA UNIT 3 CGA UNIT 5

CGA UNIT 7

CGA UNIT 1 CGA UNIT 2

CGA UNIT 6 CGA UNIT 8

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CoMmunications George Crouch

OPerations Kenny Uschelbec

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Some of the topics covered by Senior Chief Lindsay and Chief Andrews: Water temperature 50 – 60 degrees = Mustang Suits Water temperature below 50 degrees = Dry Suit Report on patrol operational conditions every 30 minutes Initial patrol underway report to include GAR and whenever this

changes POMS: Complete 5132s on-line and mail signed hard copy w/

receipts if over $75.00

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ONE TWO — THREE FEBRUARY 2009 Page 5

Flotilla 12-3, Lake Marion Detachment Meetings: 3rd Monday of each month at 1900 (contact FSO). Next meeting: 16 March 2009

INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: Do married people live longer than single ones or does it only seem longer?

The following is a brief summary of our detachment meeting. We discussed the possible chartering of our new flotilla 12-1 at the April 4, 2009, Division meeting. Richard Miner and Marty Delk attended and complimented the de-tachment in being instrumental in 12-3 winning the Silver Mike Award for the Division. Preparations are close to being finalized for an ABS course on February 21, 2009 at Eutawville for the Swamp Fox Boat Club. We are awaiting our order of ABS packets. Plans are also progressing well for another ABS course at Lake Wateree at the Shaw AFB Recreation Center for active military as well as retired military on March 21, 2009. Other events on our schedule are a number of fishing tournaments beginning in March. We hope to at least be at the launching of these tournaments. We will at-

tempt to have a patrol on the water on March 28-29 when both a large catfish tournament as well as a large bass tournament is scheduled for the lake. Below is a photograph taken as we prepared to launch for a patrol on January 31, 2009, with Allen James as coxswain. We are decked out in “Mustang” suits brought up from Charleston by Allen. Unfortunately, the detach-ment does not have any and this limits our ability to patrol during times when the water temperature is below 60 degrees. Pictured are (L. to R.) Larry Odom, Allen James, and Joe Livingston. I was the photographer. Tammy Rodvansky, SO-FN, presented the first part of an excellent program on harassment. We will conclude the program at our next meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for March 16, 2009 at Big Water Resort. Ω Perry Moses III

ALCOAST 074/09 http://www.uscg.mil/announcements/ SUBJ: RESULTS OF UNIFORM BOARD NO. 43 1. THIS ALCOAST REPORTS THE RESULTS FROM UNIFORM BOARD NO. 43. IT

ALSO IMPLEMENTS CHANGES TO THE UNIFORM REGULATIONS THAT WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL INCOR-PORATED INTO THE NEXT CHANGE OF REF A. (CURRENTLY UNDER REVISION). 2. THE FOLLOWING CHANGES WERE APPROVED AND ARE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED: A. CHANGE NAMING NOMENCLATURE FROM TROPICAL BLUE LONG UNIFORM TO TROPICAL BLUE UNI-FORM. B. CHANGE NAMING NOMENCLATURE FROM SERVICE DRESS BLUE BRAVO UNIFORM TO SERVICE DRESS BLUE UNIFORM. F. SUPPORT THE COAST GUARD AUXILIARY PROGRAM BY AUTHORIZING THE AUXOP DEVICE MADE IN AN EMBROIDERED STYLE. 5. THE FOLLOWING UNIFORM BOARD ITEMS WERE REVIEWED AND DISAPPROVED: C. WEARING TWO QUALIFICATION INSIGNIA ON THE ODU F. WEARING OF TEMPORARY QUALIFICATION ON THE ODU. H. WEARING OF THE U. S. FLAG ON THE ODU. Ω

MAterials Tom Callan

Perry Moses III, FSO Detachment Leader

We have just learned that DIRAUX has made plans to visit our Lake Marion facility at 1500, 11 April

2009. Why? To officially present our charter as Lake Marion Flotilla 12-1. This is the Saturday following

the Division 12 meeting. Please make every effort to attend this momentous occasion.

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