Air Station Miami Hosts First Joint Public Affairs Course

Today Coast Guard Air Station Miami welcomed the first-ever joint Public Affairs course for both active duty and Auxiliary. The 21 students in the course are from all corners of the US and include Auxiliarists and enlisted and officer members from the active duty Coast Guard.

Taught by the Auxiliary's national staff, made up of professionals in the business, the intensive 3-day course prepares the attendees for service as a media representative for Auxiliary and active duty units. Additional topics covered are use of modern media, writing for publication, and other related activities.

Previous versions of the course were conducted separately for Auxiliarists and for active duty members. The increasing integration of the Auxiliary into the active duty world is recognized and continued by the joining of the two courses. Graduates will fan back out across Team Coast Guard to write and publish stories and photographs that tell the story of the Coast Guard and its activities.

In today's environment of austere budgets and continuing resolutions, the Coast Guard is depending more on Auxiliarists for their public affairs and media activities. Thus, having professionally-trained Auxiliarists available is vital to all components of Team Coast Guard. Those Auxiliarists who successfully complete the course, the follow-on assignments, and the board interview are designated a Public Affairs Specialist. So far, there are just over 60 such Auxiliarists nationwide. When an Auxiliarist reaches the highest level of certification, the PA 3, s/he is eligible to work directly in an active duty unit.

News Release

Date: February 9, 2011

Contact: Lt. Mary Arvidson

(361) 939-6227

Coast Guard Auxiliary locates missing boaters near South Padre Island

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary located four missing boaters near South Padre Island early Wednesday morning.

Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi was contacted at approximately 7:20 a.m. by a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, stating that he had located the four missing individuals sitting on top of their over turned pleasure craft one mile east of Holly Beach in the Laguna Madre area.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary is comprised of volunteer members who assist the Coast Guard in various missions throughout the country.

"We are happy to have worked with the Coast Guard Auxiliary today to rescue these four individuals. Auxiliarists volunteer their time to train and work with our crews and this is where it really pays off," said Lt. Mary Arvidson, Sector Corpus Christi Public Affairs Officer.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi had received a call from the wife of one of the men aboard the pleasure boat at approximately 8 p.m., Tuesday, stating that they had been scheduled to return at 4:30 p.m.

The Coast Guard launched a 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement boat from Station South Padre Island and a MH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Corpus Christi and searched throughout the night. At 6:00 a.m. Wednesday, Air Station Corpus Christi launched an HU-25 Falcon jet and crew to assist in the search.

The Port Isabel Police and Cameron County Sheriff's department also assisted in the search and located the car of one of the missing boaters near the boat ramp from which they launched.

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Auxiliary Supports Coast Guard as They Testify on Shoaling of St. Lucie Inlet, FL

Yesterday the Coast Guard testified at a meeting of the Martin County, FL County Commission about the shoaling problems in the St. Lucie Inlet. This inlet is the mouth of the St. Lucie River near Stuart in east central Florida. It is the eastern entrance of the Okeechobee Waterway in addition to being the primary ocean access for a large number of boaters, both recreational and commercial, and a significant amount of the boating industry in and around Stuart, FL.

As a man-made inlet, the St. Lucie requires maintenance re-dredging every 4 years or so. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for making it happen, with funding on an 80-20 federal/local split. Sadly, the Corps has fallen down on their end of the deal. The dredging is now due, as the last was done in 2007, but the Corps has no funding for it.

Yesterday's meeting was to receive a status report from the County's engineer, the Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team (ANT), and the Corps of Engineers. The County engineer provided the bottom survey; the ANT talked about how they are constantly re-setting the buoys to match the moving sand; and the Corps talked about how they know the work is vitally important, but that they have no money.

The Auxiliary was there as well - to support our ANT, Sector, and District, each of which supplied their ATON manager. We supplied advance information about and coordination with the County. Also, Auxiliary Aviation provided the platform from which the active duty public affairs specialist took the pictures our ATON managers needed in order to see the current state of the shoaling.

Although no final solution was adopted, this session was a great example of partnerships working at their best - between the Coast Guard, its Auxiliary, and a local community.