2 minute read
Small Boat Station’s Cloin pursuing dream job
from US Coast Guard 2020
by Cooke NC
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Boatswain’s Mate Victoria Cloin is shown at the controls of a boat at Small Boat Station Elizabeth City.
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Photo courtesy US Coast Guard U.S. COAST GUARD EDITION, The Daily Advance
, Frida y, July 31, 2020
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Growing up in Florida, Victoria Cloin saw joining the U.S. Coast Guard as her dream job. She envisioned being able to help enforce laws and save lives on the water. Now in her fourth year with the Coast Guard, the boatswain’s mate is getting a chance to do both. The 22-year-old Orlando native is currently stationed at the Small Boat Station at Base Elizabeth City. Cloin said she enjoys the assignment. “We have a large area of responsibility allowing us to always go somewhere and explore,” she said. Besides enforcing laws and treaties, Cloin said her job duties include being responsible for dispatching search and rescue assets in “a dynamic and challenging area of responsibility.” Cloin says being in the Coast Guard is a good fit for her because she enjoys both the teamwork and the sense of community. “I like being able to wake up and enjoy what I do and not make it seem like a job,” she said. “In the Coast Guard we take care of each other — whether it’s for a small thing like covering someone’s duty to be with family, or something as significant as assisting with a dire financial situation.” Cloin also enjoys being stationed in Elizabeth City. “I love the large support from the community,” she said. Cloin said her first duty station was Sector Humboldt Bay in Eureka, California where she served as a “non-rate” from May 2017 until April 2018. The most significant mission she’s participated in recently involved the rescue of a couple and their cat from a sinking vessel. Cloin participated in the June 13 rescue of Robert and Mim Reiheld of Edenton and their cat, Spook, after their 50-foot houseboat, The Lotus Eater, started taking on water on the Scuppernong River. An Elizabeth City-based aircrew hoisted the Reihelds off the sinking houseboat while Cloin and her crewmates ferried Spook safely to shore. “The Coast Guard rescue operation was impressively well-coordinated,” said Mimi Reiheld, describing the rescue to the Chowan Herald. “It seemed to go just as practiced, only far better. Our rescue swimmer, the helo crew, the small-boat crew that rescued a terrified cat from atop a flooded and debris-choked interior doorway, were total pros. Those eight men and women were kind, reassuring, resourceful, and above all, quietly competent. They and their shipmates truly live their words, ‘honor, respect, and devotion to duty,’ and Rob and I couldn’t be more grateful.” Cloin, who recently got engaged, said the Coast Guard provides a unique opportunity for young adults. “If you show the maturity and ambition there are no limits,” she said. Besides the National Defense Service Medal, Cloin has earned a number of other honors and awards in the Coast Guard. They include the Good Conduct Medal, Pistol Sharpshooter, Communications Watch stander, Boat Crewmember, Coxswain, Officer Of the Day and Boarding Team Member.
