Commodore Gary P. Barth New leaders and so much more...
FROM THE DISTRICT 7 BRIDGE
I
t has been my honor to serve the members of District Seven for the past two years as your Commodore. We started 2019 in a government shutdown. Now, we are finishing amid a pandemic, COVID-19. For the second me in recent years, we have had to cancel our scheduled District Training Conference. The last me was due to a hurricane, and now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2019-2020 has been an unusual two years for us all. Let’s hope that 2021 has a be er start and improved health and safety for everyone. In 2019 we had an excellent year with recruitment. We added over three-hundred members in 2019, but due to a ri on s ll lost members for various reasons. In 2020, due to the pandemic, recrui ng has been low compared to standard mes. Even with COVID-19 we have s ll added 160 plus new members since Jan. 1, 2020. The term limits for Staff Officer posi ons has had a posi ve effect on affected members seeking upward mobility in our organiza on. New and fresh ideas have helped in many areas. The Auxiliary Chaplain Support within District Seven is very dynamic and is an excellent help to the ac ve duty. The use of Coast Watch security inves ga ons has proven to be an invaluable tool enabling us to quickly process new members. The new process has resulted in members obtaining their membership numbers promptly and allows the new members access to complete their CORE training. Auxiliary Paddle Cra public educa on classes have started, and we are currently working on the Auxiliary Paddle Cra Afloat program. The addi on of the Sea Scouts to units within District Seven units has been a success since the beginning of 2020. We have one Sea Scout Ship now with several others on the way to being chartered. Many excellent and exci ng plans are progressing successfully within the District. The use of electronic mee ngs has been a challenge to many of the units. Most units now are very capable of u lizing electronic communica ons for not only their mee ngs but are also having their meetings and have great success with conduc ng public 6
BREEZE
Issue 2 2020
educa on classes. Several flo llas have reported increased a endance for public educa on classes online versus the tradi onal classroom environment. The younger genera on of the boa ng public would prefer to a end online courses as they have become accustomed to the use of electronic devices for most of the tasks for which they par cipate. The new Risk Management Team Coordina on Training for our members is 81% in compliance and required for many cer fica ons. The allowed online group size has been increased from 6 to 10 members for each session and will enable more members to stay current in qualifica ons. The new AUXDATA II has been challenging. Most units are star ng to be able to work with members on how to enter their hours. Na onal is currently working on many problems with AUXDATA II, but it will be an excellent new tool as we go forward. In the first three months of 2020, our members have contributed approximately 153,257 recorded hours. These numbers only go through the end of March 2020. Over 7,000 hours in marine patrols and almost 4,600 of Coast Guard Opera onal Support. We have 123 Auxiliary Food Service, 541 Telecommunica on Operators, 862 Vessel Examiners and 537 Program Visitors. Once again, our District 7 Diversity program has led the way for the NACO 3 Star Diversity Awards. We received 85 unit awards and an increase of 31 new awards for the year. Thank you to all who helped with these awards. The District 7 Emergency Management team does a stellar job of assis ng the ac ve duty and our members during emergencies. Our district is affected by many natural disasters, such as hurricanes and most recent earthquakes. Our district always stands (Con nued on page 7) Newsletter for District 7 USCG Auxiliary
