Happy 4th of July!

Shipmates,
As we enter the 2010 July 4th holiday weekend I would like to thank you for outstanding performance and dedication to duty in June. Kicking off the month with the Rose Festival fleet week security zone and inclusive of a huge list of activities including operation safe summer recreational boating safety classes, vessel exams and program visits, the Rose Festival Dragon Boat safety zone, Operation Dry Water, Deepwater Horizon support, the Flotilla 73 Crew/Coxswain academy and all our ongoing support activities. Division 7 members put in multiple thousands of hours in June. You make a huge impact on the safety and security of our region's citizens.

I'd like to highlight three notable items for this upcoming weekend.

First, I expect the recreational boating safety work will be continuing - for the week ending last Sunday our shipmates in Flotilla 78 taught two About Boating Safely classes, graduating 46 boaters who will be substantially safer on the water, conducted 123 vessel exams and put in 31 PA hours. In all 14 members participated in these activities. I don't expect this to be their high water mark for the year. Flotilla 78 is showing what a focused RBS program can accomplish and I'm glad to see a number of Flotillas stepping up in friendly competition with 78.

Second, we will have significant surface operations activity this weekend - including twelve facilities conducting patrols for fireworks shows around our region.  These events are challenging -- there is lots of public interaction which at times can include uncooperative boaters, lots of traffic, potential BUI situations, and late evening returns to moorages followed by late night drives back home. I'm sure the pride and professionalism I see from each of you will continue during this operation. Please exercise your risk management as individuals and as crews. Be safe out there and thank you for seeing to the safety of our fellow boaters.

Finally, as I've been mentioning all month in emails and on the blog… our service is engaged in an all hands on deck effort in support of the Deepwater Horizon Response. A number of you have been contributing directly in support of Sector and Station and we all do our part by maintaining focus on our traditional missions as attention is at times elsewhere. Deepwater Horizon does not reduce the chances of a significant event here in our area, in our District, or somewhere else across the nation. This afternoon our first member is in the air deploying directly in support of Deepwater Horizon. Gary Nepple has received orders to New Orleans and is on his way. We wish Gary a safe and productive deployment.

Gary is going because he exemplifies Auxiliary Readiness. Gary has embraced every possible opportunity to extend his incident management skills through taking classes, participating in drills, and assisting during actual events and incidents.  Through these activities he has become a known, and trusted, partner with our Active Duty and Reserve shipmates.

While we may not have the time or inclination to follow Gary's path directly each of us can purse a path that does increase our skill set. You can take advanced ICS courses even when not required. You can pursue a public affairs or marine safety qualification. You can put together a team to pus the Operational Excellence award to extend your surface operations skills. All of these activities contribute you your skill set, your personal development and our collective ability to meet the inevitable challenges to come.

Whatever your plans this weekend I wish you and your families a happy, celebratory and safe 4th of July.

Thank you for your service, and as always, be safe and look to the safety of your shipmates.