Shipmates,
Thank you for your extraordinary efforts in 2010 to promote recreational boating safety and accomplish the maritime safety, maritime security and maritime stewardship missions of our service. The members of our Division achieved record levels of execution in our core mission areas. In many mission areas our division leads the District in both total mission execution and per-member mission execution.
As we start a new year it is important and useful to reflect on what has made this possible.
Member initiative and dedication to duty
The fundamental factor in our success is your desire and willingness to serve – to volunteer and, once committed, to follow through.
Important and accessible missions leading to capacity, capability and readiness
We are successful insofar as you have missions that:
- We are authorized to accomplish
- For which we are provided or can provide for ourselves the required funding, resources and training
- Are important – a key measure of which is that they are valuable and interesting to the members who participate and attract new members
In the words of the Auxiliary mission statement we, “contribute to the safety and security of our citizens, ports, waterways and coastal regions.” This mission statement encompasses our traditional recreational boating safety missions as well as a huge range of potential opportunities to serve beyond our traditional mission set. In the last decade we’ve seen real interest from our active duty, reserve and civilian shipmates in integrating Auxiliarists into more mission areas. In many cases this interest has become enthusiasm as a few members have proven themselves, and in so doing proven all of us, filling specific roles.
The opportunity to augment presents challenges to both the individual member and to our Flotilla and Division leadership. On an individual basis members are faced with many options, few well-defined pathways to success, and the need to overcome many milestones (e.g. classes, direct operational status, computer access, mandated training) just to get started.
Your leadership is faced with balancing the needs of members pursing these expanded opportunities with the interest of members in our traditional missions and the overall priority placed on Promoting and improving Recreational Boating Safety -- the first and underlined priority of Commandant Papp’s Auxiliary Policy Statement.
As I think about balancing our missions I’m struck by a recent comment our Commandant recently made to Homeland Security Today:
“I think the state of the Coast Guard is sound, and when I say ‘sound,’ I mean we’re able to meet the mission. However, we’re not able to meet all missions on every day. We have finite resources, and the decisions my operational commanders in the field have to make is how to apply those finite resources against the highest priority on any given day.”
Sounds a lot like the choices we each make as members and leaders to get today’s job done and prepare for an uncertain future.
We are lucky as Auxiliarists -- we have a mission set which requires only our time and the training we manage ourselves – the RBS mission set. Except for the funding for surface operations in support of RBS we need little financial support. The VE and PV missions can be accomplished by individual members as their time permits. We can quickly qualify new members into these mission areas so they can feel and be effective – even as they await full membership.
I am increasingly convinced that a strong RBS program can be used as leverage to extend our capacity (members & facilities), capability (skills and qualifications), and readiness so we can help answer the call as the Coast Guard faces
“highest priority on any given day”. This isn’t a zero-sum game – RBS is a valuable mission and a tool. Strong and growing Flotillas using, RBS as leverage, provide a support system for those members working in other mission areas and will bring in new members growing our ability to respond to the needs of the Coast Guard and the nation.
History and continuity
The measure of our work is counted not only in the numbers today but also in the success of our units in the years ahead. I count myself very lucky to serve in the Division each of you has contributed to building. Some of our members have been doing this for a very long time and as I look at our success I am mindful that we are the recipients of a legacy of service reaching back over 70 years.
Fellowship
Beyond the value of our missions and the satisfaction I derive from my service none of what we do would be worthwhile if I didn’t like and respect the people with whom I serve. We are at our core a voluntary association of citizens and we need to continue to be mindful of the feelings of our shipmates. Everywhere I’ve gone in the past year I’ve been greeted by warmth and a clear commitment to our core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty.
I am looking forward to a successful 2011 for our five Flotillas and the Division.
As always, please be safe out there and look to the safety of your shipmates.
Warm regards,
Daren Lewis
DCDR 7
