2010 Make Way Ramp Education Kickoff on Friday and Saturday

On Friday 19MAR and Saturday 20MAR we will be kicking off our 2010 Make Way Education efforts with a presence at ramps and other selected locations around the region. Thank you to all who have signed up to assist with one or both days.

We've been conducting the on-the-water Make Way mission for a number of weeks and this is a great opportunity to get more of our members involved and educate our fellow boaters before they get underway.

While this is a mission some of us have done for years it may be new to others. To help members understand the issues and to promote consistency in our message I have prepared a mission job aids. I encourage all participants to review the job aid and provide feedback based on your prior experience and what you learn over this two morning effort. Feedback on the job aid approach is also welcome - we are looking at developing these for other local topics like invasive species awareness and cold water awareness.

Div7JobAid_MakeWay_17MAR10A

[This document is uploaded to Scribd - if it does not display please visit: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28537899/Div7JobAid-MakeWay-17MAR10A]
To download or print the document please visit the following link: here

Materials:
The materials we have are described in the job aid.


There are currently materials for Make Way in the Auxiliary office at Sector Portland. Please be aware the supply is limited and only take as many flyers as you think you will use in these two days. Please coordinate with fellow participants at your ramp to assure you are not doubling up on supplies. We are working on re-supply but have not yet received materials. Unless you know traffic will be heavy please limit what you take to 50 flyers or packets per ramp per day. If there is no supply remaining, or if you take the last of the materials, please call or email me immediately and we will work to get you what you need.

Vessel Exams:
While this is not a VE focused operation VEs are welcome and encouraged to do VEs as time and conditions permit. Please focus on maximizing the quantity and quality of contacts which carry the Make Way message. Doing VEs, particularly if someone else is passing out flyers and having brief conversations may be the most effective approach for those particular boaters.

Reporting:
I would appreciate feedback as to where you were, what times, the number of contacts, the number of flyers distributed and any lessons learned via your FC with a cc to me: veryuseful@gmail.com. We will be reporting the results to the Sector Commander. This is a mission which can be reported as public affairs on your 7030.

Safety:
Please work in teams, this is a great opportunity to bring along a newer member. Please wear life jackets for flotation, visibility and to show responsible boating behavior. Per our standard practice life jackets are required if you will be on the dock.

The ramp work was organized by the Flotillas - please make sure your FC, VFC or designated officer knows you are going out to assure proper assignment to duty and therefore liability coverage. Should you need proper assignment to duty the Division leadership would be happy to assist by providing it via email.

Be safe out there and look to the safety of your shipmates.

Thank you for your service,
Daren

UPDATE:

The black and white flyer can be found here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28558024/B-W-Printable-Make-Way-Flyer

B&W Printable Make Way Flyer

The power of "I really appreciate it when..."

Turn a gripe positive

Division Directory update and a video tutorial on auxofficer.cgaux.org

Shipmates,
Many of you will be glad to know that our 2010 Member Directory has been sent to the GPO for printing. Based on the number of inquires I've received I know this is a much awaited publication. Having member information, facility information and all the general information contained in the Directory readily at hand makes us more effective as Flotillas and as a Division. A very big thank you is owed to Carol for her work on the Directory - it represents hundreds of hours of work to check the entries, make updates, manage changes and produce.

Bravo Zulu!

We do not yet have an ETA on when we'll see the 2010 edition. In the meantime much of the member contact, qualifications, and officer list information is now easily available online at: https://auxofficer.cgaux.org/

This resource uses the same password you use to access the eDirectory and ShopAuxiliary.

I've prepared a brief introductory video tutorial that shows the basic features of auxofficer.cgaux.org

Please remember all member directory information, online or printed, is to be used for official Auxiliary purposes and should be treated with care. Just as we look to the safety of our shipmates while operating we also owe them the security of their contact information and personal details.



This post contains video content in HD - high quality playback options can be found in the player. If you cannot view the video content in this post please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhtbwNyN8w4

National Staff Help Wanted: Director Performance Measurements

Shipmates,

I've received a very interesting help wanted request via the District Chief of Staff for a Director of the new Performance Measurement Directorate. If you have the requisite skills I encourage you to apply for the position. It is likely that they will also be staffing some of the Directorate positions with applicants for the Director position.

So why does this matter? The key item is in the vision statement for the Directorate: "identifying and measuring outcomes and results, not just member activity". An outcomes and results focused set of measures will make a far better case to the Coast Guard, DHS, Congress and the President that we are the absolute best value in government and that our efforts deserve to be funded.

In addition there is a saying in business "what gets measured gets managed". We currently tend to manage for recruiting (and to a lessor extent retention) and hours/activity in certain missions because these are the things for which we have numbers. I've spoken before that there are a whole series of things that happen between recruiting and actual mission performance including member training, qualification maintenance, and member satisfaction. We need processes in place which collect the data for our Flotilla leaders to manage these and other issues while simplifying the reporting processes for the members -- this position working with IT will be responsible for moving us towards giving our leaders the tools they need.

What might this look like? What if, as a Flotilla Commander, you could easily track where all your members are in qualification processes? What if the system let members indicate which training and qualification they wanted to pursue (online individual development plans) so you could manage training programs? What if you could access a risk profile for an adjacent, unserved or underserved area and plan your expansion in light of the data and ask for the requisite funds based on how you will reduce the risk in that area? What if you could get an estimate of the lives saved by your PV, VE, PA and PE programs?

Interested? Have a look at the Director position, the Directorate description, and keep your eyes open for more information in the months ahead.

DIRECTOR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS  (DIR-M)

Mission:  The Director, Auxiliary Force Readiness Performance Measurements, under the direction of the Assistant National Commodore, Planning and Performance Support, assists Auxiliary leadership in the development of measurement tools, concepts and strategies in order to evaluate the effectiveness of Auxiliary programs, provides the Leadership with insights and strategies  to better align performance with measurable outcomes, and offers  recommendations for increasing program effectiveness.

Functions:  Under the general direction and supervision of the National Commodore; the Deputy National Commodore for Force Readiness, and the Assistant National Commodore for Planning and Performance Support, the Director of Performance Measurements shall have the following duties:

• Be responsible for the vision, direction, leadership and administration of the Auxiliary’s performance measurement.
• Supervise and provide quality control of the programs and projects administered by the Performance Measurement Directorate.
• Maintain close liaison with related offices in the Coast Guard to assure that service policy and procedures are understood and followed.
• Coordinate closely with other Directorates in developing an effective evaluative process of the outcomes of relevant programs.
• Coordinate specific activities and/or requests as assigned with the Auxiliary leadership and appropriate Coast Guard offices. 
• Partner with other National Directorates and programs to insure seamless integration and maximum efficiency for the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Auxiliary. 
• Write articles on performance measurement topics for Navigator and other publications.
• Design and deliver training and presentations on Directorate-related topics as required.
• Carry out special projects as requested. 

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS DIRECTORATE

Vision: The Auxiliary Force Readiness Performance Measurements Department will evaluate the contributions of the Coast Guard Auxiliary to our principal “customers” – the recreational boating public and the U.S. Coast Guard - identifying and measuring outcomes and results, not just member activity.

Mission: The Auxiliary Force Readiness Performance Measurements Department is responsible for measuring and evaluating Coast Guard Auxiliary performance in each of its mission areas, as well as its overall effectiveness and contribution.

In the area of recreational boating safety, we evaluate the Auxiliary’s impact in protecting boaters from boating casualties.

In the area of Coast Guard Support, we evaluate our readiness and ability to augment Coast Guard missions.

Strategic Imperatives: 

Identify the key sources of data and other information required to measure performance; evaluate the integrity of the data; participate in the improvement of data collection systems and the development of new systems; and create new information collection systems, such as surveys and other qualitative measurement tools.

Identify measures of effectiveness in recreational boating safety nationwide, and by geographic region, collaborate with Coast Guard districts and Auxiliary districts and regions to correlate Auxiliary activities with recreational boating safety outcomes.

Coordinate our efforts with those of the performance measurement resources within Active Duty FORCECOM to integrate Auxiliary efforts and assist in advancing Active Duty FORCECOM doctrine and readiness programs.

Collaborate with each Auxiliary Department and the Auxiliary National Leadership to develop outcome-related measurements of the effectiveness of each of our programs, as well as the impact of those programs on our impact as an organization.

Develop and maintain specific measurements of Auxiliary training, standardization, interoperability and readiness to support and augment Coast Guard mission areas and advance operational doctrine.

Support Area/District/Sector efforts to evaluate the contribution of the Auxiliary in qualitative and financial terms.

Develop Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTP) as well as practical tools to enable unit leadership (Flotilla, Division, District and National elected and appointed officers) to evaluate readiness and performance in each mission area. These tools should be easier to access than the current AUXDATA/AUXINFO resources, and should provide for appropriate drill-down and communication with staff officers. Some sort of “dashboard” may be developed to assist elected leaders with these tasks.

March 2010 Commander’s Comments

Guardians,

As we ramp up to another boating season the recreational fishermen are upon the Columbia and Willamette in large numbers. With our 2010 Vessel Examination stickers in hand we can begin the annual VE checks and this is a great time to catch up on Program Visits to assure our local dealers are well stocked with materials. As you conduct these critical RBS missions I’d like to ask you to do a few things.

First, look to the new and existing membership of your Flotilla and ask a non-qualified or trainee member to join you for your next PV or VE mission. A cursory examination of the recreational boating numbers within our area of operations shows that we only reach a small portion of the boaters each year. We can extend this reach by helping every member become qualified in one or more of our RBS mission areas and VE and PV are a great place to start.

Second, consider boaters, boats and dealers we do not traditionally serve. We have large numbers of paddle craft in our area of operations and they can and should receive Vessel Examinations. The paddle craft community also supports a large population of dealers and clubs/associations. Please look to these dealers and organizations as RBS partners as part of your Program Visits.

Third, in recent weeks the Sector Command has been very concerned with the interaction between recreational boaters and commercial vessels. In March the Coast Guard will focus significant attention on Rule 9 and the requirement for recreational boaters to give way. We can play a significant role in educating recreational boaters on the requirements and the dangers inherent in failure to follow the navigation rules. Please discuss these requirements with boaters on the ramps, docks, in classes and underway – particularly when you find boaters anchored in the channel.

Finally, as you conduct these RBS missions please consider safety as the highest priority. There are a few easy steps you can take:

• Wear your life jacket when doing VEs on or near the water, including while at the boat ramp. Your life jacket serves the traditional purpose of keeping you afloat if you fall in plus it serves as a visible reminder to the people who you are educating and those who simply see you. On busy boat ramps the life jacket also makes you easier to see. 
• Work with a buddy. Having two Auxiliarists, even if the second is not qualified, means we are watching out for each other, you have a second person judging risks and you have a shipmate on hand should the situation go lopsided in a minor or major way.  [Addendum: Gay Sipes reminds us that a a Vessel Examiner and a Public Affairs Officer make a great team - and any BQ member can serve in the PA role - no qualification required]
• Practice risk management. While Operational Risk Management/TCT training is not required for VE or PV qualifications I strongly recommend all members familiarize themselves with the Coast Guard’s risk management techniques. There are a number of basic things you can do, like taking off rings before climbing aboard and around boats, and issues that are unique to a particular situation which you will need to “risk manage” on the spot. 

We’ll continue to discuss Recreational Boating Safety as the boating season approaches. Thank you for your service. Be safe out there and look the safety of your shipmates.

Very respectfully,

Daren Lewis

USCG News: USCGC Waesche arrives in Alameda

Shipmates, Here is a great photo of our two National Security Cutters cruising together from the Commandant's blog.

It is great to see these cutters together. I grew up across the Alameda Estuary from Coast Guard Island, the 378s were a constant backdrop. All but three of the Hamilton class were commissioned before I was born and I will miss them when their service is complete.

VSC Powercard

At the 76 Detachment meeting we discussed the need for something more than a buiness card for VSCs to put up at ramps, marinas, clubs, and other locations to promote VSCs.

4x6 inch photos only costing $0.14 at Costco and many other vendors allows the easy creation of a “Powercard” (Tim Young’s great term) that can be posted at the location of your choice.

Printed on Matte paper these are much more weather and fade resistant than color copies.

Just download the file and print at your favorite vendor, write in your info and post to the location of your choice.

To download and reproduce:

• Go to this link on Flickr
• "Choose the Download the Original Size" and save to your selected location
• Take to a photo vendor on a disk or use the online ordering option for the vendor of your choice
•  If possible have the photos printed on matte paper - it holds up better

I have 50 and I’ll send 5 each to the first 10 members who email me: veryuseful@gmail.com

March Division Meeting

Shipmates,
Our March meeting is being held at the Rose City Yacht Club this month as the status of the Training Deck was uncertain.

1900 Monday March 1, 2010
ROSE CITY YACHT CLUB
3737 NE MARINE DRIVE

Flotilla 76 will host and I look forward to seeing each of you.

Thank you for your dedication to duty,
Daren

Where we are

In support of a presentation at Sector this weekend I did a bit of analysis on our member locations. To assuage my privacy concerns and obligations this only maps to the Zip code location. The pin indicates the center of the Zip code where one or more members reside so in less populous areas the pin will likely be fairly far from the actual residence of the member. This also means that there is only one pin per Zip code where we have multiple members - 12 members in the most shared Zip code.



So how can we use this data?

• It helps us communicate where we can provide RBS and other services to the American people
• It helps identify areas we need to target recruiting to extend our reach or fill in gaps in our service area
• It helps us understand where we could serve members by establishing detachments (although location is only one factor in such considerations). 
• How would you use this information?

River temperatures on the Columbia

At our annual Operations workshop we discussed sources of river temperature. We've traditionally focused on water temperature as the trigger for wearing our various types of cold water gear. We need to be thinking beyond just the determination of when we need to be in our dry suits to a major consideration in our risk management. Today the Columbia is 5.4 ºC = 41.72 ºF below Bonneville Dam near Warrendale, Oregon. We need to be asking ourselves what additional risks come at river temperatures of 40ºF, and not just for surface operations - what about doing work on local piers and docks?

There are a number of sources of river temperature data. For the Columbia I use:

http://or.water.usgs.gov/projs_dir/pn307.tdg/tables/WRNO.html

This data is in ºC so you can use this conversion chart:



Please note, for surface operations the river temperature is determined by the OIC of Station Portland, if it is near to the 50ºF or 60ºF points please err on the side of caution and/or check in with Station. Also remember that Columbia and Willamette temperatures can differ significantly.

AudioCast: Brief on Sector Columbia River

On Saturday at the District meeting Captain Kaup and Captain Myer discussed Sector Columbia River. Captain Kaup will be the Sector Commander and Captain Myer will serve as the Deputy Sector Commander. The presentation was an excellent overview of the new Sector and our role in the success of the Coast Guard missions throughout the Sector AOR.

CAPT Kaup, CAPT Myer, Capt Englebert, and DCAPT-E Kathleen Goodwin review a DVD of Eastern Area Auxiliarist performing missions.

This is an experiment with a new audio/podcast service, feedback is appreciated. If the player does not show above please use this link: http://www.ipadio.com/phlogs/DarenLewis/2010/02/17/Division7org-Audiocast-2010-February-Stand-up-of-USCG-Se?displayMode=website

Help wanted: Lawyers

COMO Vass asked for assistance of lawyers to help members of the Iowa National Guard prepare for overseas deployment. If you have legal expertise and are willing to assist please let me know and I will get the appropriate contact information.

It would be great to see this program succeed and expand to assist our citizen soldiers from States in the Northwest.

District Meeting brief

Shipmates,
On Friday and Saturday (12-13Feb) I attended the District Meeting. There were a number of points that will be of interest to the general membership.

New paddle craft safety course: Within the month a new paddlers safety course will be available for us to teach. Paddling related injuries and fatalities are a major issue, particularly in our area where we have so many members of the public participating in paddle sports and recreational paddling of all sorts. This course is a great opportunity to strengthen our outreach on paddling safety. Tim Young, VFC 76 is our paddle safety lead and I know we have a number of members who are very interested in paddling safety and paddle craft operations.

New Auxiliary Manual: The new Auxiliary Manual may be released within 30 to 60 days. The manual should incorporate the changes to the National organization, as well as other changes promulgated since the last (F) edition was published in 2004. We can expect additional changes to be incorporated into the new manual. As with all policy changes I ask your patience as we determine the impacts and incorporate the changes into our Auxiliary practices and activities.

Online testing revisions: The online tests have been reviewed to remove or clarify questions that were inaccurate, tricky or did not properly reflect a member's understanding of the required material. We had issues where certain questions had very high failure rates, often an indicator of a bad question rather than a lack of knowledge on the part of the members taking the test. The tests should now be a better reflection of our member's knowledge.

Remote teaching of ICS-210: We will be able to conduct ICS-210 training, with Coast Guard instructors, via video conferencing.

Online mission and activity reporting: In the next few years we should have direct online reporting of member activities and missions to replace our current forms. This will reduce the paperwork overhead experienced by our IS officers, ease reporting by members, and should result in more hours reported by members with greater accuracy. Complete, accurate, and relevant reporting is important as we expand our missions.

Metrics: We report to track activity for awards and qualification maintenance but the reporting is also used to manage our programs and determine needs. These numbers will be directly incorporated into the Coast Guard's future SOPP (Standard Operations Planning Project) so our activity will be part of the Coast Guard's overall view of risks and risk management. This is part of the reasoning behind the new 7029 so we can better understand our value to the Coast Guard.

Strategic approach to what we do for the Coast Guard: Traditionally we've gone to our active duty counterparts and asked what they need of us. Captain Englebert, the Sector Seattle Commander, wants us to change our approach - to take the reporting and metrics on Auxiliary capacities and Coast Guard needs and develop strategies which meet needs. This would allow us to go to our OICs and Commands and say "This is what we can do for you", being proactive to meet risks and needs. We'll discuss this much more in future posts.

Finally, I'd like to thank the Division members who assisted with the raffle including Doug Balkema, Mark Murphy, Barbara Korsmo, Todd Mains and Brian Rollins. We also had assistance from the DCDR of Division 6, Gary Kobes and the VCDR Emily Chaput. The raffle was a success and raised over $400 for the District.

Our next Atlantic Area commander is a Portland native

The transition of the leadership continues with the announcement of three Vice Admirals who will serve under our next Commandant. An item caught my eye, one of the three is a Portland native. Pending confirmation by the Senate, Rear Adm. Robert C. Parker will be promoted to vice admiral and assigned as commander of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area.

Parker, a native of Portland, Ore., serves as the U.S. Southern Command’s first director of security and intelligence in Miami, where he directs U.S. military operations and intelligence efforts, and coordinates interagency operations in Southern Command’s area of responsibility. He is the first Coast Guard officer to serve as a director in a Department of Defense command. In his new position at Atlantic Area, Parker will command an area of responsibility that ranges from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf and includes five Coast Guard Districts, 42 states and over 14 million square miles.

For those of you keeping track of modernization this means Rear Adm. Parker will take responsibility for the Coast Guard Operations Command (OPCOM).

Commanders Comments: February 2010

[Republished from the Division 7 newsletter The Daymark, February 2010]

Shipmates,

In January I discussed my desire for the Auxiliary to be where you, and future members, choose to contribute your valuable time and energy. I have established four key principles for myself and the Division staff as we work to make the Flotillas and the Division the volunteer opportunity of choice. These are the principles that, along with the Core Values, will guide us in 2010.

Support the Members by supporting the Five Flotillas and the Flotilla leadership: Our missions are executed by our members as individuals, small teams of members and as Flotillas. The role of the Auxiliary organization, Division and above, is two-fold. First, the organization exists to provide the framework that enables the members of Flotillas to successfully and safely execute the mission. Second, the Division, District and National organizations work to direct the membership towards the missions identified by the Coast Guard. The Division leadership and staff serves the Flotillas. As the Division staff and leadership serve the members working through the Flotillas via the Flotilla Commanders and parallel Flotilla staff should a key objective. There are circumstances where the Division role in a mission or activity goes beyond simple coordination and the Division staff, Division Board or Vice Commander and I will need to assume management and leadership of that mission or activity. This may be due to operational necessity, the scale or complexity of the mission, a mismatch between the skills and assets of the Flotilla and the task, a very short timeline, a directive from District or National, or due to a directive from our Active Duty operational commanders. In this event we must be cognizant that there is a tradeoff when the Division takes the lead. While the Division's role may enhance execution of the mission or activity we have missed an opportunity for the Flotilla leadership, staff and members to take ownership of the mission or activity, develop capability in the mission or activity, and develop as a cohesive unit. Ultimately the Division will succeed when each of our five Flotillas has the capability, confidence, member strength and collective desire to execute the wide variety of Auxiliary missions we face.

Connect recruiting to mission execution with a focus on the member experience: We focus on recruiting and on the output of our members in mission execution. Between these two points we do a mixed job of preparing new members to execute missions. There must be a clear path for new members, and existing members wishing to explore additional opportunities, to move into new mission areas and achieve the qualifications necessary to participate fully.

• The Division leadership intends to encourage and facilitate a systematic approach to qualifying new members in a variety of different areas using an academy model. The academy model has benefits all participating members, trainees, instructor cadre, and mentors. It is my hope the academies will continue to be sponsored and managed by the Flotillas with overall coordination of timing by the Board and Division staff. 
• We need to examine all our processes to identify issues that prevent our members from participating and then do our best to remove those blocks we can. 

Promote personal and organizational readiness: Be Semper Paratus as individuals, teams, crews, Flotillas, and as a Division.

• The Division leadership will discuss, promote and exemplify personal readiness. 
• We will encourage and support Flotilla readiness programs and projects. 
• We will seek the necessary resources and facilitate the training required for members to be ready. 
• The Division will build a contingency planning working group to workshop plans and determine the need for training, exercises and additional capabilities and equipment. 
• We will emphasize the impact readiness has on safety and safety has on readiness. We can only be ready if we operate safely and only operate safely if we are ready. 

Communicate to build tolerance for change: Over the last few years we've seen a number changes in our mission set, policy and organization. I expect this pace of change to increase, perhaps dramatically, as the Coast Guard and the Auxiliary continue to modernize.

• The Division leadership will communicate to our membership that the Auxiliary is in a time of growth and change. 
• We will assure the context for policy changes is provided and help members see meet the challenge -- providing the what, why and how of the change 
• Some changes may be difficult, it is important to remember our role as a component of the Coast Guard and our commitment to the Core Values as we adapt and build a stronger Auxiliary. 

Finally, as always, let the core values be our guide

• Honor: Integrity is our standard. We demonstrate uncompromising ethical conduct and moral behavior in all of our personal actions. We are loyal and accountable to the public trust. 
• Respect: We value our diverse work force. We treat each other with fairness, dignity, and compassion. We encourage individual opportunity and growth. We encourage creativity through empowerment. We work as a team. 
• Devotion to Duty: We are professionals, military and civilian, who seek responsibility, accept accountability, and are committed to the successful achievement of our organizational goals. We exist to serve. We serve with pride. 

Thank you for your service. As always be safe in all your Coast Guard and life activities and look to the safety of your shipmates.


Respectfully,
Daren Lewis
Division Commander