U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 88 8WR

Honoring Our Coast Guard Auxiliary Volunteers!

During National Volunteer Week, we salute the dedicated men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary who selflessly give their time and expertise to serve our nation's maritime community.

From conducting safety patrols and assisting in search and rescue missions to providing boating education and environmental protection efforts, our volunteers are the backbone of our organization.

Auxiliarists commitment to service and unwavering dedication make a difference every day, ensuring the safety and security of our coastal waters.

Join us in celebrating National Volunteer Week and recognizing the incredible impact of our Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers!

📸: Rafael Baez

Announcing our Sail Training Schedule for 2024!
The selected port calls leverage Eagle’s unique ability to foster international relations with some of the regions most critical partners.
Embajada de los Estados Unidos en República Dominicana
Embajada de los Estados Unidos Colombia
Departamento de Estado
U.S. Embassy Bridgetown
U.S. Consulate Hamilton
U.S. Embassy Ottawa
US Coast Guard Sector Northern New England
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)

Public Tour announcements will be made as we get closer to each stop, so stay tuned for more information. Where will we see you?

Go Coast Guard
U.S. Coast Guard
U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May

NSBC Boating Safety Flyers ("rack cards") are a GREAT resource for outreach events! The box includes 100 each of the following flyers:

• Carbon Monoxide
• Cold Water Boating
• Engine Cut-Off Switch
• Electric Shock Drowning
• Fire Extinguisher
• Know Your Buoys
• Inflatable Life Jackets
• Life Jacket Facts
• Life Jacket Label
• Trailer a Boat

Get yours today: https://www.safeboatingcouncil.org/product/boating-safety-flyers-box/

Operation Market Time: the U.S. Coast Guard in Vietnam The contributions of the U.S. Coast Guard seem often to be forgotten compared to the other services. One example is the service of the Coast Guard in the Vie...

Still lots of swans to enjoy at the Brownsville Overlook near Brownsville, MN! With the colder temperatures, we're starting to see a little ice on the water, which may bring the swans in a little closer for viewing. Worth a stop if you're out and about this weekend!

Photo: Swans rest and feed in the shallow river backwaters near Brownsville, MN courtesy of Dave Campbell.

Meet Admiral Club member At The Helm Training! At the Helm is a leading provider of personalized boat training and professional boat delivery anywhere in the United States and the Bahamas.

Learn about At the Helm's boating safety outreach efforts as a partner of the Safe Boating Campaign: https://safeboatingcampaign.com/news/partner-profile-at-the-helm-training/

At the Helm is also the premier sponsor of the 2024 International Boating and Water Safety Summit. Learn more and register at www.ibwss.org.

Happy Bday 🎂 U.S. Coast Guard

Happy 4th July 🇺🇸

Smart paddlers know how to communicate with each other with hand and paddle signals. Learn more about in-person paddling safely courses at https://americancanoe.org/education/types-of-paddling-classes-and-courses/ free online paddling safety course at https://americancanoe.org/education/resource-library/paddlesports-online-course/

Happy birthday to the U.S. Army

Here are Doug and Will with our newest "𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀." One of our favorite things to do on patrol is catching kids under 13 wearing their life jackets and rewarding them with our special (and increasingly coveted) t-shirts. 😁

The month of June marks the celebration of Pride Month, a whole month dedicated to recognizing LGBTQ+ culture and history, support of LGBTQ+ rights, and uplifting the voice of the LGBTQ+ community. As a part of our mission of diversity and inclusion, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary proactively supports all of our proud Auxiliarists who have answered the call to serve as America’s Volunteer Guardians and as an integral force multiplier of Team Coast Guard.

A five-year member of the Auxiliary joining when he was 19, Andrew Niquette, who is both AUXPA1 and AUXOP qualified, currently serves as the National Division Chief – Publications, overseeing the Auxiliary’s largest national division, which produces the Navigator annual magazine and the Navigator Express e-magazine. Never imaging to dive into the world of public affairs, he was appointed as the Flotilla Staff Officer – Publications in Savannah, Georgia. AUX Niquette's dynamic and contemporary newsletter design of Savannah Underway led to several appointments as a Publications Officer, including as Branch Assistant - Navigator Express, the Auxiliary's National e-magazine, as the Layout/Design Editor. During his tenure, AUX Niquette spearheaded a complete modern overhaul to Auxiliary national publications, and in the process, produced 12 editions of Navigator Express and has contributed dozens of articles to various Auxiliary and active-duty publications. AUX Niquette served in this role for over two years before his promotion as Branch Chief - Publications Support, where he served for a year until his current appointment as the Auxiliary's National Division Chief - Publications. Throughout the years, AUX Niquette has also served in various other appointed offices on the national, district, division, and flotilla levels.

A proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, we interviewed AUX Niquette on the highlights of Pride Month:

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭?

To me, Pride Month is simply a highlighted extension of our mission to be all-inclusive to everyone that has taken the leap to become America's Volunteer Guardians. Our diversity efforts and commitment to showcasing this diversity at all levels of the Auxiliary never starts or ends on any particular day or month, because pride is absolute. But what Pride Month accomplishes for us all is showing our peers, our teams, and our leaders that no matter our pronouns, orientations, or identities, it will never negate any of our abilities to contribute our various backgrounds and talents to .

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐮𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬?

The ability for all of us, no matter any of the factors that define us as diverse, to be who we truly are without the fear of retaliation is a staple topic we can all relate to in some form. We are in the year 2023, where our technological, scientific, and societal advancements continue to progress in such large strides, sometimes it is hard for us to keep up! Yet somehow, we continue to experience the harsh realities of discrimination, almost as some sort of buffer to all of the amazing advancements we make on a daily basis. Respecting someone's incredible commitment and passion for the Auxiliary also means respecting who they identify as a person, full stop. We are all volunteers to this organization, and the most beautiful part of that is we all have something of value to bring to the table. For some of us, just with a bit more flair.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞?

Any opportunity to celebrate the diversity of our members should always be welcomed with embracing arms! What Pride Month's (tagging along to other months aimed at celebrating diversity) true purpose consists of is to celebrate a group of people who have historically been oppressed, neglected, or abused by governments and society, which in many parts of the world, the LGBT community certainly still is. And instead of harnessing the harsh reality of how those of us who identify as LGBT in some sort of negative way, we instead use Pride Month to spread and celebrate the most important thing that we fight for every day of our lives: love.

Don't forget to register the kiddos for Lake Shelbyville's Annual Kids Fishing Tournament for Saturday, June 3!

📸 Please Wear It

Congratulations to MSD Peoria, IL ⚓️

Yesterday Sector UMR Prevention Leadership from 3 states met at Marine Safety Detachment Peoria to celebrate the unit's professional accomplishments consisting of:

The awarding of the Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation to MSD Peoria members

The Ceremonious Advancement of MST1 Spectorman

The awarding of the Response Ashore insignia and Coast Guard Achievement Medal to MSTC Scott

The presentation of the Civil Service Retirement certificate to Mr. Guessede for over 16 years of service

Bravo Zulu to all these accomplishments!

Feel good story of the week:
CWO Barnhill and SCPO Joyce, best friends in grade school, found each other after being out of touch for two decades. Both joining the Coast Guard not knowing the other had, they reported in to support Reserve missions at Headquarters and were surprised to not only see each other working there, but they were also going to be working together. We may be a small service, but it can also be a small world, and when those two things come together we can find lost friends in unexpected places.