NAV EX 3rd QTR. 2017 NavEx 3rd Qtr 2017 - FINAL Draft | Page 11

SEMPER
PARATUS
Team Coast Guard Steps Up
During Hurricane Harvey
Story by H William Smith
Semper Paratus, in Latin, means, “always ready.” It
is the motto of the United States Coast Guard and is
taken to heart by every member of the Coast Guard.
This motto rang true during the recent Coast Guard
response to Hurricane Harvey. The Coast Guard
performed brilliantly, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary
was an integral member of that team.
Harvey became the first major hurricane to hit the
continental United States since Wilma in 2005.
Ultimately, Harvey grew into a weather disaster of
historic proportions that tested the entire Coast
Guard, including the Auxiliary.
We spoke to Rear Adm. Paul F. Thomas, commander,
Eighth Coast Guard District, who oversaw the Coast
Guard’s response to Harvey.
Adm. Thomas, you had to hit the ground running.
What was that experience like? What was the
Auxiliary’s role working with other agencies during
Harvey?
Thomas: Six days in to my command, Tropical Storm
Harvey formed and it was expected to be a weak
tropical storm and meander its way into Mexico.
Four days later, it was hitting Texas as a category
four storm; very different than [Hurricane] Irma, in
that the time to prepare just wasn’t there. A historic
storm, it hit the state three times, the first category
four storm in the nation since 2005. It required, quite
honestly, a historic response. I was really privileged
OR express
H William Smith, USCG Aux
to help lead that response, but it was the whole of
the Coast Guard responding. We used every asset in
[the Eighth District] and we brought in assets from
every other district in the Coast Guard. Almost every
air station in the Coast Guard participated.
The Auxiliary joins the fight
While many Auxiliary members around the Eighth
District and beyond wanted to help, there were many
local Auxiliary members on the Gulf Coast who were
an integral part of the Team Coast Guard response.
Thomas: The Coast Guard Auxiliary, in particular,
participated. At our incident command post in
Houston, for example, some of our crew went to bed
one night and weren’t able to get out of their houses
the next morning because the rain came that fast.
We had Auxiliarists show up at the ICP and fill critical
incident command positions while we were waiting
for our active duty crew to get in there. But we also
had Auxiliarists who took their own vehicles, high
water vehicles if you will, and rounded up some of
our crew members.
Doing what needs to be done
Thomas said Auxiliarists from all over District Eight
helped out wherever they were needed. Auxiliary
members, particularly in District Eight, Western
Rivers and Eastern Region, were asked to contact
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