NAV EX 3rd QTR Spec. Ed. 2018 NavEx 3rd Qtr - Spec Ed 2018 - FINAL | Page 13

Semper Paratus - Answering The Call
Semper Paratus, anyone remotely connected with the U.S. Coast Guard knows those words.
But, what does “Always Ready” really mean? For the active duty, always being ready is ensured
by Coasties standing the watch. Be they shore-bound or underway, there is always someone in
the active duty Coast Guard who is Semper Paratus what ever the needs of mariners may be.
But what of those of us in the Auxiliary? What does Semper Paratus mean to us? Few Auxiliary
members stand a regular watch. As volunteers, Auxiliarists fit their Coast Guard service into
lives that are mostly spent as typical civilians with families, jobs and lives that, for a large part,
are outside of the service we have pledged to support.
So, what happens when the call comes? What happens when it is not a drill and, as is true
of many places in the interior of our nation, the Auxiliary is the closest representative of the
Coast Guard available? For a number of Auxiliarists, that call came Thursday, 19 July in
response to the duck boat sinking on Table Rock Lake, near Branson, Missouri that claimed
the lives of 17 of the 29 passengers and two crew who were aboard.
In an instant those Auxiliarists went from regular citizen to representatives of the Coast Guard
closest to the scene and on the case. Active duty personnel quickly marshaled forces and took
control of the Coast Guard’s role in a multi-agency operation involving local, state and federal
agencies. And, the Auxiliary moved into its traditional role, close support of the active duty
personnel on the case. Auxiliarists were there, doing their jobs as long as needed.
For the staff of the Navigator Express, the call came the next day. The first words were “This
is a call to duty.” As public affairs specialists it is our job to keep our membership informed
of important events and, even though we published the second quarter’s Nav. Ex. earlier in the
week, leadership requested that we do so again with regards to the Auxiliary’s response to the
sinking. Though hundreds of miles away from the scene, in an instant we went from regular
citizen to assembling information and preparing to tell the story in what is obviously a tragic,
and sensitive, situation. That is our job.
This “Extra” issue of The Navigator Express will focus on the efforts of our shipmates, both
Auxiliary and active duty, who answered the call at Table Rock Lake. That is what all of us,
ultimately, signed up for. We do so to make sure that every effort is made to keep the boating
public safe, understand what occurred, and to keep our members informed. That is our duty
to those who were lost, those who survived and those who answered the call of distress. It is
our hope that future tragedies like this can be prevented and our thoughts and prayers go with
all concerned.
Navigator Express
Masthead
EDITORIAL STAFF
H William Smith
Editor
Roger Bazeley
Assistant Editor
Ed Morris
Assistant Editor
Curtis Pratt
Layout Editor
Review Team
Brian Harte
Mary Patton
CONTRIBUTORS
Miles Brusherd
District Eight Western
Ralph Fairbanks
District Nine Western
Darrel Kerr
District Eight Western
CWO Jon Tracy
USCG
Duncan Wilkinson
District Eight Eastern
Todd Wilkinson
District Eight Western
NATIONAL STAFF
Richard F. Mihalcik
Director of Public Affairs
Thea Narkiewicz
Deputy Director, Publications
OR express
Thomas Ceniglio
Deputy Director, Support
Robert Miller, M.D.
Division Chief, Publications
© Copyright 2018 Coast Guard
Auxiliary Association, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
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