NAV EX 3rd QTR Spec. Ed. 2018 NavEx 3rd Qtr - Spec Ed 2018 - FINAL | Page 22

USCG Aux Photo by Ducan Wilkinson
PREVIOUS PAGE: (Clockwise from top) Spring flooding on the Ohio River creates debris that collects along banks and causes hazards
that have to be monitored and reported; Active Duty Coasties work to remove an obstruction in the river that can pose a hazard to
boaters; Operations come to a halt on the river as a cutter waits for the fog to clear; Auxiliarists train with their dry suits for cold water
work; Auxiliarist Tom Murphy conducts a vessel safety check to ensure that a professional bass fisherman’s boat is ready for competition
prior to the Bass Masters Elite tournament held in Tennessee. ABOVE: Auxiliary training, like this SAR exercise, ensures that operators
of personal watercraft facilities are Semper Paratus.
Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, an Auxiliary facility was the first Coast Guard asset on the case. Auxiliarists
were among the first Coast Guard personnel to respond and were a critical part of the response. The first
facility on scene was a pontoon boat that was used throughout the ensuing search and security mission and
was actually seen in photographs nationally. A wide variety of Auxiliary facilities and personnel took part in
the operation and were critical to the Coast Guard’s mission. The Table Rock Lake tragedy is one time that
local Auxiliary members would have preferred to never be called to duty. But, they were and responded to the
call in a way that the entire Coast Guard Auxiliary can be proud of, brown water and blue water alike.
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