NAV EX Florence Edition NavEx 3rd Qtr 2018 - FINALa | Page 17

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Public Affairs Rapid Response Operations Team
The Auxiliary needs to be proactive, rather than
reactive, when it comes to news worthy events,
especially when it involves major events, such as
Hurricane Harvey that struck Texas and New Orleans
or Hurricane Irma, which struck Puerto Rico and
Florida. The fact that we are in an age of 24/7/365
news cycles, the Coast Guard Auxiliary needs to
operate, perform and inform, not only our members,
but the public it serves, to any and all life altering
events.
have been formed, one located in U.S. Coast Guard
District 8, Coastal Region, covering primarily the
Texas and Gulf Coast and another one in District
7, covering primarily the coasts of South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, and the Caribbean.
Editor (Team Leader/Point of Contact/Logistical The minimal training for PARROT team members
includes Auxiliary Public Affairs AUX-12 C School, with
possession of the Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist
1 preferred, completion of mandatory and incident
command system training, and a minimum of basic
qualification II status, with AUXOP status preferred.
Team members are also chosen for additional
operational qualifications, reflecting the need to
report from a position as far forward as possible,
such as Boat Crew/Coxswain, Air Crew, Auxiliary
Pollution Responder, and Aids to Navigation verifiers.
PARROT team members deployed to report on the
Auxiliary response to Hurricane Florence also held
certification in hazardous materials awareness and
operations (HAZWOPER) and team coordination
training, as well dual fluency in English and Spanish.
Given the likely pattern of major hurricanes making
landfall in the United States, two PARROT teams PARROT teams are deployable on 24 hours’ notice.
During the Hurricane Florence response, PARROT
team members were deployed to Sector Charleston
and Air Station Elizabeth City.
In order to bring continuity and professionalism to this
team(s), the Auxiliary has assembled a pool of senior
and well qualified Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialists
1 - volunteers that have the training, equipment, skills,
desire, ability, and flexibility to be sent to an area of
concern anywhere in the continental US – the Public
Affairs Rapid Response Operations Team (PARROT).
The teams consist of the following members, with
local Auxiliarists assisting on an ad hoc basis:
Coordinator that is cross-trained in all other tasks),
Videographer, Reporter and Photographer
District 7 Active Duty talk about the role of the Auxiliary during hurric ane response
OR express
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