UXILIARY District 1SR and the
Coast Guard's Research and Development Center (RDC), located in New London CT recently took a major step forward in developing a sustainable RDC-Auxiliary team. William Bowen, Chief of Staff for District 1SR, said this initiative, “provides a golden opportunity for the Auxiliary to expand into uncharted waters.”
Working with partners in academia, other governmental agencies, and private industry, the RDC is the only US Coast Guard facility that conducts research, development, test, and evaluation of new technologies in support of the Coast Guard's statutory missions. The RDC is currently involved with about 80 projects.
The RDC's leadership recognizes the Auxiliary as part of Team Coast Guard and as a potential force multiplier. With this partnership in mind, RDC recently requested Auxiliary support for missions within District 1SR as well as with RDC projects in Alabama and Alaska.
Locally, one project is to develop alternatives to pyrotechnical maritime distress signals. Mr. M. J. Lewandowski, the Research Project Manager for the development and testing of these signals, said that RDC first tested such devices in 2014 and approximately 18 to 20 Auxiliarist from Long Island, Connecticut, the Hudson River Valley, and New Jersey participated in the test and evaluations, which took place over four nights.
Lewandowski said, “We specifically requested Coast Guard Auxiliary participation for 2017 work as we knew we could count on the members' enthusiasm and willingness to endure challenging conditions.”
On 24 April, a very cool and misty night, Division 25 supported the RDC's testing of new LED light distress signaling devices. Flotilla 25-03 shipmates Rose Marie Althuis, Ed Chalé (with his wife, Vivien), Erica Garrett, and Dan Mercier were on hand. They, together with RDC personnel and other volunteers, were positioned at Ft. Trumbull (next to Coast Guard Station New London). They viewed various color and pattern combinations emitted by LED devices about two miles away and electronically recorded the signals as they detected and identified them.
DISTRICT 1SR AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER
FORM PARTNERSHIP
M. Edward Chale SO-PA 25
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