Mark DeVoe FSO-PB E-Mail [email protected] Mobile, Alabama

The July 19^th meeting will be at the Anchor & Shield Club at Base Mobile on Thursday, 1930.

Photo from: http://www.zibivid.com/boc.htm

Flotilla 3-9 assisted in traffic control for the Civil War re-enactment of the TALL SHIPS assault on Fort Gaines. Two Flotilla vessels participated--- Barry Wyatt's NEPTUNE and Nick Nichols' EM-DEE. Coxswains were Larry Patrick and Paul Savage (3-2). Crewmen were Jack McDole, Ken MacRae and Nick Nichols. Observers on board included Barry Wyatt, W.D. Dunning and USCG Chief Harry Chichester. Many cannon shots were fired from the Tall Ships and from Fort Gaines resulting in a fire (simulated) aboard one of the Tall Ships. After an assault on the sand spit of the Fort, a fire (real) occurred west of the Fort, burning a small building. The local fire department was responded. This was really an excellent re-enactment.

Steve Andrews, FC

Flotilla 39 had a picnic at the beautiful home of Nick & Winnie Nichols located on the Dog River. If you couldn't make it you surely missed out. This was a must do event. Everyone had a great time. Some arrived by water and others by automobile. Yours truly had a ball cooking up about sixty pounds of baby back ribs. I precooked them in the morning and finished them on Nick's fine grill. They must have been OK for they were all gone. Everyone brought a covered dish and we had the food! All the food was wonderful. Winnie and Maryanne engineered the event. The tables were outside decorated red-checkered tablecloths. The weather was perfect. Lots of people participated in playing horseshoes. Nick had bags of crawfish down on his dock combined with WD's huge bunch of boiled shrimp. That was a gas. There were tons of people there, too many to count. The party commenced about 1430 and ended about 1930. Dang what fun! I wish to thank Winnie, Nick, and Maryanne Worley for this magnificent party.

Alex Grimes

June 29 – July1, 2001

As part of the annual requirements for Pilots, Aircrew, and Observers Mike Grimes, Harold Martin, Ron Wolfe, Larry Patrick and myself, along with approx 40 others from District 8CR attended the seminar in New Orleans. The seminar is a two-day affair with the first being dedicated to safety issues associated with Aux Air Operations. Unfortunately, this year a big part of the discussions centered on the fatal crash of an Aux facility earlier this year. As a result of the investigation into the crash, several recommendations had been made to change some of the qualifications for specific missions that we fly.

Day two is spent in the pool. Part of the requirement is a " survival swim". This requires that you swim 75 yards in boots, flight suits and vest. You can imagine how heavy a flight suit and boots get when they are soaked. The next phase is actually getting in a life raft with all of this gear on and then "bailing" the water out that also went in with you. The last phase is the most challenging of all. You are strapped into a seat that is floating with a cage around it that simulates a cockpit. Again you have all of the flight gear on including a flight helmet for this portion. When you have gained sufficient courage, you give the signal and you are flipped upside down. The trick now is to find the seat belt release and exit the cage before you drown. You can imagine how difficult this would be for people who do not necessarily have a fear of the water. Can you imagine how much "intestinal fortitude" it would take to do this if you did? Well we had one of our members who did just that and he deserves a huge "Well Done" so when you see Larry Patrick again please give him a pat on the back.

All in all, the seminar was both informative and fun. We are looking forward to next year.

The Departments of Education and Operations are pleased to announce a national pilot program for the new On Water Training (OWT) program. OWT is a Coast Guard approved initiative that allows flotillas to offer, to certain graduates of their PE courses, the opportunity to have those graduates take an educational cruise. These cruises will be on surface operational facilities operating under Coast Guard orders with qualified Auxiliary crews.

This pilot program will continue through the balance of 2001 when a permanent OWT program, incorporating the experience gained in the pilot, will be introduced.

Each district is at work on their own pilot operational introduction. Members interested in OWT should contact their respective districts for details of the program in their district. The current, official "On Water Training Manual" covers program background, objectives, management, procedures, tasks, forms and cross-references to the BSC and BS&S courses.

The members of Flotilla 39 wish to express our heartfelt sympathy to James Berg IPFC-36 for the death of his wife, Lois, on July 15^th, 2001.

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