Captain's Corner

Captain Dave and his wife June urge you to consider joining this valuable organization.

This month’s article is about the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary and what it can do for you.

My wife June and I have been members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for over 20 years. What the heck is that and why would we do such a thing for over 20 years?

The “why” is several things — the satisfaction of saving a life, educating Arizona boaters, giving back to our community, helping others have a better day on the water. What do we get out of this?

Number one is a free boating education about concepts such as navigation, weather, communications, search and rescue, to name a few. And, there certainly are more of these free classes available to the members. As an example, I am a licensed Coast Guard Captain and that came from being a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Number two, includes helping other agencies such as the Arizona Game And Fish Department, the sheriffs department and, of course, the US Coast Guard.

Here in Arizona we do not have any Coast Guard station, but we do have approximately 280 Coast Guard Auxiliarists patrolling the waters from Lake Mead to Lake Patagonia.

We save lives and help people every day that we are on the water. We stand ready and educated for emergency call outs such as 9/11, Katrina and the Gulf oil spill.

There is a very deep sense of pride and accomplishments when you are involved in these types of activities

Number three is that we enjoy travel to other places within the state, country and sometimes other countries such as Canada or the Bahamas. .

If any of these things sound like something that you would be interested in, it is very simple — we are looking for members as always from 17 on up of any background. In fact, one of our slogans is this: “We will except anybody — a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker.” For more information, you can contact me at anytime at bravohotel@juno.com.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary was sanctioned by Congress in 1939; we are one of the largest volunteer organizations in the world with over 35,000 members nation wide. Maybe you could be 35,001. Hope to hear from you soon.