Featured Up Front: "WM forms 1st collegiate Coast Guard Auxiliary detachment"

The Detachment was the subject of a great article that William & Mary News featured on the front page of www.wm.edu on Monday (Photo credit to Stephen Salpukas of WM News). The article, "W&M forms 1st collegiate Coast Guard Auxiliary detachment", focused heavily on the opportunity for students and The College presented by the Coast Guard Auxiliary's first such Detachment program being established here. To quote author Alexandra Bracken ('09):

"The College of William and Mary is home to many firsts: first royal charter, first honor code, first Law School, but now it can add another one.

"Last year, William & Mary became the first university in the United States to have a detachment of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The detachment is part of the Coast Guard Auxiliary's Flotilla 67 in Williamsburg."

The full article is available here, but I want to offer many thanks to Alex Bracken for writing, Stephen Salpukas for the photograph shown here (dreary day as it was), and to Erin Zagursky for her help facilitating this.

My quote at the article's end is true... nothing like it. It's been a great ride.

"'There is nothing like seeing a group of students that you helped teach make it through something,' Welch said. 'Nothing like seeing them go from knowing practically nothing about the Coast Guard and our missions, to later seeing them in uniform, teaching students that are even newer to program, or getting the students to the point where they are running their own unit. It's awesome.'"

Dining Out

Yesterday evening, the Detachment had its Dining Out event, which we do once a semester. For this event, all detachment members wear our dress uniforms, or the civilian equivalent suit and tie or cocktail dress and go out to dinner. We invite leadership from the Auxiliary to participate with us by sharing in a night that celebrates our hard work during the semester in a less formal atmosphere than our graduation ceremony.

The dinner was delicious, but more importantly, it was a wonderful opportunity for detachment members to sit and eat with each other. One particular event that happened at our table was that one member ordered an appetizer that he found unappealing. Another detachment member switched appetizers with him, making the end result that both members had enjoyable appetizers. Teamwork is not something that stays within the confines of a classroom or teaching environment. Instead, teamwork is a principle that we must each live in our daily lives with each other.

At my table, we were privileged to have our Flotilla Commander, Jim Clark, and our esteemed incoming Flotilla Staff Officer in charge of the Detachment, Todd Egnor. They both have extensively traveled, and some of the new detachment members were able to learn about experiences with the Coast Guard outside of the continental United States from these knowledgeable men. In particular, Mr. Egnor told us about his first experience working on the Barque Eagle. He was meeting the Eagle in a South American country to join the cruise, and he described his first view of the Eagle was from a top-floor outdoors restuarant overlooking the ocean. He said it was the coolest experience, knowing that the beautiful ship sailing into the harbor was his ride.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. I love that this is a tradition of the Detachment!