Spring 2009 Detachment Recruitment Coming to a Close...

Contacting organizations, talking to classmates and hallmates, Facebook pages, interest meetings, YouTube videos... this just a small sampling of what the Detachment Members have been doing in these last few weeks to bring in another class. We have seen lots of interest in our potential new members that helped us confirm our view that this program truly is a great opportunity and will be a great launching point for similar programs elsewhere around the country! I think I speak for all my shipmates when I say that we are all excited about the prospects in the new class!

I also wanted to commend my shipmates for all the time and effort put in by everyone in this recruitment process. You have all done a wonderful job and should be recognized for such an achievement.

Recruitment

I wanted to update everyone on the progress of the detachment members with our recruiting efforts. We have spent several hours each day recruiting in our student center, meeting students and introducing them to everything the Auxiliary has to offer. We have had several students express strong interest in joining, including a number of young students who would have 3-4 years to be involved at the collegiate level.

In addition, we have been contacting student organizations on campus to ask for the opportunity to present at their meetings. We have met with success as many student leaders on campus are now becoming aware of our existence and would like to learn more about us.

I am extremely excited about the prospects for new membership! We have our first interest meeting tomorrow evening. Hopefully we will have a very good showing. I am very proud of all of the detachment members and their hard work thus far, and I know we're going to have a very successful recruitment season this spring.

Over a Few Pints...

I want to share a story from earlier this week. On Wednesday, after the detachment meeting, Andrew, Steph, and I went over to the Green Leafe to get a few drinks. When there, we ran into a whole bunch of both active and reserve Coasties who were in town for a conference on the Incident Command System. They were so interested to learn about what we were doing with the detachment program, discussed what they were do with the Coast Guard, and offered us help with the detachment. The lieutenant commander even sat down and bought us a pitcher!

This was not the only time that I have come across such caring among the Coast Guard. A few months ago during the district conference (Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland), I was able to see the interaction between active duty and auxiliary Coasties. Everyone took an interest in the Detachment program, which they all believed was a great opportunity and wanted to know about exporting it beyond the College to other universities around the United States.

These two instances, along with the genuine sincerity among my fellow detachment and flotilla members, illustrate the bonds that are present in the Coast Guard family.

Enjoy the Super Bowl and/or the Men's Australian Open Finals!!!

Holiday Message

The following is the text of my holiday message to the Detachment Members. I wanted to share it, and, by extension, the good work they have done the last several months, you.

Shipmates,

It's Christmas and, whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I hope that you are all enjoying some time off. This message is, for my part, the only productive thing I am doing today. It feels great.

The last semester that I have spent with you has been extraordinary in a number of ways, but most particularly insofar as the great personal and professional strides that some of you have made. You have excelled as the first to move through a unique program, making real contributions, working together as a team, and stepping up to face your own unique challenges. You have worked to create collective meaning in teamwork, dedication, integrity, motivation, and concentration. Of you and your efforts, I am very proud.

The Spring will be a time of significant challenge, as we recruit and train new members, and work to ensure the long-term viability of our Detachment. It will also be a period of great reward, as we welcome new shipmates to the fold, and send off our first seniors at graduation. Do not underestimate the difficulty of what lies ahead, but also, do not underestimate yourselves. We see a challenge, and will rise to meet it.

Enjoy today and those that follow!

Happy Holidays,
Andrew Welch

WM Coastie: Underway

Veteran bloggers can tell you that there is no real "right way" to get started. It's the real beauty of blogs: that their purpose, and ours in writing them, is to communicate personally and directly with our virtual community. Enter WM Coastie. We are students, instructors, and advisors at Coast Guard Auxiliary Detachment 054-06-07 at The College of William and Mary. We hope to make this a forum for discussion with communities in which we operate: students on campus, the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary beyond our walls, and the public that our students are preparing to serve. We will speak openly and directly, taking up both deep issues and passing matters over which we can all connect. Ours is a training environment, so we hope that you will speak back and join our discussion.

We already have great examples to follow. The Coast Guard is rapidly becoming a leader, a true innovator, in the social media revolution. Led by our Commandant, Admiral Thad Allen, who communicates with coasties at throughout the organization through his own blog, our service is increasingly embracing the "flat world" paradigm that sites such as Facebook and Blogger have helped to create. The Detachment is preparing to launch its own Facebook page--we'll keep you updated--so make sure you click through and "become a fan" as soon as our members have that put together. And, finally, we have the great inspiration of our shipmates in Seattle, who we met on the floor of the Coast Guard Innovation Expo last week. They were live-blogging the three-day long event and posting to YouTube as soon as new footage was shot. The Expo featured them, and they featured us. Thanks for the free publicity!

...So, with this first post, we are underway. We hope you'll follow along and join the conversation.