Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Quarterly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security
Issue link: https://uscgreservist.epubxp.com/i/386902
Coast guard Station Washington Reserve crewmembers aboard a 29-foot Response Boat – Small patrol the waterways around the Washington Monument in Washington, d.C., July 20. Station Washington's reservists train year-round to maintain their boat-crew qualifcations and boarding team member qualifcations. Lack of allocated rounds of ammunition and lack of qualified personnel to run the range for them kept them off the firing line for years, said Petty Officer First Class Scott Rogerson, the lead petty officer overseeing the station's Reserve engineering group. Those hurdles are old news these days as they now get the support needed to carry out such mission-critical training exercises. Following the development of their station-wide training plan, executing the plan was the next logical step toward success. For Krise this involved reaching out to Sector Baltimore to get the training and resources needed for their station's reservists to meet their requirements, such as range time. Building bridges with Sector Baltimore and tapping into the available resources, such as the Small Arms Instructors in the armory, has been instrumental to achieving the high percentage of boatcrew and law enforcement qualified members they currently have at the station, said Krise. "We're not a lone station," said Krise. "Opening lines of communication and establishing dialogue and working relationships with others have been one of the keys to our success." Petty Officer First Class Adrien Cheval is the station's lead petty officer responsible for training the reservists to meet boatcrew qualifications. Cheval broke down the minimum underway hours required during daylight and nighttime operations to the number of hours each month the members need to complete to remain qualified and not find themselves deficient and behind the eight ball. They now amass underway hours year-round for their members to remain boatcrew qualified. Cheval points out that they have worked diligently over the past two years to get the station's members qualified to a point where they are now maintaining their qualifications. Cheval and the other reservists work together bringing new members up to speed by following the training plan they developed and refined during the past two years. Their training plan serves as a road map toward the competition of individual competencies. New members get additional help from all of the station's Reserve members who pitch in to offer guidance and assistance, said Cheval. Even though Gillis has since transferred to Port Security Unit 305 to serve as its Command Master Chief, his legacy of inspiring the members of Station Washington to rise to his challenge remains strong. "We have a highly-effective, mature and motivated crew who take pride in what they do. They take pride in wearing the uniform, and they take pride in their service to the country," said Krise, referencing the hard work and personal accountability each member takes to answer the call when the time comes. "We're kind of like that sign you may have seen: 'In case of emergency — break glass.' " — Story and Photos by PA2 Matt Masaschi, 5th District Public Affairs Detachment Baltimore Issue 3 • 2014 � RESERVIST 13