Have you considered being “part of management” too? Now, admittedly, it is a lot different running an organization of volunteers than something in business. However, note that I didn’t say a “volunteer organization” – I said “an organization of volunteers.” Like the Minute Men at Lexington and Concord. Like the volunteer ambulance drivers and volunteer firemen who abound in our great nation – running to problems, not from them, to assist and save a neighbor and fellow countryman…
You too could be running an organization of volunteers one day. And thus amplifying your contribution through leading others. Take a look in the mirror. There’s our next leader. All you need to do is run.
Some people are afraid to run because they might not win. After all, there can only be one winner! But one winner doesn’t demand that there be a loser. There is so much to do that will give you an engaged and enriching service experience as part of US Coast Guard Forces. And, in that service, there are only winners.
As you may also recall from missives past that D1SR and D1NR adopted a common motto – Be There, First! And what does “Be There, First” mean? A lot of things – all of them good…
1. Community needs boating safety classes – be there, First!
2. Marina needs vessel safety checks – be there, First!
3. Boat shop needs some program visitor brochures – be there, First!
4. Report of a fuel sheen on a bay – be there, First!
5. Private Aids on station or not – be there, First!
6. Sector needs pictures of shoaling (or ice formation) – be there, First!
7. May-day, may-day, may-day – be there, and be there fast, First!
8. And on and on and on…
In other words, in every way we serve USCG’s needs – RBS, NS, MS, OPs, PA, PB, FS, MDA etc – we want to be there, be there first and be there as the First.
Finally, it does mean that everything we ask you to do, that everything you raise your hand to undertake, and that everything active-duty asks you to do is just that much more important, that much more honorable, that much more necessary because it is part of an integrated, larger whole. Be There, First!
Respectfully,
Vin Pica
Commodore Vincent T. Pica, II
District Directorate Chief – Innovation & Strategy
Immediate Past District Commodore
First District Southern Region
Be There, First!
Shipmates,
As I have noted a number of times, D1SR has terrific leadership, both locally in DNACO-elect Malewski and DCO-elect Formato, and also in the Director’s Office and in Boston, through CDR William Grossman/DIRAUX, CAPT Black/Chief of Prevention and Rear Admiral Steven Poulin.
Immediate Past District Commodore's Message