After that cruise , I wanted to pursue a career , at sea , as a Marine Biologist , but ended up landlocked , as a Museum Curator , a job I enjoyed just as much .
I joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary in 2014 , as my military career in the New York Guard was winding down . I had never lost my affection for ships and the sea , so I worked on qualifying as Auxiliary boat crew . In June 2015 , Auxiliarist Yvonne Desalvo introduced me to cooking at Station Jones Beach and the AUX Chef program , as it was called then . I
trained and qualified the following January .
In addition to cooking regularly at Station Jones Beach , I cooked at several local Coast Guard stations to relieve active-duty Culinary Specialists ( CS ). Occasionally I cooked on board docked Coast Guard ships , including CGC Eagle , but never underway .
In the fall of 2021 , U . S . C . G
Barque Eagle requested assistance from Coast Guard Auxiliary Culinary Assistants on weekends so weekdays could be spent training their active-duty Coast Guard Culinary Specialists . I answered the call , working one weekend a month , onboard Eagle at their homeport in New London , Connecticut , from November 2021 to April 2022 and mentored AUX CA trainees during weekend training in April 2022 on the Eagle as well as Station New London .
In February 2022 , Auxiliarist , Richard Mihalcik , Auxiliary Unit Coordinator ( AUC ) for Eagle told me that there was a possibility for AUX CA1 ’ s ( Culinary Assistants , the current program name ) to go underway during summer cruises for cadets from the Coast Guard Academy . I was excited about potentially going under-
OVER THE BOW USCGAUX FIRST DISTRICT SOUTHERN REGION - WINTER 2023 15