t opside V olume 79 , I s s u e 2 P a ge 12
Communication Services
The Communication Services ( CS ) team is an integral part of the USCG Auxiliary teams . The especially important role for the team is the impetus for getting information and assistance for to our members as well as the public . Therefore , the CS Team needs to work very closely with the Public Affairs groups . Many of the Communication Staff officers at the Flotilla and Division levels not only are the website webmasters but also the master of the local social media .
Things that I am responsible for are more than the website , but also preparing the weekly reports for the Admiral and Sector leadership on all our activities . Activities like Operations , Vessel Exam Events , Public Affairs events , and upcoming classes . I use information from the Upcoming Outreach Activities form on the 5nr . org website at
https :// www . 5nr . org / upcoming-activities-report-form , and from the National BoatingEd website to report what we will be doing .
Some more recent additions to the 5NR website have been the addition of the District Newsletter Topside archives . You need to read through from some of those interesting newsletters of the past . In addition to Topside there are a couple of Sea Bag newsletters from the 1940 ’ s for 4
th Naval District ( our AOR ). It is a must read through our District history via the Topsides from the 1940s to today . Note , this is still a work in progress and be found at
https :// www . 5nr . org / topside-archives . Another recent add-on to the site is a listing of the past Commodores . As for the traditional use of the District , Division , Flotilla websites , they should be an informational resource for the members and the public . It should have links and articles to give more insight into the Auxiliary as well as what is on the official Auxiliary social media . It is the local responsibility of all of us to keep our web content up to date and informational .
As for educational opportunities for the Communication Services team , not only is there training for the Websites Without Webmasters ( WOW ) web software , I am a strong proponent of attending the Public Affairs training . What is done on the website is a Public Affairs tool , and as webmasters we need to know what we should not communicate via the websites and social media . The Aux 20 online school and the Aux 12 C-School are good classes . I learned so much on those classes early in my CS career . If anyone needs training on the WOW websites or assistance with their website , please reach out to our CS team , Doug Hoffman , Dave Firestone , Linda Skvarla , and Bob Babezski . If you have a question about the Air Operations portion , reach out to Bill Fithian .
Richard Taylor DSO-CS
Communication Services
Have a safe summer season . Rick