topside
Volume 116, Issue 1
Page 3
From the Desk of the Commodore
The members of our district continue to amaze me with their resourcefulness and
creativity in addition to their consistent hard work. It is an honor to serve you and
to lead you as your Commodore. Here is what your district leadership has been do-
ing in the first three months of this year:
The Government Shutdown
We worked with our Director of Auxiliary, LCDR Taylor to organize our members’
efforts as you supported our Active Duty brothers and sisters during the recent gov-
ernment shut down. You took the initiative, found the needs and stepped in to meet
them. All the district leadership had to do was to support you and remove the road-
blocks that were slowing you down. Thank you! That will be remembered as one of
the most inspiring times in US Coast Guard Auxiliary history! As the Commandant,
Admiral Karl Schultz noted in his 12 March letter:
“To the Men and Women of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary,
Please accept my most sincere appreciation for the Auxiliary's outpouring of care and
Commodore Thomas J. Dever
consideration extended to our entire Coast Guard family during the recent lapse in
District Commodore
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
appropriations. I was humbled by the generosity and support you provided in the
5th District-Northern Region
face of this unprecedented personal, financial, and emotional challenge imposed up-
on all segments of our mission ready total workforce. Your generous giving of time,
effort, and personal resources in normal "day-to-day" circumstances is always notable; however, the extent to which the Aux-
iliary exceeded "normal ops" during the partial government shutdown went above and beyond all expectations. Across the
Service, Auxiliarists availed themselves to lend active duty, reserve, and civilian team members tangible support, service, and
a compassionate ear. The comfort and reassurance you provided Coast Guard women and men, particularly our junior per-
sonnel, were invaluable to bolstering their confidence that such daunting uncertainty would be fully resolved, and that no
member of the Coast Guard family was ever alone.
Your unflagging resilience during this remarkably challenging period reflected your constant commitment to our Service.
Such instrumental support helped ensure the Coast Guard stood ready to "stand the watch."
Thank you for your indelible support to Coast Guard personnel and for helping to cement our public trust. Semper Paratus!”
At the beginning of the shutdown your district leadership was able to work with our national leadership including Deputy
National Commodore Gus Formato, Vice National Commodore Alex Malewski and National Commodore Larry King and
through them, the highest levels of the Department of Homeland Security to ask “why?” Why did we have to stand down?
Why couldn’t we perform many of our normal activities? The answer which came back in mid-January surprised many – we
actually could do much more than we had thought we could during previous shutdowns – and, once we allowed to, we sure
did!
5NR Web Site
Please visit www.5NR.org to see our new District 5NR web site. Many thanks to the team that put this together including
Rick Taylor, DSO-CS and COMO Kevin C. Murphy, DSO-PA. This is for your use and it is still a “work in progress” so
please let us know via the COLM what we can do to make it as useful as possible for you.
Continued on the next page...