March 21, 2012
38 members, 7 guests
After preliminaries, the Flotilla
Commander and Vice Commander, Dave Shuster and John Gaston, swore in new
members
Brad Snow and Paul Thompson.
|
Shuster contratulates Paul Thompson. Photo by Virginia Russell
|
Standing rules were amended to
permit the Flotilla Commander to spend up to $500 without approval from the
membership.
Guest speaker, FBI agent Matt
Chester, a member of the flotilla, talked about improvised explosive devices
made from easily obtainable products. If
you suspect something is not right, he advised, call the local authorities.
Visiting member Jim Clark urged
the flotilla to field a team for the Atlantic Search and Rescue competition to
be held at the Coast Guard Academy.
U. S.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AUXILIARY
Flotilla 96
13531
Vanderbilt Drive
Naples,
Florida 34110
General Meeting
21 March, 2012
General Members present: 24
Staff Officers present: 14
Staff Officers Aides present: 0
Guests Present: 7
The meeting was called to order
by Dave Shuster, Flotilla Commander (FC) at 1900 hrs. The pledge of allegiance was led by John
Gaston, Flotilla Vice Commander. Shuster
called for a moment of silence in remembrance of our fallen armed services
personnel.
A motion to approve the minutes
of the February 15th , 2012 General Meeting was offered by Larry
Urbanek and after due second by Neil Arnal, those minutes were approved as
submitted, by voice vote without dissent.
Flotilla Commander’s Report
Introduction of Guests;
Guests present
were: AUXLO Samuel Muentes, Richard Booth, Brad Snow, Paul and Marlene Thompson
and Steve Emma
Awards and Certificales:
Larry Urbanek,
Sustained Auxilliary Service Award
Drew
Lethert, Vessel Examiner Certificate
Mike
Murphy, Program Visitor Certificate
Greg
Guederian: Telecommunications Operator Certificate
Gus
Karlsen, Interpreter (Not Present)
Jim
McCaffrey, Program Visitor Certificate (Not Present)
Swearing in of New Members:
Shuster and
Gaston swore in the following new members,
Brad Snow and Paul Thompson.
Shuster next introduced AUXLO
Samuel Muentes for any comments from the CG STAFMB. Muentes reported that he has been promoted
and will be transferring to Puerto Rico.
Shuster next reported on the
flotilla’s progress towards planned goals, Recruitment
and Retention, Improving Mission Excellence and Expanding Organizational
Relationships, i.e. the flotilla’s dashboard.
Recruitment and Retention: We have 7 new members sworn, YTD with 3
in the application process. This brings
the total new members to 10; this is 66% of our annual goal.
Expanding Organizational Relationships: He has had 6 speaking
engagements YTD with 3 more scheduled for April. As of the end of April we will have spoken to
9 groups; this is 75% of the annual goal of 12.
Shuster encouraged the members to
forward any suggestions they have for groups where we could present information
on the CGAUX.
Shuster next thanked all involved
with the Bonita Bay Boat Show. There were 18 follow-up leads for information on
the CGAUX.
He next paid special recognition
to Ursula Urbanek for her efforts in organizing the very successful “Cheers”
Party held February 26th.
Changes in the “Standing Rules”
Reporting on the “Standing Rules”
the CGAUX “By-laws” Shuster said they were last approved in 2001 and there has
been a few changes in CG policy that require the flotilla to amend and approve
a new set of the rules. Changes are as
follows:
Regarding the election of flotilla
officers, a “Screening Committee” of 3 of the flotilla’s members is to be
appointed 90 days from the date of election of officers. It used to be 60-90 days out. They will be responsible for reviewing letters
of intent from those members seeking election.
Approval for the Flotilla Commander to be
able to spend up to $500 dollars without specific approval from the membership
would be changed from the current $250 level. There would be no limit to the
number of times this automatic approval could be exercised.
Approval of amendments or appendices needs
a 2/3rds vote of the membership.
After a short discussion
regarding the increase in the FCs automatic approval and the number of times it
could be exercised the approval of amendments was called for a vote.
A motion to approve the
amendments was offered by Ed Walters and after due second by Sean Hanley the
amendments were approved by voice vote without dissent.
VICE FLOTILLA COMMANDERS REPORT
Gaston pointed out the various
improvements in the dockside appearance of the flotilla and then called on
staff officers for highlights of their reports.
MS: FSO Stancil that we have until the end of this year to comply
with the new CGAUX ball cap regulation that prohibits the mesh back, scrambled
eggs on the bill and any Flotilla specifics embroidered on the cap.
NS: FSO Skaggs announced that an ATON Verification class is
scheduled for April 14th at St Hillarys. This is an extensive overhaul of the ATON
verification requirements and he recommends all who want to remain qualified to
take this class.
OPS: There are 15 scheduled patrols this month and Mike Dipierro
will present the full Ops report at the end of this meeting.
PA: The “Gradyfest” boat show is scheduled this Saturday at the
Fish Tale Marina on Ft Myers, Bch. We will have a table manned by our members
and will be doing VEs as well.
PE: There is an ABS course scheduled April 14th and 21st
at the flotilla from 9 am till 1 pm. The
course scheduled for March 27th and 29th at the Commons
Club in Bonita Springs will probably be cancelled.
VE: To date we have completed 92 VEs, of that total 47 are
paddlecraft. VEs are scheduled for this
weekend at Fish Tale Marina during the “Gradyfest” boat show.
GUEST SPEAKER
Shuster introduced Matt Chester,
a Flotilla 96 member and local FBI agent.
Matt is an expert on commercial and improvised explosives and led the
members through the making of various types of explosives and in particular the
kinds made from easily obtainable household products.
His advice to the group is if you
suspect something is not right, call the local authorities.
AMENDMENT TO THE “STANDING RULES”
Shuster presented another
amendment to the Standing Rules that establishes the official meeting time and
day of the month for the General Meeting.
The day of the General Meeting
will be the 3rd Wednesday of each month. A motion to approve the amendment was
offered by Virginia Russell and after due second by Jim Mayer, the motion was
approved by voice vote without dissent.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Visiting member Jim Clark
reminded the membership of the upcoming Atlantic Search and Rescue competition
and encouraged the flotilla membership to put a team consisting of 1 coxswain
and 3 crew together.
Mike Dipierro presented the
Operations report for March and April
There was some discussion
regarding requalification needs and the need for a CPR class.
After a motion for adjournment
was offered by FSO Willsey and due second by Hanley, the meeting was adjourned
at 2050 local time.
Submitted by: FSO-SR, Billy R. Willsey
