eeboater
Commander
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2004
- Messages
- 2,644
My Dad (Sutter) is a huge participator in the Green Bay auxiliary. They went to a competition and won the national prize!<br /><br />He taught me everything I know...
<br /><br />Sean<br />---------------------------------------------<br /><br />Coast Guard members win trophy at international eventd<br /><br />Members earn national prize at search and rescue event <br />By Nathan Phelps<br />nphelps@greenbaypressgazette.com<br /><br />Four U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary members from the Green Bay area brought home the national championship from the International Search and Rescue Competition the weekend of Nov. 6.<br /><br />Bill Miehe, Brian Pigeon, Bill Sutter and Len Van Denack made up one of 12 teams from the United States and Canada six from each country that faced off in a series of seven scored events aimed at testing the skills of participants.<br /><br />Events included a simulated search and rescue, fixing a ruptured pipe onboard a vessel and communications.<br /><br />We did our best. I would have liked to have walked out of there with the international trophy, but national is pretty good, said Sutter, the teams 47-year-old captain, who lives in Green Bay. Its the first time weve even participated.<br /><br />The team, representing the western part of the Coast Guard District 9, came up four points short of taking the top international honors; those went to two teams from Canada that tied for the top spot.<br /><br />This years competition took place in Portsmouth, Va.<br /><br />The Green Bay Coast Guard station has about 35 auxiliary members who are unpaid volunteers and complement the two active-duty personnel and reserve at the station.<br /><br />Sutter and Pigeon said success in the competition reaffirms the training standards they have set for their members.<br /><br />Everything we did in that competition is something I wouldnt have learned anywhere else, said Pigeon, 30, of Bellevue. <br /><br />The competition is one more way auxiliary members are able to hone their skills and learn from their counterparts.<br /><br />I saw the way other teams did things, Pigeon said. It will probably help with enhancing the training, the different ways, the shortcuts and things that will help out.<br /><br />The Coast Guard puts a heavy emphasis on boater education and safety. <br /><br />Ultimately its helping other boaters that keeps volunteers like Sutter, Pigeon, Miehe and Van Denack coming back.<br /><br />Just the satisfaction that Im helping the public, thats what it comes down to, Pigeon said. <br /><br />SOURCE:Green Bay Press Gazette Online