“Sir, I relieve you.”
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“Sir, I relieve you.” |
WASHINGTON – “Sir, I relieve you.” With these words, at a time honored ceremony held at Coast Guard Headquarters on 31 OCT 08, Commodore Nicholas Kerigan relieved Commodore Steve Budar to become the 29th National Commodore for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
The ceremony, which was presided over by ADM Thad Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, also sworn in other national leaders for the 2 year term ending 31 OCT 2010.
The text of Commodore Kerigan’s remarks follows below.
Serving as National Vice Commodore will be Jim Vass from Port O’Connor Tex. Vass most recently served as Area Rear Commodore for the Auxiliary’s Atlantic West Region.
Commodore Stephen McElroy, who most recently served as the District Commodore for the Auxiliary’s 5th Southern District, will serve as the National Chief of Staff.
The Area Rear Commodores will be Thomas Venezio (Atlantic East), Thomas Malison (Atlantic West), and Vic Connell (Pacific Area).
Commodore Venezio most recently served as District Commodore for the Auxiliary’s First Southern Region.
Commodore Malison served most recently in the Eighth Eastern Region as District Commodore.
Commodore Connell, a retired physician who is also involved in the Auxiliary Medical Core, is finishing up his term as District Commodore for the Auxiliary’s Eleven Northern Region.
The National Directorate Commodores for 2008-2010 will be Commodore Ed Sweeney (member Services Directorate), Commodore Robin Freeman (Recreational Boating Safety Directorate), and Commodore Mark Simoni (Operations Directorate).
Coast Guard Auxiliary - Change of Watch – 31 OCT 08
National Commodore Nicholas Kerigan’s Comments
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NACO Nicholas Kerigan |
National Vice Commodore: All standing orders, regulations and instructions remain in effect.
ADM. Allen, COMO Budar, Coast Guard Flag Officers, Auxiliary National Leadership Team, Members of the Coast Guard Family, Ladies and Gentlemen.
COMO Budar, and others before him, have placed the Auxiliary on a true course to meet the many challenges ahead. How we face these challenges will determine not only our success, but our legacy; I am confident that our watch will be one that we are proud of.
As I take the helm of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, we will continue to move into new and uncharted areas of responsibility. The “new normalcy” in the post 9/11 era is anything but normal and predictable. It will be up to the Executive Leadership of the Auxiliary (who you will meet in a few minutes) to navigate us through these uncharted waters.
Their job will be to provide the way ahead to our membership so that we can better support the Coast Guard and the nation. Our goal is not just a continuation of the superior level of service that we have provided for almost 70 years now, but a bold enhancement of that service to include an entirely new set of actions and directions in support of recreational boating safety and America’s Maritime Homeland Security. In other words, we plan to take our organization to the next level.
Our continuing vision for the Auxiliary is “To meet America’s changing Maritime Safety and Security Challenges, while concurrently bringing to the American Public an array of Homeland Security, Recreational Boating and Marine Safety programs.”
Simply out, contributing to the safety and security of our citizens, ports, waterways and coastal regions will be our paramount mission. We will continue to balance our missions of Recreational Boating Safety and Coast Guard Support, with Maritime Homeland Security and other challenges that emerge as a result of our growing understanding of changes required in the Post-9/11 era.
As you may know, we are hard at work at implementing our modernization efforts, to better align ourselves with the Sectors. I believe this will further our efforts to achieve an optimal balance between our traditional boating safety missions and emerging Homeland Security requirements, while being an ever important force multiplier for the Coast Guard. You can continue to depend on this fusion of safety and security missions, as the Coast Guard Auxiliary confronts these 21st Century Challenges.
In short, I am a fervent believer that the Unites States Coast Guard Auxiliary can and will meet any challenge.
The Auxiliary National Leadership will focus on my Watchwords of “Leadership, Performance, and Readiness.” We will continue to develop leaders who possess the courage and character to make the tough decisions, who motivate and bring out the best performance in our members, and reiterate the need for readiness (to always be SEMPER PARATUS) for what the Commandant has called “All Threats, All Hazards.”
I assure you, that the Coast Guard Auxiliary will remain a trained and ready resource, on course and ready to answer all the call.
Semper Paratus
~HRW