Richmond
Council Hopes ‘Deployment Dollars’ Catch On
By PETER E. ATKINSON
Deputy Editor
Members Seek To Interest Other Councils, Businesses In Program
The Richmond, Va., Council is undertaking an effort to promote its “Deployment
Dollars” program for sailors, Coast Guardsmen and Marines at sea
to other Navy League councils and area groups and businesses in the hope
of expanding the initiative.
“Deployment Dollars” provides chits to service members that
can be redeemed in a ship’s store while it is deployed. Under the
Richmond Council’s program, chits are valued at $5 and one is given
away daily in a draw, usually during roll call, while the participating
ship is underway. If Marines are embarked, an additional chit is given
to a Marine.
“It is a morale booster that you would not believe,” said
Council President Joseph A. Moschetti. “The guys and girls aboard
ship look forward to it every day.”
The Richmond Council began the program three years ago with the USS
Carter Hall and expanded it to include its three other adopted ships — USS
Normandy, USCGC Northland, USS Tornado. Several other ships also have
been welcomed aboard the “Deployment Dollars” program, including
the USS Oak Hill, USS Ashland and USCGC Forward, which just received
$370 from the council for its current 70-day patrol, Moschetti said.
Council Vice President Sheldon F. McLeod is spearheading the “Deployment
Dollars” effort. He said the council has budgeted $1,000 per ship
to support the program.
The Richmond Council has just begun appealing to local civic groups
and business for financial support so more ships can be included. Council
members are hoping other Navy League councils will follow suit and establish “Deployment
Dollars” programs of their own.
“At the [Navy League] convention [in June] I talked to some other
councils about it,” Moschetti said, adding that he frequently mentions
the program to members from other councils. “Our program really
took off. Councils do a lot for their adopted ships, and other ships,
when they are in port. This is a way to do something for them while they
are underway. It’s a reminder to the crew that the Navy League
appreciates their service.”
Barque Eagle Division Sails With The Eagle, Cadet Named Region’s
First Female Chief
After an absence of nearly 30 years, cadets from the U.S. Navy Sea Cadets
Corps’ Barque Eagle Division once again sailed aboard the division’s
namesake, the USCGC Eagle, during a weeklong voyage from Connecticut
to New York City.
Fourteen cadets took part in the late-spring trip aboard the three-masted
sailing vessel, which is the only active tall ship in U.S. Coast Guard
service. The Eagle is homeported at the Coast Guard Academy in Groton,
Conn.
The Cadets got to experience the full range of training activities aboard
the ship, according to Eagle Public Affairs Specialist 2nd Class Robin
Rask, from setting sails by hand nearly 150 feet above the ship’s
decks, tending lines and standing watch to assisting with food service
and cleaning the bilge. Prior to departing, the Cadets spent several
Saturdays helping prep the Eagle for its five-month underway sailing
schedule.
“They made us part of the crew,” said commanding officer
Lt. Cmdr. Denis A. Thiede, NSCC. “I think it was the best time
the Cadets ever had.”
The Barque Eagle Division is sponsored by the Navy League’s Hartford
Council, which also sponsors the Edson and Nimitz divisions.
Thiede and Ensign Brian Naylor, NSCC, the division’s training
officer, were able to rekindle the relationship with the Eagle, working
with Chief Warrant Officer William S. Pitkin earlier in the year. Naylor’s
son, Seaman Steven Naylor, was among the cadets who sailed with the Eagle.
“It had been so long that no one even remembers why it stopped
in the first place,” Thiede said. “We had been trying to
reunite with the Eagle for a couple years. CWO Pitkin really stepped
up the plate for us this time.”
Not long after the trip, Barque Eagle Cadet Nicole G. Kozikowski of
Canton, Conn., became the first female Sea Cadet to attain the rank of
chief in Southern New England Region 1-2 history.
Kozikowski was promoted in June to chief petty officer, the highest
rank obtainable in the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, something that had been
her goal since becoming a Cadet four years earlier. She attended boot
camp at Fort Devens, Mass., met sailing qualifications, became a certified
scuba diver in Florida, attended leadership training at the Coast Guard
Academy and sailed with the Eagle, all of which led up to her final promotion
to CPO.
“She worked hard for it and did a good job for us,” Thiede
said. “It was a nice thing for her. She deserved it.”
Kozikowski, who graduated from high school soon after being named chief,
will be attending Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va., in the
fall.
Oakland Council’s ‘Coast Guard Day at the A’s’ Goes
Extra Innings
More than 400 Coast Guard men and women and Navy Leaguers from the Bay
Area enjoyed a long day of baseball in Oakland July 20, during the Oakland
Council-sponsored “Coast Guard Day at the A’s.”
The event, now in its fifth year, began at 11 a.m. with a pregame tailgate
party outside Network Associates Coliseum hosted by the Golden Gate Chapter
of the Chief Warrant Officers Association with a raffle that included
a weekend in Lake Tahoe and tickets to future A’s games. On the
field prior to the game, a Coast Guard Color Guard presented the colors
and Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson, commander, Pacific Area, threw out the
first pitch, Oakland Council President Robert Castle said.
What the game itself lacked in offensive fireworks, it made up for in
drama — and duration. The A’s prevailed over the Toronto
Blue Jays 1-0 in a 14-inning, three-hour, 39-minute-long pitchers’ duel.
Toronto pitcher David Bush, making just his third major league start,
held the A’s hitless for seven innings before Oakland catcher Damian
Miller broke up his no-hit bid with an eighth inning single. Miller later
drove in the game’s only run with a bases-loaded single, sending
the Coast Guard Day contingent home happy.
“A great time for 14 innings was had by all,” Castle said.
Short Bursts
§ A number of councils made the best of the summer vacation season,
and the prospects of limited meeting attendance, by hosting fundraising
events where participation was discouraged. The Channel Islands, Calif.,
Council offered its annual “No Show Luncheon” in July in
lieu of the regular business meeting. The council accepted $5 donations
for the “luncheon” from members and guests, with council
President Ed Millan encouraging them to make the event a success “by
not showing up.” Also in June, Las Vegas Council President Lawrence
Jeffries announced the council’s third annual Ghost Meeting, to
be held “at a date, time and place never to be determined.” Suggested
donations for that “meeting” were $20 per person.
§ The Central New Jersey Council June 3 adopted the newly commissioned
USCGC Sailfish. The ceremony was held at Sandy Hook Coast Guard Station,
during which council President Dan Dermer presented Sailfish’s
commanding officer, Lt. j.g. Barnaby Bosanquet, with the official adoption
certificate. Also in attendance were Vice Adm. Vivien S. Crea, commander,
First Coast Guard District; Capt. Craig Bone, commander, Coast Guard
Activities New York; and Barbara M. Richards, sponsor, Coast Guard Foundation;
along with the crew members, their family and friends.
Send items for “Council Digest” to:
Peter Atkinson
Deputy Editor
Sea Power/Navy League News
2300 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA
22201-3308
E-mail: patkinson@navyleague.org
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