unusual. Many Coast Guard Reserve officers have preceded him in qualifying as underway and in-port officers of the deck. There was a time some years ago when it was not uncommon for officers and enlisted Coast Guard Reserve personnel in First District to perform both weekend drills and active duty (ADT) aboard medium and high endurance cutters. The District's table of organization included reserve unit vessel commands in Portsmouth, N.H., Boston, New Bedford, Mass., and New York City. Members of these reserve units augmented the active-duty crews of the cutters homeported in their locations long before such augmentation became USCGR policy nationwide. The four reserve vessel commands in D1 cooperated to create and maintain an underway training program using a visual simulator, radar laboratory and 65-foot tugboat fleet at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. The units sent detachments to New London twice yearly for weekend training conducted by Reserve officers. A two-man training team from the reserve vessel command in Boston also made semiannual visits to the other three reserve vessel units. In 1988, the Academy presented a two-week deck watch officer course for reservists assigned to vessel units. Four years later, the same course was repeated, this time with a syllabus created and taught by two Reserve officers from the RU vessels community. Attendees ranged from E-4 to O-4, and the course was so successful that the commandant of the Academy attended the closing ceremony and presented certificates to the graduates. All four D1 RU vessel commands had a proud history of providing invaluable augmentation to the cutters they served, often filling last minute crew vacancies just before sailing on patrol. Unfortunately, they were disestablished in the 1990s when the Reserve was reduced from 12,000 to 8,000 personnel due to budget cuts. Coast Guard Reserve personnel belong at sea. The Coast Guard has been tasked with many new and challenging assignments in the last few decades, however, most, if not all such missions involve cutters operating at sea. In the event of a near-peer conflict, it is highly probable that the Coast Guard will be called upon to deploy cutters to naval task forces or to carry out naval operations itself in littoral seas in any part of the world. Given the minimum manning standards in the peacetime Coast Guard, I have no doubt that all cutters will need additional trained crewmembers. Let us hope the Reserve will remain “Always Ready” for such a contingency. Cmdr. Timothy O. Sheehan, USCGR (ret.) Sage advice from those who’ve come before us. Below is a small excerpt from Lt. Lowery’s letter to Cmdr. Sheehan: "It is, in fact, because of the accomplishments of reservists such as yourself, and those you discuss in your letter, that I was happy to hear the Reservist was publishing this article. When I entered the Coast Guard in 2013, I would hear from my more seasoned shipmates the stories of the ‘good old days’ when reservists were able to more easily step in for their active duty counterparts. The handful of officers who have pursued unique career paths, like myself, have pushed artificial boundaries and challenged institutional myths. In doing so, we have shown that supporting the careers and goals of the individual can also benefit the service as a whole. This was evident when a dedicated Chief with some good contacts was able to help me overcome the perception that a reservist had a better chance of going afloat as a cook with the auxiliary than as a new ensign on an EAD contract. I hope that my example may be used by other reservists, and perhaps active duty members as well, who are hoping to explore a career path outside the normal limits of their billet. I hope the Coast Guard, as a seagoing service, continues to prioritize billets and opportunities for reservists that can bring us back to the sea. In the meantime, I am also encouraged to know there is a past precedent and a possible template in existence that could be updated and reinstated to make stories like mine less of an outlier and more of the norm." With the connections happening as part of the Reserve’s move into the Deputy Commandant for Operations, I expect that more of our reservists will be integrated into what was typically an active duty mission set. For more, see the story on page 54 about the incorporation of reservists back into the field of aviation after a 30-year break! You know, you had a line in the second page of your letter that said, “Looking back on it all 25 years after retirement, I am proud that I followed my heart and packed a seabag instead of a suitcase when leaving for ADT.” This struck me as so similar to Lt. Lowery’s mindset that you two seem to be sharing the same mind, separated only by decades of service. Media mail! Great job with the magazine. In reference to the "From Our Readers" section in the last issue about mailing books to TRACEN Cape May for use by recruits, media mail from the U.S. Postal Service is the cheapest way to mail books. A mention might help increase book donations. Thanks again, I look forward to every issue. Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Rowan, USCGR (ret.) Thanks for the idea, Master Chief! Gently used paperbacks can be sent to Health Service Center, c/o CDR Stanley, TRACEN Cape May, 1 Munro Ave. Cape May, NJ 08204. Commander is a favorite, as he’s a reservist on active duty running the clinic. I know I sent a few dozen copies of the last few editions up to bootcamp—quality reading for our future shipmates! Issue 1 • 2021 � RESERVIST 5
