By Mike Rutledge
NKyTribune Reporter
Especially at times like this, when the Coast Guard is stretched thin by war and the need to watch for terrorists, Thom McQueen and the rest of Northern Kentucky’s Flotilla 55, part of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, helps the military branch live up to its motto of Semper Paratus: Always Ready.
“We have 18 people in the Northern Kentucky area in our flotilla and we have a patrol boat,” says McQueen, the flotilla’s commander, who has been with the all-volunteer organization seven years.
Although they’re volunteers, “We do everything that the Coast Guard does except law enforcement and military action,” he says. “We’re an official entity of Homeland Security, which the Coast Guard is under. We are actually part of the Coast Guard.”
The unit has one boat, a light blue Sea Ray. Its members wear uniforms very similar to the paid Coast Guard staff, and also patrol along the river on roads.
“There are usually 20 missions a year that are in support of the Coast Guard, when the Coast Guard gives the orders and we go do the work,” McQueen says. “And there’s plenty of times that we just do it on our own. We just call the Coast Guard, get our orders, and we can go out and patrol on our own.”
They patrol at events like Riverfest, Paddlefest and other public events where they must stop barge and boat traffic for temporary periods. They answer phones in Coast Guard offices. They inspect buoys and other navigational markers, both on the river and on land. They do things McQueen can’t tell you about, for national security reasons.
Aside from his duties with the flotilla, the 60-year-old retired Newport resident is training to be a Coast Guard pollution investigator. He’s personally out on the river about 10 times a year with the flotilla. But his wife, Valerie, also in the unit, “goes out two or three times more than I do,” he says. “She loves the water.”
The more than 30,000 volunteers nationwide are vital to what the Coast Guard does, says John Joeckel, marine science technician 1st Class, who is a liaison with Flotilla 55 and its counterparts. Well over 200 auxiliary members donate their services in the 130 miles essentially between the Markland and Meldahl dams on the Ohio River, he says.
“The auxiliary as a whole is an integral part of the Coast Guard’s mission,” Joeckel says. “We can’t do our mission without the volunteers. Especially here locally we have an excellent contingent of auxiliarists.”
BMCS Robert McQueary, Officer in Charge, showing Auxiliarist Thom McQueen the helm of the USCG OSAGE while docked in Newport. (Photo provided)McQueen says his unit is always looking for more volunteers. Those interested in joining the group, which includes doctors, lawyers and others, from the low 20s to the upper 60s, can volunteer by sending an email to McQueen at thebeacon@fuse.net.
“If you would join today, it would probably be this time next year before you would be actually under orders. You could go out and get trained. And it depends on your training also.”
Most Americans don’t realize the Coast Guard goes to war alongside the Marines and Navy, and has ships in the Middle East.
“They’re a force-multiplier for us,” Joeckel says. “We’re stretched thin, so we have auxiliarists who are volunteers. These are people who are husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, grandparents that volunteer their time, whether retired or still working.
“They come in and offer a service to our country,” Joeckel adds. “As I always like to say, they put on this blue suit, and they wear the same uniform that we do. And they perform a function to assist, for them locally here, Marine Safety Detachment Cincinnati, in doing our day to day job.”
The vice flotilla commander for Northern Kentucky is Amy Matracia.
“A lot of people enjoy being out there,” McQueen says. “it’s doing the work. It’s being part of something that means something. For instance, it’s not if something’s going to happen, it’s when something’s going to happen.”
The Northern Kentucky Coast Guard Auxilary presents the official PATCH or 0820505, Northern Kentucky
THE LOGO
Is Red, White and Blue, the colors of the American Flag.
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THE ANCHOR
signifies STEADFASTNESS….SURE & STEADY. in all we do, in our life, in our service. Our Family, Our Country, Our Lord.The anchor is Silver to signify the Auxiliary (we are the “silver side”). It also symbolizes boats and water.
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THE SHIELD
The shield contains the Coast Guard racing stripe. The Coast Guard racing stripe dominates the center of the field and everything is built on that stripe. The Coast Guard dominates what we do and all that we do is built on them.
The Coast Guard Ethos says in part
“…I AM THEIR SHIELD. FOR THEM I AM SEMPER PARATUS.”
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THREE WHITE STARS signify and to remind us of the Coast Guard Core Values: Honor, Respect and Devotion to duty
They are white to symbolize purity, same as the US Flag.
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THE STATE OUTLINES are the three states served.They are gold because our states and the citizens that we serve are precious to us.
The red star marks “home port” Northern Kentucky.
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US COAST GUARD AUXILIARY – It is separate from US COAST GUARD because that is the “parent organization” and AUXILIARY because they are a part of the organization, but separate.
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THE CROWN has several connotations because our members (flotilla 55) are “THE CROWN” of the district. NORTHERN KENTUCKY is written ON that crown for the same reasons, so that it will be known that Northern Kentucky OWNS that crown.
The shape of the crown serves as a representation of the bridge that connects Northern Kentucky to Cincinnati and is dark blue to symbolize water.
The shape of the crown from the top to the bottom of the logo is the shape for FEDERAL SIGNAGE, Symbolizing that we are a part of a Federal organization, under Homeland Security and the Coast Guard.
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THE HORSE is The “KENTUCKY UNBRIDLED SPIRIT” is the branding icon of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It symbolizes the “UNBRIDLED SPIRIT” of Kentucky and belongs to State of Kentucky. The outline only signifies the “essence” of Kentucky. It was chosen because it represents the state, it ties us to the state and because a horse on a Coast Guard logo will cause questions, offering us an opportunity to talk to people…and we DO want to be “set apart.”
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NORTHERN KENTUCKY is larger and dominant because we are NORTHERN KENTUCKY and not SOUTHERN OHIO.