Our Coast Guard Auxiliary students at The College of William and Mary continue to impress (Website | Facebook). Last week I corresponded with Nick Zaremba who, in addition to having played on The College's 11-3 national semi-final football team last fall, is now close to completing his boat crew qualification while continuing to assist the Flotilla's personnel officer with on-campus matters. I know that Alex Wright graduated this past December, and that David Kraemer is quickly moving towards that milestone this coming May. Austin Bayer, who recently relieved Mr. Wright as the group's student leader, has also been pre-selected to the Navy's Officer Candidate School. Meanwhile, Mike Piantedosi has settled into success in his first year at the Coast Guard Academy (having transferred there from W&M last May), and Emily Johnson '09 is doing very well in her first assignment as Personnel Officer with Flotilla Arlington | Northern Virginia (oh, and she is about to start a new "day job" as well). They are, and have been, a truly excellent group and a great foreshadowing of what -- with hard work -- may await the Coast Guard Auxiliary in the future.I was also heartened late in January when Commander André Billeaudeaux, Director of Auxiliary from District 13 in Seattle, got in touch to tell me about the Maritime Information Initiative (MII) being run through the Naval Post Graduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security. MII is, essentially, a web-based information commons with an e-learning feel. I am unsure as to the future success of the initiative, as I think user adoption will be a major challenge, but it is exciting to see folks from around the country think to the future in these terms. Calling from the Auxiliary's National Training Conference (NTRAIN) two weeks ago, CDR Billeaudeaux asked me to produce a quick video sharing thoughts from William and Mary to be posted to MII as a demo of the system's capabilities. Not wanting to steal the Commander's thunder at the event itself, I have held off posting the video here until now, but I hope you'll watch below to get an idea of the great work and culture that is developing through the partnership between The College of William and Mary and the Coast Guard Auxiliary's Flotilla 67 in Williamsburg (note that doing this in short order required my recycling quite a bit of flip-cam footage from 2009, while my lack of professional skill as a videographer seems to have resulted in a faint background buzz -- I apologize for this).
I was, finally, excited last month when David Malmquist reported that The College's Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) will be launching a new undergraduate minor in Marine Science. VIMS is an excellent institution, and this new minor is great news for undergraduates interested in careers on or around the water -- particularly, of course, in the area of marine science. Malmquist writes:
The new undergraduate minor program, which began this month, is initially being offered as a 3-year pilot program for 20 students per year. Students declaring the minor will need to take two required courses (Introduction to Marine Science and Field Studies in Coastal Marine Environments); three of six fundamentals of marine sciences courses; and six credit hours in elective lecture, laboratory, and seminar courses.
The field-studies course will take place at VIMS' Eastern Shore Laboratory in Wachapreague, Virginia, where students will receive two-weeks of hands-on instruction in and around the coastal lagoons of Virginia's barrier-island ecosystem.News of the last several months means all-together great things for the Coast Guard Auxiliary students at The College. Training and leadership education have continued amongst new graduations, success for our students in and out of the Auxiliary, a Maritime Information Initiative shining a light on students' and instructors' great work there from across the country in Seattle, and the launch of a new Marine Science minor that will bring great new opportunities to W&M undergraduates. It is an exciting time, and I thank all who have made it possible for their excellent service!
