Anne Bremer contacted the director of the Grand Haven, MI Coast guard festival. More information on this festival is located below:
http://www.coastguardfest.org/
I left an email for Commander Michael Smith, USCG, Ret. at 616-846-5940.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
E-Mail Sent to Coast Guard Historian
Elizabeth Psimas provided contact information for the Coast Guard historian as follows:
William H. Thiesen, PH.D
Historian
Coast Guard Atlantic Area
431 Crawford Street
Portsmouth, VA 23704
Dear Dr. Thiesen:
Elizabeth Psimas provided me with your business card.
The Mayor's Military Affairs Committe is striving to have Portsmouth named a "Coast Guard City." We are in the process of seeking out advice from current Coast Guard Cities, so that we can develop the best possible package for submission.
We have currently set up a website (in blog form) to document and track our efforts. It is set up in this format so that all Committee members may have access to the information we are collecting. You may view it, if you wish, at http://portsmouthcoastguardcity.blogspot.com/
I would like to include a history of the Coast Guard in Portsmouth on the website, as well as in the package which we will submit to the Coast Guard.
I will be including the activities of the Mayors Military Affairs Committee, the Lightship Museum, the Fresnel Lens and the support the citizens of Portsmouth provided to the ISAR competition between the American and Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliaries and Portsmouth's support for the Coast Guard birthday as back up for the request of Coast Guard City designation.
Could you point me in the right direction on getting this info together? Is it online? Would it be better for us to meet some time after Thanksgiving? Any insight you'd have for this project would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Anne Galvin Bremer, Co-Chair
Coast Guard City Sub-Committee
Mayor's Military Affairs Committee
City of Portsmouth
576-3701
Dr. Thiesen called me back within 30 seconds of sending my email. He recomended that I make an appointment with his counterpart in Washington, DC at Coast Guard HQ at Buzzard's Point to see the file for Portsmouth. His office is relatively new and he does not have any old files.
He also suggested that I get a copy of Dean Burgess' book at the library, which has excellent information regarding the history of Portsmouth and the Coast Guard. Dr. Thiesen suggested that Coast Guard Cities Grand Haven, MI and Wilmington, NC will be excellent resources for us.
A copy of his follow up email is listed below:
Hi Anne:I've pasted below information from the USCG Public Affairs Manual to help guide you through this process. You may also want to consult with Wilmington, North Carolina. It's a Coast Guard City of roughly the same population as Portsmouth.Feel free to call me should you have further questions.All the best,Bill
F. "A COAST GUARD CITY" DESIGNATIONS.1. Purpose. The Commandant takes great pride in the many services provided by the men and women of the Coast Guard to American citizens in general and, in particular, to the residents of the communities in which they are assigned. It is the intent of this program, in accordance with federal law, to provide for the recognition of those cities that, in return, have made special efforts to acknowledge the professional work of the Coast Guard men and women assigned to their area by regularly reaching out to them and their families and making them feel "at home at their home away from home." Such efforts should be indicative of a long-standing and enduring relationship with an emphasis on considerations the community has made for the members of the Coast Guard family and their dependents. This document provides information as to how a city or municipality may submit a request to be designated "A Coast Guard City" and to provide the range of requirements to be met in order to be considered for such designation.2. Background.
On November 13, 1998, a law was enacted that allowed the city of Grand Haven, MI, to formally be called "Coast Guard City, USA" (Section 409 of P.L. 105-383). That law also provides for other cities to be similarly designated with a 90-say notice of intent from the Commandant to the two authorizing congressional committees. In accordance with that provision, on 3 June 2000, Eureka, CA, became the second city to receive the tribute and was proclaimed "A Coast Guard City." Grand Haven's designation was based on their 75-year-long history of extraordinary support for Coast Guard personnel assigned to the Grand Haven area. Eureka's designation, likewise, was based on a multi-year history of community sensitivity to the needs of the local Coast Guard personnel and the many actions they took and activities they sponsored each year to benefit the Coast Guard personnel in their area. While formal criteria did not exist for the designations of either Grand Haven or Eureka, the precedence of those actions provided de facto criteria for future considerations. It should be noted that neither designation focused on the size of the local Coast Guard community nor on what the Coast Guard personnel, either active duty or retired, contributed as volunteers to community projects. However, for the purpose of consideration for future designations of Coast Guard Cities, weight will be given to partnerships on local community projects that would be indicative of a robust, on-going relationship between the community as a whole and the local Coast Guard unit or units.3. Designation request process. In order to maintain the honor and integrity of the designation, those who desire to have their city designated "A Coast Guard City" should provide a written rationale to the local Coast Guard district or sector commander, who will review the application and forward it with or without an endorsement through the Coast Guard's chain of command to Commandant (CG09223). A standardized form is available from Commandant (CG-09223) for crafting the rationale.
The city's written rationale should specify examples of the city's enduring relationship with the Coast Guard and the city's consistently demonstrated support for our service members. Additionally, the city leadership should show a strong interest in garnering the recognition. Commandant (CG09223) will recommend to Commandant (CG-092) if the city's support of the Coast Guard warrants such a designation and, if approved, will craft an appropriate citation, based on the information provided, for the proclamation ceremony.
4. Procedures. A city or municipality must make formal request by letter, signed by the mayor or city manager, addressed to Commandant (CG-092), 2100 Second St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20593. The request must include a narrative of no more than two pages describing its relationship with the local Coast Guard unit(s) in terms that would be indicative of a proactive, systematic outreach and support agenda based on community-wide efforts.
In addition, the city must provide a separate document listing specific examples of actions the community has taken and events it has sponsored that would be descriptive of how it has reached out to Coast Guard personnel, welcomed them into the community, and embraced them in a full community partnership.
A board comprised of Commandant (CG-092), (CG-00B), (CG-0922), (CG-0921), (CG-111), (CG-0944), and (CG-122) will review the request, consider recommendations from the appropriate field commands and, should the request meet the requirements detailed below, provide a recommendation to the Commandant. Upon approval by the Commandant, the appropriate congressional committees will be notified and a required 90-day waiting period will begin. With no dissent from either committee, the requesting city will be proclaimed to be "A Coast Guard City."
The proclamation will have a five-year term after which the city will be required to apply for recertification. Recertification is an abbreviated form of the procedures required for the original request in that the city need only provide a letter six months prior to the end of the five-year term describing its on-going relationship with the Coast Guard with examples of their recent programs and projects. As with the original request, letters requesting recertification should be addressed to Commandant (CG-092), and go before the Board. The designation of "A Coast Guard City" may, for cause, be rescinded with 60 days notification issued by Commandant (CG-092).
5. Requirements. A city's request will be judged against the following list of actions and programs that are examples of the types of support shown Coast Guard personnel in cities where the Coast Guard serves. It is necessary for a city to have initiated nor replicated every one of the actions listed. Rather, a city should be able to demonstrate that its people command(s) in a manner that would include, but not limited to, a number of initiatives below.
In addition, the request should specify which groups or organizations within the community are responsible for, or participated in, the initiatives. They could include city government, Chamber of Commerce, non-government organizations (e.g., Navy League), civic organizations (e.g., Lions, Kiwanis, etc.), corporate, police/sheriffs/fire departments, EMS, educational organizations, or individuals.a. Support for MWR events.b. Support for educational/scholarship programsc. Availability of community support services to Coast Guard members and their families.
Sponsorship of Sailor of the Quarter, Sailor of the Year, Recruiter of the Year, and other similar types of awardse. Demonstrations of sensitivity to life-altering events within the Coast Guard community including expressions of congratulations for weddings and newborns, and expressions of sympathy or deaths and other family tragedies.f. Sponsorship of community patriotic events that specifically include members of the Coast Guard family. These events could include but not be limited to Memorial Day picnics, July Fourth picnics, Armed Forces Day events, Veterans Day observances, Coast Guard Birthday events, etc.g. Offer military or Coast Guard "Days" within the business community, at local sporting events, and other entertainment events.h. City-Coast Guard partnerships in community-based projects including law enforcement/fire/EMS projects, civic organizational projects, food drives, home building projects, educational projects, etc. Establishing monuments, memorials, commemorations, or other tangible forms of public recognition.
Information. Questions regarding this program should be directed to the Community Relations Branch
Office of Public Affairs in Coast Guard Headquarters (CG-09223).
William H. Thiesen
Atlantic Area Historian
Commander (Ae), Coast Guard Atlantic Area
431 Crawford Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704
Office: 757-398-6643
Fax: 757-391-8109
Web: http://www.uscg.mil/history
William H. Thiesen, PH.D
Historian
Coast Guard Atlantic Area
431 Crawford Street
Portsmouth, VA 23704
Dear Dr. Thiesen:
Elizabeth Psimas provided me with your business card.
The Mayor's Military Affairs Committe is striving to have Portsmouth named a "Coast Guard City." We are in the process of seeking out advice from current Coast Guard Cities, so that we can develop the best possible package for submission.
We have currently set up a website (in blog form) to document and track our efforts. It is set up in this format so that all Committee members may have access to the information we are collecting. You may view it, if you wish, at http://portsmouthcoastguardcity.blogspot.com/
I would like to include a history of the Coast Guard in Portsmouth on the website, as well as in the package which we will submit to the Coast Guard.
I will be including the activities of the Mayors Military Affairs Committee, the Lightship Museum, the Fresnel Lens and the support the citizens of Portsmouth provided to the ISAR competition between the American and Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliaries and Portsmouth's support for the Coast Guard birthday as back up for the request of Coast Guard City designation.
Could you point me in the right direction on getting this info together? Is it online? Would it be better for us to meet some time after Thanksgiving? Any insight you'd have for this project would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Anne Galvin Bremer, Co-Chair
Coast Guard City Sub-Committee
Mayor's Military Affairs Committee
City of Portsmouth
576-3701
Dr. Thiesen called me back within 30 seconds of sending my email. He recomended that I make an appointment with his counterpart in Washington, DC at Coast Guard HQ at Buzzard's Point to see the file for Portsmouth. His office is relatively new and he does not have any old files.
He also suggested that I get a copy of Dean Burgess' book at the library, which has excellent information regarding the history of Portsmouth and the Coast Guard. Dr. Thiesen suggested that Coast Guard Cities Grand Haven, MI and Wilmington, NC will be excellent resources for us.
A copy of his follow up email is listed below:
Hi Anne:I've pasted below information from the USCG Public Affairs Manual to help guide you through this process. You may also want to consult with Wilmington, North Carolina. It's a Coast Guard City of roughly the same population as Portsmouth.Feel free to call me should you have further questions.All the best,Bill
F. "A COAST GUARD CITY" DESIGNATIONS.1. Purpose. The Commandant takes great pride in the many services provided by the men and women of the Coast Guard to American citizens in general and, in particular, to the residents of the communities in which they are assigned. It is the intent of this program, in accordance with federal law, to provide for the recognition of those cities that, in return, have made special efforts to acknowledge the professional work of the Coast Guard men and women assigned to their area by regularly reaching out to them and their families and making them feel "at home at their home away from home." Such efforts should be indicative of a long-standing and enduring relationship with an emphasis on considerations the community has made for the members of the Coast Guard family and their dependents. This document provides information as to how a city or municipality may submit a request to be designated "A Coast Guard City" and to provide the range of requirements to be met in order to be considered for such designation.2. Background.
On November 13, 1998, a law was enacted that allowed the city of Grand Haven, MI, to formally be called "Coast Guard City, USA" (Section 409 of P.L. 105-383). That law also provides for other cities to be similarly designated with a 90-say notice of intent from the Commandant to the two authorizing congressional committees. In accordance with that provision, on 3 June 2000, Eureka, CA, became the second city to receive the tribute and was proclaimed "A Coast Guard City." Grand Haven's designation was based on their 75-year-long history of extraordinary support for Coast Guard personnel assigned to the Grand Haven area. Eureka's designation, likewise, was based on a multi-year history of community sensitivity to the needs of the local Coast Guard personnel and the many actions they took and activities they sponsored each year to benefit the Coast Guard personnel in their area. While formal criteria did not exist for the designations of either Grand Haven or Eureka, the precedence of those actions provided de facto criteria for future considerations. It should be noted that neither designation focused on the size of the local Coast Guard community nor on what the Coast Guard personnel, either active duty or retired, contributed as volunteers to community projects. However, for the purpose of consideration for future designations of Coast Guard Cities, weight will be given to partnerships on local community projects that would be indicative of a robust, on-going relationship between the community as a whole and the local Coast Guard unit or units.3. Designation request process. In order to maintain the honor and integrity of the designation, those who desire to have their city designated "A Coast Guard City" should provide a written rationale to the local Coast Guard district or sector commander, who will review the application and forward it with or without an endorsement through the Coast Guard's chain of command to Commandant (CG09223). A standardized form is available from Commandant (CG-09223) for crafting the rationale.
The city's written rationale should specify examples of the city's enduring relationship with the Coast Guard and the city's consistently demonstrated support for our service members. Additionally, the city leadership should show a strong interest in garnering the recognition. Commandant (CG09223) will recommend to Commandant (CG-092) if the city's support of the Coast Guard warrants such a designation and, if approved, will craft an appropriate citation, based on the information provided, for the proclamation ceremony.
4. Procedures. A city or municipality must make formal request by letter, signed by the mayor or city manager, addressed to Commandant (CG-092), 2100 Second St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20593. The request must include a narrative of no more than two pages describing its relationship with the local Coast Guard unit(s) in terms that would be indicative of a proactive, systematic outreach and support agenda based on community-wide efforts.
In addition, the city must provide a separate document listing specific examples of actions the community has taken and events it has sponsored that would be descriptive of how it has reached out to Coast Guard personnel, welcomed them into the community, and embraced them in a full community partnership.
A board comprised of Commandant (CG-092), (CG-00B), (CG-0922), (CG-0921), (CG-111), (CG-0944), and (CG-122) will review the request, consider recommendations from the appropriate field commands and, should the request meet the requirements detailed below, provide a recommendation to the Commandant. Upon approval by the Commandant, the appropriate congressional committees will be notified and a required 90-day waiting period will begin. With no dissent from either committee, the requesting city will be proclaimed to be "A Coast Guard City."
The proclamation will have a five-year term after which the city will be required to apply for recertification. Recertification is an abbreviated form of the procedures required for the original request in that the city need only provide a letter six months prior to the end of the five-year term describing its on-going relationship with the Coast Guard with examples of their recent programs and projects. As with the original request, letters requesting recertification should be addressed to Commandant (CG-092), and go before the Board. The designation of "A Coast Guard City" may, for cause, be rescinded with 60 days notification issued by Commandant (CG-092).
5. Requirements. A city's request will be judged against the following list of actions and programs that are examples of the types of support shown Coast Guard personnel in cities where the Coast Guard serves. It is necessary for a city to have initiated nor replicated every one of the actions listed. Rather, a city should be able to demonstrate that its people command(s) in a manner that would include, but not limited to, a number of initiatives below.
In addition, the request should specify which groups or organizations within the community are responsible for, or participated in, the initiatives. They could include city government, Chamber of Commerce, non-government organizations (e.g., Navy League), civic organizations (e.g., Lions, Kiwanis, etc.), corporate, police/sheriffs/fire departments, EMS, educational organizations, or individuals.a. Support for MWR events.b. Support for educational/scholarship programsc. Availability of community support services to Coast Guard members and their families.
Sponsorship of Sailor of the Quarter, Sailor of the Year, Recruiter of the Year, and other similar types of awardse. Demonstrations of sensitivity to life-altering events within the Coast Guard community including expressions of congratulations for weddings and newborns, and expressions of sympathy or deaths and other family tragedies.f. Sponsorship of community patriotic events that specifically include members of the Coast Guard family. These events could include but not be limited to Memorial Day picnics, July Fourth picnics, Armed Forces Day events, Veterans Day observances, Coast Guard Birthday events, etc.g. Offer military or Coast Guard "Days" within the business community, at local sporting events, and other entertainment events.h. City-Coast Guard partnerships in community-based projects including law enforcement/fire/EMS projects, civic organizational projects, food drives, home building projects, educational projects, etc. Establishing monuments, memorials, commemorations, or other tangible forms of public recognition.
Information. Questions regarding this program should be directed to the Community Relations Branch
Office of Public Affairs in Coast Guard Headquarters (CG-09223).
William H. Thiesen
Atlantic Area Historian
Commander (Ae), Coast Guard Atlantic Area
431 Crawford Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704
Office: 757-398-6643
Fax: 757-391-8109
Web: http://www.uscg.mil/history
Anne Meets with Jon and Peg Nourie
Anne met with John and Peg Nourie at their home at the end of October. Both of the Nourie's were extremely helpful and informative, as well as generous with their time.
They advised that the Coast Guard considers the Coast Guard Auxiliary as part of their own organization. So while the presence of two auxiliary organizations in the area will be good back up for the request, it cannot be thought of as being part of the city's efforts to support the Coast Guard. It will be; however, a good indication of the support that citizens provide due to their volunteer efforts.
John and Peg advised that the support of the community for the International Search and Rescue Competitions between the US and Canada which took place in the area twice in the last ten years would be very helpful to use in indicating support of the CG by the Portsmouth Community.
They advised that the Coast Guard considers the Coast Guard Auxiliary as part of their own organization. So while the presence of two auxiliary organizations in the area will be good back up for the request, it cannot be thought of as being part of the city's efforts to support the Coast Guard. It will be; however, a good indication of the support that citizens provide due to their volunteer efforts.
John and Peg advised that the support of the community for the International Search and Rescue Competitions between the US and Canada which took place in the area twice in the last ten years would be very helpful to use in indicating support of the CG by the Portsmouth Community.
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