Navy League Presents
Sea Services Awards
By AMY L. WITTMAN, Editor in Chief
And PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
Coast Guard Vice Adm. John P. Currier told Navy Leaguers
that the maritime services “
appreciate your support both at the national and at the regional level. We also
appreciate your advocacy, your education of our congressmen and our
general public on what the sea services really do for this great nation.”
Giving the keynote address at
the Oct. 28 Sea Services Awards
luncheon at the 2011 National
Convention in Chattanooga, Tenn.,
he called the Navy League’s support of the men and women who
serve — “no matter what uniform
they’re in” — essential.
“Service members are deployed
around the world, many in harm’s
way, many in combat situations. It
really is an honor to be here, sharing
this event with such distinguished
young Americans being awarded
today,” said Currier, the Coast
Guard’s first deputy commandant for
Mission Support and its longest-service active-duty aviator.
He spoke of his own experience
with the Navy League from when he
was an operational commander with
the 13th Coast Guard District.
“We had, in that area, a fantastic
contingent of Navy League support,”
which Currier said was then, and
remains today, a particularly important component of force readiness.
“I had people flying and operating
off the coast of Oregon and
Washington on a routine basis,” he
said. “Our people are spread out in
small units all over the United States.
On the Washington and Oregon
coasts, those units are characterized
by the chief petty officer in charge
and usually 30, 40, 50 enlisted people, many of whom are coxswains on
these small all-weather boats that go
out in horrific conditions.
“And I also had three air stations
that were operating in icy conditions
and nasty weather, because nobody
ever calls us when it’s nice out. What
kept me awake at night was to ensure
that these folks were ready. They had
to face risk. Risk is part of our job. It
certainly is part of the job of all the
military services,” Currier said. “So as
an operational commander, I felt it
was my job to manage every aspect of
the risk that they face, and allow
them to go forth ready to take on the
uncontrollable risks.”
He noted risk management trans-
lates into readiness, “and the readi-
ness is built in component pieces.”
The component the Navy League has
“is significant. Your support of our
people translates very simply into
this — with what you do, the support
you give to our families, our people
are prepared to engage in missions,
focused on those missions with their
heads in the game, because they’re
less worried about the conditions
their families are facing. … That
comes both in personal support of
our families and also advocacy for the
programs in our service.”
Looking around the room, not-
ing the Sea Service Award winners,
Currier said, “Our country is
DAN REYNOLDS
Navy Leaguers and guests applaud winners of the Navy League’s Sea
Services Awards during an Oct. 28 luncheon in their honor at the 2011 National
Convention in Chattanooga, Tenn.
DAN REYNOLDS
U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. John P.
Currier gives the keynote speech dur-
ing the Sea Services Awards luncheon.
