DI resident receives Performance Achievement Award from US Coast Guard

Daniel Island resident Phillip T. Poole, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, was honored for outstanding performance achievements in the District 7 Recreational Boating Safety (RBS) program on April 6, 2019.

Poole is one of only 43 RBS Program Visitors to earn the RBS Lighthouse Award in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Seventh District, which includes Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Lighthouse Award certificate, a letter of appreciation, and an RBS challenge coin were presented by Barbara Burchfield, District Staff Officer-Program Visitation, during the division quarterly meeting.

The Lighthouse Award recognizes members trained and certified as RBS Program Visitors for completing 1,000 or more official visits to local area marinas, marine dealers or other partner businesses promoting recreational boating safety at their business locations. Mr. Poole completed 1,112 service calls to RBS business partners with important boating safety information for an expected outreach of 10,000 or more boat owners or operators.

Program Visitors are recreational boating safety subject matter experts and provide a wide range of boating safety literature, safety alerts, recall notices, and information to partners for the benefit of boaters and paddle craft operators. The informational resources are placed at partner business locations and are free to the public.

This notable achievement was named the Lighthouse Award in recognition of its recipients’ objective to provide safe passage to mariners by providing the information and knowledge to make good decisions. Like the lighthouse, Auxiliary Program Visitors work year-round to promote boating safety. Their outreach efforts help to inform and educate boaters with the expectation and hope to reduce accidents, loss of lives and loss of property.

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and its Program Visitors are the volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard tasks the Auxiliary with promoting recreational boating safety through its partner visitation program, public education courses, vessel safety checks and other programs. Visit www.cgaux.org to learn more about maritime safety and Auxiliary programs.