From left: Instructor J. Shawn Moore (Flotilla 23-2), Charles Conway (24-9), John Kostak (23-1), William Smith (23-6), and Christopher Jensen (23-7). Not in photo: Caryl Weiss (23-1) |
Five members of Divisions 23 and 24, District 5-Southern Region, recently completed cold weather training at Coast Guard Station Annapolis.
Under the tutelage of Auxiliarist Shawn Moore, the students first attended classroom training, then donned MSD-900 dry suits, complete with boots and balaclava hoods. When fully dressed they jumped into Fishing Creek's 55-degree water to demonstrate their ability to move about in the water. While in the water they checked the suits for leakage before the cold weather sets in.
The Auxiliary is required to wear the dry suits while conducting on-the-water patrols when the water temperature drops below 50 degrees, to prevent hypothermia.
William Smith is calm and relaxed while floating in Fishing Creek. |
Floating in Fishing Creek, checking for leaks. |
BM3 Christian Conover, USCG, from Station Annapolis hoses down Auxiliarist John Kostak to get the brackish water off of his MSD-900 dry suit. |
~HRW 12-12-10