Three Division 6 flotillas were honored on Sept. 23 with the National Commodore’s Achievement Award and longevity streamers for Coast Guard Auxiliary service totaling 170 years. By tradition, streamers are attached to the ceremonial national flags used at meetings, parades and receptions.
Division 6 Commander Garry Nelson presented the awards at Division 6’s monthly meeting in the city of Orange.
The division’s senior flotilla, 6-1 of Newport Harbor, was honored for 70 years of service, not a common tenure for a West Coast unit. The modern version of Newport Harbor in the city of Newport Beach was inaugurated by President Franklin Roosevelt in spring 1936. Flotilla 6-1 was commissioned in January 1954, making it a boating safety presence for 70 of the harbor’s 88 years.
Two other Orange County units, Flotilla 6-8 of Dana Point and Flotilla 6-10 of Seal Beach, received 50-year streamers in addition to the National Commodore’s Achievement Award. Both flotillas were activated in summer 1974.
Dana Point Harbor in south Orange County was officially dedicated on July 31, 1971, so Flotilla 6-8’s members have been serving the harbor’s maritime community for nearly its entire existence. In Seal Beach, significant neighboring U.S. Navy activity makes Flotilla 6-10’s vital mission of recreational boating safety even more important.
Congress established the Auxiliary in 1939, and in 1941 bestowed its permanent name of United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. Because Auxiliarists are unpaid volunteers whether on the water, ashore or in the air, 170 years of service represents an immense cost savings to the U.S. Coast Guard, local mariners and recreational boaters, and American taxpayers.
Division 6, which comprises all of Orange County’s six Auxiliary flotillas, has nearly 220 Auxiliarists. It is an important component of District 11SR, headquartered in the Long Beach/Los Angeles harbor area. The district is responsible for Auxiliary flotillas in Southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona and southern Utah, and works closely with U.S. Coast Guard District 11, providing personnel and logistics for a wide variety of Coast Guard missions, except direct military and law enforcement operations.
