CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard Auxiliary’s 9th District Eastern Region held a change-of-watch ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Syracuse, N.Y., Sept, 15, 2012.
Coast Guard Auxiliarist Robert Laurer relieved Nancy L. Rudiger as the 9th District Eastern Region’s commodore.
The 9th District Eastern Region stretches from Toledo, Ohio, east to the St. Lawrence Seaway.
During the ceremony, Rudiger was awarded the Coast Guard Auxiliary Meritorious Service Medal, presented by Rear Adm. Michael N. Parks, commander of the 9th Coast Guard District. She earned the award by her actions in helping to advance the strategic objectives of the Coast Guard’s Great Lakes Maritime Strategy.
During Rudiger’s tenure, the 9th District Auxiliary championed paddlesports safety and instituted the Standardized Auxiliary Boat Operations Training initiative. SABOT is now being implemented at Auxiliary units across the U.S. Rudiger also motivated auxiliarists to perform 18,400 hours of operational support, conduct more than 16,200 vessel safety checks and marine dealer visits, and teach 1,469 public education classes, all of which combined to save 29 lives, assist more than 400 boaters and save more than $2.1 million in property.
Laurer takes over as commodore after serving as Rudiger’s chief-of-staff for the 9th District Eastern Region. In addition to his regular auxilary duties, he initiated the deployment and testing of Everbridge, the web-based emergency notification and accountability system, in the 9th District Eastern Region. He also represented the region during senior leadership meetings, the air safety standdown, and at national Auxiliary training and conferences. He has also logged 3,900 recreational boating safety hours.
“Rudiger and Laurer are great examples of the many men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary who volunteer millions of hours in support of the U.S. Coast Guard and the recreational boating public,” said Cmdr. Nathan Podoll, director of the 9th Coast Guard District’s Auxiliary Branch.
Established by an act of Congress in 1939, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard. Auxiliarists support the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service’s missions.
