NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Captain Andy Blomme, Commander, Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, Fla., will present the Sumner I. Kimball Award to the crew of Coast Guard Station Ponce De Leon Inlet Monday at 8:30 a.m. at a ceremony to recognize exceptional readiness posture.
The Sumner I. Kimball Award recognizes the achievement of high readiness of shore unit boats and personnel through an inspection of vessel conditions and survival systems, performance of underway drills and examination of unit training programs. Station Ponce de Leon Inlet received a perfect score in the survival gear program and 47 out of 50 possible points on the unit assessment.
“The award is a testament of how hard the crew works and there level of professionalism,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Michael Jensen, officer-in-charge of Coast Guard Station Ponce de Leon Inlet.
“It is a very difficult award for any unit to receive, because there are so many moving parts and in order to receive the award everyone needs to be on the same page,” said Jensen.
While the Coast Guard maintains a high readiness posture, only 10 percent of shore-based boat force units are awarded the Kimball Award each year.
The award is named for Sumner I. Kimball, the general superintendent of the U.S. Life-Saving Service from 1878 to 1915. The U.S. Lighthouse Service, established on August 7, 1789, is the oldest of the Coast Guard’s antecedents. Kimball’s accomplishments included organizing divided life-saving stations into unified, mission capable teams, which later became part of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915.
