Members of the Board were honored to be invited to the Coast Guard Maritime Safety & Security Team Kings Bay's quarterly awards ceremony on March 7th. We always knew our adopted MSST command doesn't have a lot of downtime, but when we learned from unit CO LCDR Eric Casper that portions of the Team were on deployment over Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Years last year, we thought we should do something to recognize their dedication and commitment.

But, how do you adequately thank these outstanding young men and women for their selfless service to our country? The very least we could do was to host a lunch for the Team following the Awards Ceremony. It wasn't exactly "Christmas in March," but we hope our small gesture showed how much we appreciate and care about our adopted unit and their families.

Individuals recognized at the Awards Ceremony included:

Boat Crew Qualification	Fitness Excellence Awards
MK3 Abril	LTJG Adams
BM3 Carello	MKC Payne
	ME2 Chavez – 63 sit-ups, 8:58 run, 12 pull-ups, 10 chin-ups (tied)
Tactical Boat Crew Qualification	EM2 Zamora - 10 chin-ups (tied)
MK3 Patton	BM3 McLaughlin
	ME3 O’Flynn
Pursuit Coxswain Qualification	ME3 Whitney – 77 push-ups

BM2 Dilorenzo
	Spartan Marksmanship Awards
Education Excellence	GM1 Carreras - 243 (out of 250)
BM1 Edwards	BM1 Edwards - 242
	MK3 Abril - 243
Special Operations Service Ribbon	ME3 O’Flynn - 247
MK1 Casas	ME3 Whitney - 247
MK2 Beronio

BM2 Dilorenzo	Top Shot Award
MK2 Frazier	ME3 O’Flynn – 247 out of 250 (based on tighter grouping)
BM2 Jones
EM2 Mitchell	Good Conduct Medal
BM2 Patterson	EM2 Zamora

BM2 Swofford
BM2 Tedford	Spirit of Excellence Award
BM2 Zingler	DC2 Martinez
GM3 Hill
MK3 Lara	Runner-up for Enlisted Person of the Quarter (4th Qtr 2016)
BM3 Lehman	GM1 Carreras
BM3 Lohman

BM3 McLaughlin	Enlisted Person of the Quarter (4th Qtr 2016)
MK3 Patton	ME2 Chavez
BM3 Weber
MK3 Wheeler	Enlisted Person of the Year (2016)
	BM1 Gardiner

MSST Coast Guardsman of the Year for 2016 BM1 Gardiner will be deployed over our May 11th Annual Sea Service Awards Ceremony, and not available to be recognized at that time. Knowing that, we took the opportunity on March 7th to get a photo of BM1 Gardiner and Enlisted Person of the Quarter ME2 Chavez cutting the ceremonial "Happy Belated Christmas Cake," donated by the St. Marys Submarine Museum, following the luncheon:

From left to right: Keith Post, Executive Director, St. Marys Submarine Museum; BM1 Gardiner; ME2 Chavez; LCDR Casper; Council President Sam Colville

View more photos taken at the event in our Photo Gallery.