breaking in, getting qualified

As part of my check-in process, I was informed of what qualifications I would have to gain and the deadline for each qualification. The first qualification was communications watch stander. At a small boat station, there is a communications center (comcenter) which houses the unit's radios, phones, and other equipment used for communication with both Coast Guard and civilian vessels. The main purpose of the comms watch stander is to maintain a constant guard for distress calls, whether they come in over the radio, cell phone, or are relayed to us from another agency.

When not running a SAR case, the watch stander basically served as a secretary for the station, fielding phone calls, taking down messages, and maintaining a detailed log of everything that occurred during his or her four hour watch.

This was a good qual to start with because it was fairly simple to complete and gave a new member some insight into how the station worked. I was given two weeks to become qualified as a comms watchstander.

The qualification process had several steps. The first part was getting my qualification book signed off. The book broke each task down into steps and I had to sit down with a qualified watchstander and demonstrate each task "without prompting or use of a reference". The hardest task of all was my Area of Responsibility (AOR) test. I had to memorize almost two hundred different points of interest in Gloucester's AOR including islands, rocks, coves, harbors, and lighthouses. When I felt ready, I took the test which was a chart of our AOR with all the names blacked out and numbered. I numbered a blank sheet of paper and named every point that I could remember.

The other major sign-off was to successfully complete my SAR scenarios. I was given a radio and all the standard check sheets used during a SAR case (ex- initial distress check sheet, taking of water, vessel fire, etc.) Another person called in SAR scenarios from another radio and I was judged on how I handed myself and if I completed all the necessary steps. The first step of a SAR case for a watch stander is to get what is called "the four Ps" namely, Position, Problem, number of People on board, and then telling them to put on their PFDs (life jackets).

The last step was to take an oral qualification board. I sat in front of three watch standers and a qualified Officer of the Day (OOD) and they asked me anything and everything about watch standing. At the end of the board, they reached the decision that I was ready to stand comms watch and I had my first qualification in Gloucester.