Civilian volunteers in Brandon's Flotilla 74, a unit of the Coast Guard auxiliary, teach classes and conduct patrols.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published July 18, 2003
[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys]
Conrad Palermo, left, commander of Flotilla 74, and Paul Gross, vice commander, patrol the water Saturday.
[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys]
Paul Gross holds the rope as new volunteers practice docking the boat at Williams Park Boat ramp.
[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys]
Conrad Palermo scans the water of the Alafia River with binoculars during a safety patrol.
[Times photo: Skip O'Rourke]
Auxiliary member David Lowe, left, and Coast Guard Lt. Nelson Santiago raise a flag to celebrate the auxiliary's 64th anniversary.
[Times photo: Skip O'Rourke]
Dwight Shingledecker conducts a boating safety class at Tampa Bay Academy on June 28.
RIVERVIEW - Conrad Palermo's 19-foot boat, Guppie, is in the water, gassed up and ready for a smooth takeoff. The sodas and sandwiches are on board, the skies are morphing from threatening gray to welcoming blue.
The boat is stocked with extra blankets, a first-aid kit, a hand compass, a guide to area tides, the phone numbers for local bridge tenders and contact information for all 21 agencies that are part of U.S. Homeland Security.
"This is the Guppie," Palermo says into his radio, notifying the Coast Guard station in St. Petersburg. "We are initiating our mission, departing from Williams Park on the Alafia River."
It's time for another Saturday patrol by Brandon's Flotilla 74, one of eight Coast Guard auxiliary units in the Tampa Bay area, where busy ports and MacDill Air Force Base demand close attention.
In the post-Sept. 11 vigilance against terrorism, auxiliary units have become vital to the Coast Guard, which has to reconcile limited resources and an increasing number of security-related tasks.
"After Sept. 11, we're in a balancing act of limited resources and a bunch of missions," said Petty Officer Robert Suddarth, a Coast Guard spokesman based in St. Petersburg. "That's why the auxiliary is so important. Most of them have been boaters most of their lives, and know the area really well. They provide us with manpower and boats, relief for our own guys who are working so hard as it is."
In particular, Flotilla 74 is seeing its membership grow as more people move to southern Hillsborough. The flotilla just welcomed 16 new members.
The growth comes as Flotilla 74 prepares to offer more extensive boating safety classes and raises money to build its first headquarters.
As a civilian component of the Coast Guard, members of Flotilla 74 can't enforce the law, they can't even write tickets to speeders. But they can do just about everything else - whether it's making sure channel markers are intact or inspecting a family's boat to make sure it's ready for a day on the water.
"We're the eyes and ears for the Coast Guard and any of the other agencies that deal with U.S. security on the water," said Palermo, commander of the 35-member Brandon flotilla, which was established 12 years ago. "The more we can do for them, the more time they can spend on law enforcement and preventing terrorism."
Suddarth said auxiliary units maintained a security zone around the Skyway bridge right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and when a young woman recently went missing in her kayak, auxiliary members used water scooters to search in areas too dense and narrow for large Coast Guard boats to enter.
The flotilla's duties are wide-ranging. Members - ranging from their early 20s to early 80s - teach free boat safety classes and inspect boats, also for free. Flotilla 74 recently received approval from the Coast Guard for its first on-the-water boating course, which starts in September.
Members also conduct daytime and evening security patrols, on the lookout for unauthorized people or suspicious activity at Port Sutton, where potentially dangerous materials are plentiful.
Flotilla 74 primarily covers the east side of Hillsborough Bay, including Port Sutton and Harbour Island, said Dwight Shingledecker, a founding member of Flotilla 74. Members on patrol use their own boats, outfitted with the "Coast Guard Auxiliary" flag.
Palermo, a Brandon resident, has been with Flotilla 74 for four years. He knows the story behind just about every ship. The 52-year-old father of two knows which tankers hold anhydrous ammonia, and which containers are full of petroleum.
Anhydrous ammonia, a toxic liquid used to make fertilizer, burns skin and causes swelling in the lungs and airways. Inhaling too much of the vapor can be fatal. Petroleum is highly combustible; both substances have been cited as a possible ingredients in terrorist weapons.
When Palermo and vice Cmdr. Paul Gross patrol the port, they check the discharge from large ships to ensure there are no environmental hazards leaking into the water.
They write down the name and origin of every ship and report their findings to the Marine Safety Office in Tampa.
If they spot someone without an identification, they ask a few questions. Who are you? What company do you work for? Are you supposed to be here? Where's your ID badge?
When the answers don't jive, Palermo and Gross, a 48-year-old Brandon resident, can make a quick call on the radio to alert the proper law enforcement authorities.
On safety patrols like the one conducted Saturday, Palermo and other members of the flotilla blare their horn at boaters and people on water scooter who speed through no-wake zones like the one between Davis Islands and Harbour Island.
Sometimes, the task is frustrating. Some boaters seem to know that flotilla members don't have the authority to write tickets.
One boat driver spent five minutes Saturday arguing with Palermo, insisting (incorrectly) that the no-wake zone off Harbour Island is only a wake zone during the winter manatee season.
"You get all kinds of people out there," Palermo said later. "But in all my years, I've only come across that about twice. Most people don't differentiate between us - the auxiliary - and the Coast Guard."
The next big mission for Flotilla 74 is finding a home. The flotilla doesn't have its own office or classroom facilities, so members use Brandon-area schools and civic buildings for safety classes. All the flotilla's equipment has to be lugged in and out of storage every time members need it for a class or a water patrol.
The flotilla recently established a nonprofit corporation, the Maritime Security Corporation of Tampa Bay, to raise money for a small headquarters. Palermo and other flotilla leaders are negotiating with Hillsborough parks officials to use land at Williams Park for the facility.
"We just need a place to hang our hat," Palermo said.
To become a member of Brandon's Flotilla 74, you must be at least 17 and a U.S. citizen. You also must pass an open-book test. Annual dues are $40. The flotilla meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. in the Brandon Recreation Center, 502 E Sadie St. Members do not have to have prior boating experience. The six-week on-the-water boating course begins in September and costs $45 per person. For information, call flotilla Cmdr. Conrad Palermo at 651-5610 or Personnel Service Officer Robert Lowry at 685-3130.
A little history
The auxiliary was born in World War II, when some 50,000 volunteers came forward to help the Coast Guard. Once the war was over, auxiliary volunteers remained important in promoting boating safety. Their presence was especially helpful in states like Florida, where warm weather and easy access to the water keeps the waterways busy.
The auxiliary is separate from the Coast Guard Reserves, which is made up of paid Coast Guard officers on reserve status. There are an estimated 35,000 people in the U.S. Coast Guard's auxiliary, including 35 in Brandon's Flotilla 74. The flotilla is part of the auxiliary's Division 7, which includes more than 300 members in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay area and Lakeland.
