Shipmates,
Posting on a few events that occurred over this last very busy week.
On Wednesday evening (25 March) Pam and I, along with Master Chief Bowen and his wife Jan, attended the annual Washington DC USO Metro Awards Dinner. We have been attending this dinner for many years and it is always a pleasure and an inspiration to participate. This dinner recognizes individuals and organizations who have supported the USO in and around the National Capitol Region. The dinner also recognizes an individual from each service. This year's Coast Guard awardee was LCDR Christopher M. Barrows.
Here is his story:
Hailing from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, LCDR Chris Barrows graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Upon commissioning, he served on several Coast Guard cutters ranging from frigates to patrol boats patrolling the North Atlantic, Caribbean, Eastern Pacific, Alaska and Bering Sea and enforced the nation’s maritime laws. His service training included graduation from the U.S. Navy’s Department Head School in Newport, Rhode Island studying tactical naval warfare. In 1997, he returned to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as a Nautical Science Instructor teaching navigation, seamanship, vessel handling, and professional studies. While assigned to the Academy, LCDR Barrows volunteered as an offshore sailing coach and served as a safety officer for a cadet offshore racing crew that was first in class amongst all service academies in the 1998 Newport to Bermuda Race. In August of 2001, LCDR Barrows’ took command of USCG Cutter WRANGELL a patrol boat in Portland, Maine. In addition to fisheries enforcement and search and rescue operations in the Northeast Atlantic, WRANGELL participated in maritime security operations following the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. In late 2002, WRANGELL was one of four Coast Guard patrol boats forward deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to the Northern Arabian Gulf. This was the first combat deployment of Coast Guard cutters since the Vietnam War 35 years earlier. WRANGELL supported naval combat and security operations alongside coalition forces and lead the first humanitarian shipment of food and supplies into the Iraqi port of Umm Quasar. Following WRANGELL, LCDR Barrows attended postgraduate studies in Marine Affairs/Living Marine Resources and attained a Masters in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island. LCDR Barrows is now serving as the Chief of Fisheries and Marine Protected Species Law Enforcement and Policy at Coast Guard Headquarters managing the Coast Guard’s living marine resource law enforcement program and coordinating US law enforcement policy at the national and international level.
---------------------------
There was no shortage of heroic stories and recognition for our other service partners and USO supporters.
http://www.usometrodc.org/page.php?p=42&n=42
The NFL Alumni received the Legacy of Hope Award named in the memory of Bob Hope. Among their representatives were Athony Munoz (Cincinatti Bengals), Rikki Ellison (San Francisco 49ers), and Mark Moseley (Washington Redskins). The USO Merit Award was presented to Al Franken who has spent hours visitng our wounded warriors. Assisting in the award presentations was actress Renee Zellweger.
We were honored to be with LCDR Barrow and his spouse.
ADM A
