Charlevoix Coast Guard volunteers: A true 'force multiplier' on the water
CHARLEVOIX — In military science, force multiplication or a force multiplier is a factor or a combination of factors that gives personnel or weapons (or other hardware) the ability to accomplish greater feats than they could without it.
Charlevoix’s U.S. Coast Guard Station husband and wife team, Glen and Lynda Stolt, call themselves a force multiplier. They are just two of a team of volunteers that help the area's Coast Guard function, performing important life-saving services year-round.
“We just multiply what the Coast Guard can do,” said Lynda. “We are trained in comms and operations. We aren’t law enforcement, but we do boat safety checks, safety education ... I’ve even been filling in this week because our chef is on leave and so I’ve been doing breakfast and lunch.”
The Stolts have two boats that they use to assist the Coast Guard in all sorts of situations — from fireworks control to rescues to crowd control.
However, to become a volunteer member of the Coast Guard one does not need to have a boat, just a willingness to help the community.
Once you pass a rudimentary background check, there are some basic training classes to complete. The Stolts are an example of how volunteers can be placed anywhere that they see potential.
“There’s firemen, there’s finance people, there’s cooks,” said Glen, explaining how the volunteers augment the Coast Guard. “We (the volunteer auxiliary team) all pick an area that we like to serve and add to their numbers.”
Glen said Fourth of July fireworks in surrounding communities like Harbor Springs, Boyne City, Petoskey and Beaver Island can keep the Coast Guard pretty busy.
"The Coast Guard has two boats, so we have several personal boats in our volunteer flotilla that we offer for use during that time," he said.
When asked what made them want to volunteer, Lynda said, “We love being on the water and we wanted to pick a service organization to help.”
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They also described the rewarding aspect of school education programs. For example, Glen described an encounter with a girl in elementary school who was very thankful to receive her own life jacket.
The 2024 Auxiliary Boat School will be held at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Charlevoix from June 7-9.
“We will work hand-in-hand with Station Charlevoix to advance our membership's skills through on-water and dry land training for all those seeking/maintaining operations training," Lynda said in an email. "We will also train alongside our TC Airstation (Auxiliary) to do search and rescue drills and our communication trailer will be there to advance those interested in communications certifications (radio comms). Many skills and drills training will be available."
Charlevoix's U.S. Coast Guard Chief Brad Bishop praised the efforts of the volunteers.
"They are involved with every summer event we have on the water. They supply a boat to help out. They are truly a force multiplier," he said. "We reimburse them for their fuel and boat maintenance. But you don't even need a boat to be a member of the auxiliary team ... You just need to be willing to jump on."
— Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0979 and adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Charlevoix Coast Guard volunteers: A true 'force multiplier' on the water
