OGDENSBURG -- The Coast Guard Auxiliary units from Sackets Harbor, Alexandria Bay, Ogdensburg, Massena and Ontario, Canada recently held their annual Standardized Auxiliary Boat Operations Training.

The training is designed to enhance overall auxiliary operational proficiency as auxiliary boat crews prepare for the summer boating season.

Morning classroom sessions provided members with review of practices and techniques for on water operations that included towing disabled vessels, recovery of persons in the water, search and rescue patterns, and treating hypothermia victims. Personnel from Coast Guard Station Alexandria Bay and Sector Buffalo provided additional information on operational limits, radio protocol and navigation and piloting.

The afternoon activity shifted to the water where Auxiliary members were assigned positions on six U.S. and Canadian Auxiliary facilities for surface operations where the standards required for each task learned in the morning classroom were put into practice. This training will be utilized by Auxiliary units patrolling Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River this summer as they assist the Coast Guard and recreational boaters.

Highlighting the two-day event was the presentation of the ninth District Eastern Region (9ER) Flotilla Commander of the Year award to Past Flotilla Commander Jack Augsbury of the Alexandria Bay Flotilla.

The 9ER District spans an area of operation stretching from Ohio to New York. It includes Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and inland waterways in northeastern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania and the western half of New York.