U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliarist Ted Chatham received the “2018 Auxiliarist of the Year” award from U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Division 2. The award was presented to the East Boothbay resident at Flotilla 25’s monthly meeting at Station Boothbay Harbor. The award recognizes his outstanding service for over 14 years and 16,200 volunteer hours in the Auxiliary.

Auxiliarist Chatham was honored for both his service to the Coast Guard Auxiliary and to the active duty Coast Guard where his exemplary work has been in both administrative and operational activities.

As Sector Coordinator, Chatham has served over 1,000 hrs as liaison between the CG Auxiliary and CG Active Duty, working directly with the Coast Guard in information exchange and policy implementation related to virtually all aspects of CG Auxiliary activity. In the areas of Marine Safety, Pollution Monitoring/Response and Contingency/Disaster Planning, he’s served over 600 hours.

When one thinks of the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary, boat operations are what first comes to mind, and in that area Chatham has served over 2,600 hrs as both boat crew and boat coxswain, serving also as Member Training Officer with boat crew and coxswain trainees. Auxiliary member Chatham has participated in 36 Search and Rescue operations both on the water and in the air.

In his six years as Aviation Liaison Officer to C.G. Sector Northern New England, he’s assisted in scheduling and conducting, as Air Crew and local area guide, area familiarization flights for newly arrived Coast Guard sector command and Command Center personnel. Auxiliary member and private pilot Chatham assists the sector with CG Auxiliary air asset maximization and utilization analysis while performing over 1300 flight hours as Air Crew/Aerial Imagery Specialist since 2009.