From: U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Date: Thursday, November 05, 2009

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Appoints South Carolina Liaison Officers

State Liaison Officers to South Carolina have been
appointed by U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary on October 17, 2009, in a ceremony at Mt. Pleasant, S.C.Festus and Barbara Burchfield will jointly represent the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary in South Carolina as State Liaison Officers (SLO) and Legislative Liaison Officers (LL0). Liaison Officers work directly with local, state, and national elected officials to provide information and assistance to the Coast Guard and Auxiliary to promote and support recreational boating safety programs. The Burchfields will provide a direct communication link between the Auxiliary and the State Boating Law Administrator, Colonel Alvin Taylor, who also heads up South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Law Enforcement. Taylor says, “Safety on our state waterways is of utmost importance to SCDNR. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is a valuable partner working to educate our state’s boaters to ensure a safer boating environment.”In 2008, there were 107 recorded boating accidents, 29 deaths, and an estimated $1,603,152.00 in property damage in South Carolina.The Burchfields will monitor boating legislation and encourage boating safety and awareness through promotion of National Safe Boating Week, life jackets ‘Wear It’ program, vessel safety checks and education programs.The Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard and has over 30,000 volunteer nationwide. The Auxiliary, America’s Volunteer Guardians, supports the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service’s missions. #