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Photo Vincent Guadazno
New Station Provincetown commander, Chief Boatswains Mate Christopher H. Flavell |
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Coast Guard Station regains full status
Sally Rose
BANNER STAFF
With relatively little pomp, but considerable tradition and protocol and plenty of earnest and heartfelt resolve, the Coast Guard Saturday morning conducted a dual-purpose ceremony re-establishing Station Provincetown to full status and installing the Station's very own commanding officer.
The day was overcast and breezy as some 60 onlookers - Coast Guard brass, family, friends and both Provincetown and Chatham town officials - watched the formal ceremony as authority for the station was transferred from Chief Warrant Officer Bruce W. Schneider to Chief Boatswains Mate Christopher H. Flavell. As part of the change of command ceremony the two conducted a formal inspection of the Provincetown crew.
Schneider has served as commanding officer for both Stations Chatham and Provincetown since 1996. Since June 1999 Flavell has been executive petty officer of the combined stations under Schneider. He is originally from East Providence, R.I. In addition, Flavell served an earlier tour at Station Provincetown.
A bit of history: In the 1990s, in response to federal budget cuts the Coast Guard was forced to downsize. To cope with having to do the same job with a smaller staff and fewer boats, the Coast Guard devised an idea for pairing up adjacent units as parent and small stations. In other words, the 'small' station was responsible for the same geographic area but had fewer people and no full-time commanding officer. Eventually, Provincetown was relegated to Station (Small) Provincetown, with Station Chatham as its parent unit.
Perhaps most poignant during the ceremony was the speech by First District commander Captain Michael Chaplain, who was among those responsible for reducing Provincetown to a station (small).
'Today's ceremony highlights one other thing, and it's something that I believe is one of the Coast Guard's greatest strengths,' Chaplain told the group, 'and that is the ability and courage to stand up and admit when we haven't done things exactly right - and then fix it. And this is the case with Station Provincetown.'
As Chaplain told the group how the Coast Guard powers realized the drawback of the station (small) concept - especially for Provincetown, used increasingly as an important drop-off point for vessels in trouble - a concert of deep voices from a uniformed portion of the audience confirmed under their collective breath that the concept 'doesn't work.'
'We've done the wrong thing but we've done it extraordinarily well,' said Chaplain. He then commended Schneider for his 'superb leadership, and for making a less-than-right system work.'
Congressman Bill Delahunt's Cape aide Mark Forest attended the ceremony in Delahunt's place. Forest emphasized the close ties between the local community and the long history of the Coast Guard, including the lifeboat stations that once dotted the Northeast coastline. He told the Banner of an early meeting during which the cutbacks were discussed with town officials and residents and he remembered several 'grown fishermen crying,' as much for the Coast Guard crew as for themselves, said Forest.
'The roots of the families here are as old as the Coast Guard,' he said.
Provincetown's new commanding officer Flavell told the Banner that the change will remove a burden from Schneider and will make things considerably easier for all those concerned.
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Route 6 rollover takes a young life
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Aug 17th, 2000