Press Release
Auxiliarist Wayne Spivak
Chief, Communications
International Affairs & Interpreter Corps
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
Cell: 516-353-9155
E-mail: WSpivak@sbanetweb.com
January 17, 2010
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Prepares to Assist Haitian Earthquake Victims
Auxiliary readies its Interpreter Corps to bridge the language gap
St. Augustine: Within minutes of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti and its subsequent widespread news dissemination, Auxiliarist Klaus Bauman, Director of the Interpreter Corps for the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, was on the phone contacting the key members of his staff to gear up for a possible deployment.
Bauman, 68 year old, has been with the USCG Auxiliary for 16 years. As the founder of the Interpreter Corps, he leads over 380 volunteers who speak 46 different languages. His second stop was to review the database of Interpreters for those who have both verbal and written fluency in Haitian Creole and French.
At the same time, multiple members of the Interpreter Corps were contacting Baumann and/or his staff trying to find out what they could do to assist. Within just a few short hours Baumann had an initial team of seven Auxiliary Interpreters standing by to deploy wherever the Coast Guard or the relief effort needed them. Within the next few days, they had identified an eighth, and already hot-listed others for future deployments. The average deployment is thought to be between two and three weeks.
News from Haiti and the deteriorating conditions makes this assignment ever more difficult for America’s Volunteer Guardians. “Our members for the most part are not youngsters, and are not used to such ‘primitive’ conditions,” Baumann commented. “But we are Coast Guard and we will brave it for the mission,” he concluded.
“The Interpreter Corps is an extremely active and diverse group of Americans,” Baumann said. “Many of those who participate in the Interpreter Corps are able to speak multiple languages and they have deployed all over the world for the Coast Guard, the US Navy and the new US Africa Command.”
Back at Coast Guard Headquarters, the Chief of the Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety, CAPT Mark Rizzo, was involved in high level discussions with his superiors. CAPT Rizzo serves as the Chief Director of the USCG Auxiliary, the direct representative of the Commandant, ADM Allen, to this 30,000 member volunteer uniformed component of the Coast Guard. They requested assistance from the Auxiliary, and the first assistance requested was Interpreters.
“Members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary provide multiple roles for the Coast Guard and the public,” Baumann continued, “from Recreational Boating Safety educational courses and Vessel Safety Checks for the public to backfilling logistical positions at Coast Guard Units. The Interpreter Corps has provided the Coast Guard with a unique cost effective solution to the problem of communication when you deal with multiple nationalities and languages.”
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of Team Coast Guard. Founded in 1939 by an Act of Congress as the US Coast Guard Reserves and re-designated the Auxiliary in 1941. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard created by an Act of Congress in 1939. The 30,000 volunteer members (men and women), America’s Volunteer Guardians, supports the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service's missions.
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Photo:
“DIR-IAI Photo – December 2009.jpg” – Klaus Baumann, Director USCG Auxiliary Interpreter Corps
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