Coast Guard unit to receive DoD Reserve Family Readiness Award

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 02/20/2018 12:15 PM EST

united states coast guard 

News Release  

Feb. 20, 2018
U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area
Office: (510) 437-3375
After Hours: (510) 816-1700
Pacific Area online newsroom

Coast Guard unit to receive DoD Reserve Family Readiness Award

Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryan Shreaves, who is assigned to Port Security Unit 305, hugs his family after returning home Sunday, November 12, 2017. Port Security Unit 305 returned to Fort Eustis after being deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for nine months in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (U. S. Coast Guard photograph by Auxiliarist Trey Clifton/Released).

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A Coast Guard reserve unit is scheduled to receive a Department of Defense Family Readiness Award March 23 during a ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington.

Port Security Unit 305, based in Fort Eustis, Virginia, is commanded by Coast Guard Cmdr. Michael McCarthy, and the unit will receive the recognition at the 2017 Department of Defense Reserve Family Readiness Awards Ceremony.  PSU 305 was nominated and selected as a recipient for the unit's exemplary care of Reserve and National Guard families while maintaining outstanding unit readiness. The presentation, held in the Pentagon Hall of Heroes, will be hosted by The Honorable Robert L. Wilkie, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.

The DoD Reserve Family Readiness Award recognizes one National Guard and Reserve unit from each of the seven reserve components, and the recipients are those units with the best programs, which support their families.  Representatives from each of the selected units will attend the ceremony and receive a commemorative plaque and framed certificate.  Each unit will also receive a certificate and cash award from the Military Officers Association of America.  The cash award is to be used to further enhance the unit’s family support programs.

During 2017, PSU 305 deployed overseas to U.S. Southern Command Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Naval Base in support of Joint Task Force Guantanamo. During the deployment, PSU 305 empowered the unit ombudsman to proactively engage with families at home. The unit ombudsman coordinated with a variety of non-governmental organizations to provide care packages to deployed members and "Battalion Buddies" stuffed animals to the children of deployed members.

The DoD Reserve Family Readiness Awards Program was established in 2000 to recognize the top unit-level family readiness program in each of the reserve components.  Family readiness programs are particularly important as the United States relies on significant numbers of reservists to serve in critical locations worldwide.  Family readiness has proven to be a key component of mission readiness.  Robust Family Readiness programs have enhanced the ability of military personnel to deploy, and they represent a vital link in the support networks for families.

For more information about Port Security Unit 305 and their receipt of this recognition, please contact Nyxolyno Cangemi at (510) 437-5637 or NyxoLyno.A.Cangemi@uscg.mil. 

-USCG-