By Alyssa Esposito

Staff Writer

Smithfield’s Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 5-9 has taken gold in what one member calls the “Olympics of the Auxiliary.”

The District Annual Search and Rescue Competition was held Aug. 14-15 at Yorktown’s Coast Guard Training Center.

Peter Faleski, team coach and flotilla commander of Smithfield’s Coast Guard Auxiliary, is the one who calls it “the Olympics of the Auxiliary.”

“It’s a very good feeling, especially because we did it with new members,” he said of the victory. “It speaks to the quality of our training — that we are able to get them so proficient so quickly.”

With four crewmembers, three of which having been volunteers for less than a year, the flotilla continued its reigning championship title.

The members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary serve on a volunteer basis. This Smithfield team provides a variety of services including vessel checks, river patrol, navigation, tending to abandoned vessels and helping those with stalled engines. Their duties include all of the same duties required by the Coast Guard except they do not engage in military action or law enforcement, says Faleski.

Henry Troutner, a new member of the team, joined after retiring last year. “I decided I had some time to give back,” Troutner says.

Troutner said the group has been training since the beginning of the summer. Other members of the group included Chuck Mullen Sr., H. Fred Hetzel and Joseph Slabinski.

Flotilla 5-9 is a part of the District Five sector, which encompasses three states: Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. The competition included three different teams.

These teams were required to complete several tasks during the competition, including knot tying, using a piece of equipment that pumps water from a boat that has taken on water, and going through the motions of a search and rescue mission. Navigation chart exercises, heaving line throws and damage control also were among the other tasks completed.