USCGA Mourns Loss of Long-Time Coach Alex Simonka

from the United States Coast Guard Academy

Dear Academy Community,

It is with great sadness that I share with you that one of our own, Mr. Alex Simonka, our Athletics Division Business Manager and Women’s Basketball Coach, was found dead in his car here at the Academy Saturday evening.

Alex Simonka was a mentor, coach, and friend, and we are all deeply hurt by this tragedy.

Situations such as this often cause us to ask more questions than there are answers, but for now I ask that we focus on providing support to those most affected by this loss, and by providing our deepest sympathy to the family members left behind.

For more than 30 years Alex Simonka served the Coast Guard and the Academy in various capacities as both an officer and a civilian employee. Those who knew Alex best saw his passion for helping others, and his interest in developing and inspiring future Coast Guard leaders.

This loss will affect each of us differently, and assistance will be available for anyone who needs it. Academy chaplains and counselors will be available in the Upper Leamy Hall Lounge starting today for anyone who desires assistance. A Critical Incident Stress Management Team will be available Monday afternoon.

More information regarding memorial services and support will be passed as it becomes available.

Alex’s family, friends, and all those whose lives he touched are in my thoughts and prayers. Please join me in remembering Mr. Alex Simonka for the many lives he impacted in a positive way, and help look after those most affected by his loss.

Sincerely,

RADM J. Scott Burhoe
Superintendent, USCGA

Coast Guard Functional Review – Breaking Down the Spin

In the weeks leading up to the April 2nd Congressional Hearing on Coast Guard Civil Rights we will break down some of the finding of the report.  Our first post comes to us from a subject matter expert on the area discussed.

Surprised I was not.  Reading the Booz Allen Hamilton report was like listening to child mix reality with the dream they had the night before.  I made it very clear to the interview team that communications between the field and headquarters was strained at best.  You can easily discern that from the report.  I must not have been the only one to give that feedback.  The report spells out nearly all of the issues very well but for some reason it seems to favor the headquarters view over the field.  It’s crystal clear that headquarters was given the opportunity of rebuttal to everything said by interviewees in the field.  I was never contacted by Booz Allen after the initial interview to rebut headquarters.

I just wanted to make one point clear to your readers.  The Booz Allen report somehow confused issues and allowed headquarters to spin a rebuttal.  I don’t remember reading in any blog that headquarters fired any of the field employees.  The report states a fact that the field providers are hired and fired by their respective commands.  None of us were fired by headquarters, that’s a true statement but that’s not what anyone ever wrote in a blog.

The report makes it crystal clear that there are systemic process and policy issues with Coast Guards Civil Rights program.  That made  it very hard for us to effectively do our jobs.  So did headquarters fire anyone in the field, hell no but they sure as hell made it difficult for us to do our jobs.  The grass wasn’t just greener on the other side of the fence, its well manicured, maintained and fertilized.

Below are two of the areas from the Booz Allen report mentioned in the e-mail above.

1) The blog asserts that 17 individuals have left the USCG civil rights organization as the direct result of dissatisfaction with the Director of OCR. With respect to this list of 17 individuals published on the Coast Guard Report, allegations that the Director of OCR is directly responsible for attrition of the Field Civil Rights Service Providers included on this list are inaccurate because the Field Civil Rights Service Providers are hired by the commands and report directly to a
Field Commander and not the Director of OCR. Consequently, the Director did not have hiring/firing authority over the Field Civil Rights Service Providers identified.

2.5 OCR / FIELD COORDINATION
The Booz Allen team observed a disconnection between OCR and the Areas/Districts, which was confirmed during interviews with both OCR staff and Field Civil Rights Service Providers. Furthermore, information received during this Program Review indicates that communication is more difficult than necessary between OCR and Field Civil Rights Service Providers. The observed disconnection appears to be a function of the overall USCG civil rights organizational framework through which the Field Civil Rights Service Providers report directly to their respective commands rather than to OCR. The diffused nature of Civil Rights Service Providers locations dilutes field communication and interaction with OCR.