At a modest ceremony held under the flagstaff at Station Menemsha Monday morning, Senior Chief Robert Reimer, the station’s commander, rose to master chief boatswain’s mate, the highest non-commissioned rank in the United States Coast Guard.
His wife Kara and his longtime mentor Master Chief Robert Pump pinned the silver and gold anchors to his collar that signified his new rank before an audience of station crew, senior officials from Station Woods Hole, and members of his family. His daughter Nora then exchanged his blue garrison cap for a white combination cap and he stood reminted, awash in applause.
“Without you guys, I don’t get to this point,” Mr. Reimer said. “You get to a point in your career and everything you do is dependent on the good work that others do. If it wasn’t for you guys as a crew and crews before you and other teams that I’ve worked with, I wouldn’t be able to be here right now. I’m extremely grateful to all of you.”
Mr. Reimer also thanked his family. “It’s an accomplishment for my wife and my family as much as it is for me,” he said.
He later told The Times his family sacrificed a lot to bring his career to its current point. Every four years the Coast Guard reassigns him to a new post and his wife, a registered nurse, must re-establish her career wherever that new assignment is, he said. His daughters must adapt to new school systems every four years and leave behind friends in the process. He said he was grateful for their fortitude and support and that the anchors are a joint achievement.
Mr. Reimer also said he is indebted to Mr. Pump, whom he served with in San Juan Puerto Rico, for the role he played in his rise in the Coast Guard.
Originally from Liberty, New York, and now a Vineyard Haven resident, Mr. Reimer began his career in 1991 on the 213-foot Diver Class cutter Yocona out of Kodiak, Alaska, according to Chief Robert Parent, who serves with him at Station Menemsha.
Mr. Reimer recalled an incident while aboard that vessel on a voyage between Alaska and Hawaii. Six-hundred miles from shore, the Yocona suffered an oil spill that threatened to ignite the cutter. The Yacona couldn’t expect assistance so far out at sea, he said. The ship’s commander ordered general quarters and the crew went to work dousing the oil with foam before it could flashover. Mr. Reimer was not part of the team that applied the foam, but the methodical calm the crew brought to the chaos was memorable, he said.
“Every mariner has a responsibility to know what to do in an emergency,” he said.
The incident galvanized for him the need to have well-maintained firefighting equipment ready at sea. No matter how big or small your boat is, this means keeping fire extinguishers charged and in good order at a minimum, he said.
Mr. Reimer said he’s proud to have helped rebuild Station Menemsha heavy weather training program. Heavy weather training involves motor lifeboat maneuvers in up to 20-foot seas and up to 50 mph winds.
Now at the beginning of the fourth and final year of his rotation, Mr. Reimer is unsure what his next assignment will be.
“By December I will have an idea,” he said.
Though only 17 jobs in the Coast Guard are applicable to his rank, he added.
“My first choice would be to extend my tour by a year to remain here through 2019,” he said. We’ve made some very good friends here.”
His second choice would be command of the 87-foot cutter Hammerhead at Station Woods Hole, he said. But Mr. Reimer acknowledged that Master Chief Pump is as devoted to the Hammerhead as he’s devoted to Station Menemsha. He said he’d bet his old advisor will apply for a tour extension, too.
Congratulations, Masterchief. Bravo Zulu!