Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Boraski, a native of Levittown, Pa., was recently selected as Coast Guard Station New York’s Sailor of the Quarter, April 10, 2013. Boraski was selected as SOQ for his exceptional performance during the period of Jan. 1, 2013 to March 31, 2013. (U.S. Coast Guard photo provided by Station New York)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Boraski, a native of Levittown, Pa., was recently selected as Coast Guard Station New York’s Sailor of the Quarter for the period of Jan. 1, 2013 through March 31, 2013.Boraski, a machinery technician, was selected as SOQ for leading the transition of the Unit’s physical inventory, valued at more than $41,000, to the updated Fleet Logistics System, which is used to account for parts and supplies needed to repair the units 12 response boats.Additionally, Boraski performed the duties as Officer of the Day, fielding more than 1,000 phone calls while overseeing a myriad of successful Coast Guard missions, including search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime homeland security.As the Unit’s Assistant Engineering Petty Officer, Boraski demonstrated an unwavering devotion to duty and fantastic stamina overseeing the 35 members of the Engineering Department for 15 days in the absence of the Chief Machinery Technician. During this time, he ensured the successful completion of more than 900 hours of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.Station New York’s SOQ program is designed to recognize exemplary performance. A number of outstanding personnel at the unit qualify and are nominated for this recognition, but the honor of SOQ is bestowed to only one nominee. Final selection of the SOQ is based on the member’s ability to demonstrate exceptional performance in the areas of adherence to the Coast Guard’s core values and embodiment of the Coast Guard Ethos; leadership, specialty and technical knowledge, initiative, responsibility, teamwork, community and shipmate support.Station New York is the largest and busiest coastal search and rescue small boat station in the Coast Guard. During an average “busy” month, unit personnel may complete more than 30 search and rescue cases, conduct hundreds of vessel boardings, as well as security boardings of large merchant vessels entering the Port of New York and New Jersey. During fiscal year 2012, Station New York accumulated the following statistics:• Prosecuted 200 search and rescue cases• Conducted nearly 1,100 vessel boardings, 180 of which were high-interest vessels• Conducted more than 1,200 escorts of high capacity passenger vessels• Conducted more than 100 security zone enforcement activities• Spent nearly 7,500 total hours underway – of those hours, 5,200 were dedicated to Ports, Waterways & Coastal Security