The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) presented a new award to U.S. Coast Guard officer Lt. Derek Wallin in Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2020.
The “Chair Award,” short for the “Chair of the Organization,” was created in order to recognize individuals who dedicated their service and contributions to the NASBLA community.
NASBLA represents the recreational boating authorities of all 50 states and U.S. territories, and works to develop public policy for recreational boating safety through training, education standards, published resources, and more.
When Wallin was the commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Ft. Lauderdale, he was also the Coast Guard’s field representative for four years on NASBLA’s Boat Operations and Training (BOAT) program advisory board. During that time, he collaborated with 18 additional Coast Guard stations to help train more than 420 marine patrol officers to national standards and made essential revisions to the BOAT program manual.
He also helped develop boat operations training videos for maritime law enforcement and first responders to be used in the future.
“Having the opportunity to serve as the NASBLA field representative was such a gratifying experience,” said Wallin. “I was lucky enough to work with true maritime professionals. The credit for this award really goes to all the station and MSST crews volunteering to instruct NASBLA classes and building those lasting relationships with their local agencies.”
Wallin’s collaborative leadership with NASBLA helped improve training standards and showcase the impact of an individual to improve boating safety on a national scale.