Photo By Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Tamargo | Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Pelchar, a health services technician at U.S. Coast...... read more read more
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Every three months, a high-performing enlisted Coast Guardsman at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May is recognized for their continuous exemplary work and is awarded the title of Enlisted Person of the Quarter. This month, Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Pelchar, a health services technician at the base’s medical clinic, was recognized as the newest Enlisted Person of the Quarter for his outstanding work from April 1 to June 30, 2022.
During those three months, Pelchar completed eight active duty medical boards and oversaw the completion of 108 recruit discharges, which ensured service members met retention standards and were also medically ready for worldwide deployment.
In his role as the clinic’s lead training petty officer, Pelchar organized the clinic’s training agenda and conducted various live trauma exercises, which directly bolstered the proficiency and reinforcement of our staff’s emergency medical skills. He trained 14 junior enlisted members as Stop the Bleed trainers and assisted in organizing a base-wide Stop the Bleed campaign to educate and empower training center personnel to abate blood loss on severely injured personnel during a medical emergency.
In his collateral duties outside of working at the base’s clinic, Pelchar acted as a member of the unit’s morale committee and selflessly dedicated 70 hours toward designing and procuring 20 departure paddles for his shipmates, which directly improved comradery and fellowship across the medical division.
Additionally, in an effort to foster a more diverse and inclusive environment, Pelchar collaborated with several Coast Guard units in the Delaware Bay region to initiate the first LGBTQ Spectrum chapter in the Northeast region. He provided support to the Coast Guard’s local LGBTQ community by becoming a command liaison for the training center, and also helped coordinate a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City to commemorate the establishment of the Delaware Bay Spectrum chapter. Pelchar considers this to be one of his biggest successes.
“I am very proud to have had a hand in the creation of our new Spectrum chapter, although it wouldn’t have been possible if not for a huge group of us working together,” said Pelchar. “Being an open and proud gay man, as well as a petty officer in the Coast Guard, is something that my shy, closeted ten-year-old self would never have imagined to be possible.”
Pelchar acknowledges that maintaining a work-life balance can be difficult sometimes, so he tries to maintain a healthy work-life balance by using his car ride home to hotwash the day in his head to see what could have gone better and what he could have done differently. Once he gets home and parks at his house, work is over and he leaves those thoughts in the car before he walks inside.
In his spare time after the workday or on weekends and holidays, Pelchar enjoys partaking in various physical activities such as hiking, camping and kayaking. He also enjoys playing video games on his computer, which he built from scratch, and making things with his 3D printer.
| Date Taken: | 08.04.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.04.2022 10:22 |
| Story ID: | 426505 |
| Location: | CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Web Views: | 179 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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