Chief Commander’s Representative Reference Guide - usps.org · USPS CHIEF COMMANDER’S...

Chief Commander’sRepresentativeReference Guide

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USPS CHIEF COMMANDER’S REPRESENTATIVE REFERENCE GUIDE Page R-1

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UNITED STATES POWER SQUADRONS®

Sail and Power Boating

CHIEF COMMANDER’S REPRESENTATIVE

REFERENCE GUIDE

Page R-2 USPS CHIEF COMMANDER’S REPRESENTATIVE REFERENCE GUIDE

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PREFACE

This version of the Chief Commander’s Representative Reference Guide supersedes all previous editions. Itcontains detailed guidelines and information for those members assigned by the Chief Commander to rep-resent him at various District and Squadron events. It is important that each representative be familiar withthe procedures, programs, duties, methods of operation and timetables contained in this document so thatthey may effectively represent the Chief Commander and the United States Power Squadrons.

The Chief Commander’s Representative Reference Guide may be downloaded to a disk and either printedor viewed on-screen; however, it is not indexed on the USPS Operations Manual Website. Topics of inter-est may be found by using either the Chapter Table of Contents or the Adobe Acrobat Reader “search”function. Check Appendix A in the Operations Manual for more detailed information on locating informa-tion in our suite of manuals. Every effort has been made to ensure that this manual is as current and com-plete as possible.

This manual is sponsored by the USPS Chief Commander and maintained and published by the OperationsManual Committee. Questions concerning the information in this manual may be addressed to either as wewill work in concert to resolve those questions.

OPERATIONS MANUAL COMMITTEE

R/C Anna Morris, SNP/D/C Paula Stewart, AP

Lt John Bagby, JNJudy Griffing, AP

V/C Harry Hebb, SNP/R/C Micky McNelis, PD/C Kent Simpson, AP

D/Lt/C Tracy Simpson, APStf/C David Stewart, AP

Words and expressions in this manual that connote gender are to be construed as applying equally to bothsexes unless the text implies otherwise. National department heads and committee chairs are encouraged toforward updated information to the Chief Commander or the Operations Manual Committee. Changesrelating to policy or procedure must be approved by a department head, if applicable. Comments on per-ceived errors or omissions and recommendations for future editions are solicited from all readers.


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UPDATE LOG

The 2015 release of the Chief Commander’sRepresentative Guide contains all known updatesas of 01/01/15.

Any future changes subsequent to this releasewill be noted in this document on the Update Logpage and noted in the manual by the use of achange bar. An example of a change bar is shownto the left of this paragraph.

February 2014 ...Initial Release

March 2014 ...Section R-6 was added

Operations Manual CommitteeWe do it Manually


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CHIEF COMMANDER’S REPRESENTATIVES REFERENCE GUIDE

PART ONE - REPORTS

[R.1] Boating Safety Program Visitor[R.2] $20 New Member Administrative Fee[R.3] USPS Insurance

[R.4] Annual IRS Reports[R.5] Vessel Examiner Workshop[R.6] On The Water Instructor Insurance

Charts of the National Organization as well as typical District and Squadron Organizations are locatedat the end of this of this manual.

R.1 Recreational Boating Safety Program Visitor

After five years of planning and a couple offalse starts the Recreational Boating Safety Pro-gram Visitor opportunity for USPS members beganin earnest at the 2014 Annual Meeting. This oppor-tunity is being afforded to USPS members by part-nering with the Auxiliary. This program wasoriginally conceived by the Coast Guard Office ofBoating Safety and is currently administered by theCoast Guard Auxiliary. This partner program willtrain members to promote safe boating to the recre-ational boating public through the aid of local busi-nesses, offices and marine dealerships.

Any member who completes the trainingbecomes an ambassador of USPS, their squadronand the United States Coast Guard. His ambassadorthen has the opportunity to provide information toprogram partners about educational opportunities,safety equipment, safe boat operation, recognizingsafety threats to the United States and the benefitsof belonging to a premier boating organization.Getting reliable information about individual stateand Coast Guard federal safety requirements, navi-gational rules and safe boating techniques into thehands of boaters is essential to safe boating and isthe prime objective of the program.

The business partner benefits also in severalways by participating in the program. He enhancesthe public image and stays up-to-date on the latestboating safety information. In addition, the Pro-gram Visitor becomes their “go to” person to

answer his boating safety questions. He can evenask their Program Visitor to provide recreationalboating safety training for his employees, whichcan improve boating safety and even benefit theenvironment. The group which the program mainlyhelps is the general boating public. If the program'sbrochures and safety initiatives can save the life ofeven one person, time and efforts have been worthit. The business partner can also help advance thegoals and objectives of the Power Squadrons whileserving as a focal point for recruiting new mem-bers.

It is important to remember that, as with theVessel Safety Check Program, USPS, the CoastGuard Auxiliary and the Coast Guard are a team inthe Program Visitation program. To kick off theprogram in Jacksonville, Coast Guard Auxiliarymembers provided training and qualification tomembers of USPS, who can now go and train othermembers in their squadrons and districts to qualifyfor this program. Information and training materi-als are available by contacting the USPS safetyCommittee, visiting the USPS Safety Committeewebsite or from your local Coast Guard Auxiliaryflotilla. You may also contact the Safety Commit-tee for list of squadron members in your area, whomay already be qualified and willing to help traininterested members. Program materials such asracks and brochures are also in stock and availablefrom USPS headquarters for use by members whocompleted the training regimen.


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Remember this program affords USPS andAuxiliary members the opportunity to shareresources, gain knowledge of each other's organi-zation, make some new friends, have some fun and

most importantly promote the boating safety mes-sage to the millions of recreational boaters on ourwaterways.

R.2 $20 Administrative Fee for new Primary Members

Beginning December 1, 2013 all new primarymembers are charged a one-time fee of $20 to helpcover the headquarters costs involved in setting upthe new member. This includes all additional mem-bers in the household if that option is chosen.

Squadrons will need to collect that fee fromnew primary members joining directly and will bebilled by HQ for that amount along with thenational dues.

Trial members will be billed when HQ sendsout the first dues invoice, about 4 months into theirtrial membership.

Cyber members pay the fee when they joinonline. If they transfer to a squadron at some pointno fee should be collected, it has already been paid.

Revision 0 ... Feb 2014

R.3 USPS Insurance

Most all squadron events and activities arecovered by our several insurance policies. A newPowerPoint presentation is posted on the Trea-surer's website describing the various types of cov-erage.

Not everything is covered however, unusualactivities that are outside the normal course ofsquadron affairs may require a separate policy. Ifthere is a question you can contact our broker, the

Gowrie Group, directly or our National Treasurer.Phone numbers and email for both are on the web-site.

Often a certificate of insurance is needed toparticipate in boat shows and similar activities.That can be obtained easily by filling out the onlineform, also on the Treasurer's website.

Revision 0 ... Feb 2014

R.4 Districts and Squadrons must file Annual IRS Reports

It is extremely important that all districts andsquadrons file their IRS Form 990 on time everyyear. On time means no later than the 15th day ofthe 5th month after close of your fiscal year.

• IRS Form 990 (gross receipts were greater than$50,000)

• IRS Form 990EZ (gross receipts were greaterthan $50,000)

• IRS Form 990-N or “e-postcard” (grossreceipts were $50,000 or less)

Squadrons and district can lose their taxexempt status automatically if they fail to file forthree consecutive years.

Be sure also to submit your TR-1 to nationalHQ by 16 July. (Some have submitted these formsindicating they sent in their IRS reports when theyactually have not. Please verify the submissions).

R.5 Vessel Examiner Workshop

For the last fourteen years the USPS and CoastGuard Auxiliary have been partners in the Vessel

Safety Check program. During that period of timeboats have changed, regulations have changed,


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boaters have changed, but the program hasremained steady. As a USPS Vessel Examiner youplay an important role in helping keep our water-ways a safe place for the recreational boater. Yourdedication in helping educate the recreationalboater in boating safety and ensuring they carryand know how to use the required equipmentaboard their vessel is an important responsibilityand should not be taken lightly! We appreciateyour time and dedication to boating safety.

Earlier this month the Coast Guard Office ofBoating Safety mandated that all Vessel Examin-ers, both USPS and Auxiliary, attend a workshop toaddress these changing trends in the boating indus-try. This workshop is designed as a refresher forVessel Examiners, to review current and newrequirements and provide practical and relevantknowledge to assist in serving the boating public.The workshop focuses on three areas: Process andProcedures, Conducting the VSC and Paddle Craftand needs to completed by 30 June 2014.

The Vessel Safety Check (VSC) program helpsto achieve voluntary compliance with federal andstate recreational boating safety laws regarding the

necessity for safety equipment. It raises boater'sawareness of safety issues through one-on-onecontact by volunteer Vessel Examiners and it isintended to serve as a “prevention through educa-tion, outreach and volunteer compliance” activity.

At this point in time the workshop needs to becompleted in a group environment; however theAuxiliary has authorized an online individualworkshop and the safety committee will be work-ing to see what method can be used.

USPS realizes that members volunteer theirtime to do examinations, however there is a certainamount of responsibility that goes with the job.The most important of these is to be sure you aretrained to the current specifics of the task. Examin-ers may continue to perform all of the VE dutiesuntil the workshop deadline passes and then theymay lose their qualification.

Training materials, the exam and instructionsfor this workshop are posted on the USPS SafetyCommittee Website. Please take the time to updateyour skills before the start of the busy boating sea-son.

R.6 On The Water Instructor Insurance

As discussed in the BOD teleconference on03/11/13, this is the message from Mar Diaz, Gow-rie Group Insurance concerning the On The WaterInstructor Insurance coverage question:

Per your email below, please note that volun-teers are covered as insureds under all of the poli-cies that USPS has with Chubb. Volunteers areincluded under the definition of insured. We under-stand that you have many, many, many volunteerswho work on behalf of your organization. We arecovering them for activities while on land, ondocks and piers and while on the water.

There are two sections of the policy where theymay find coverage. The first is under Medical Pay-

ments coverage. Each policy has $10,000 of Medi-cal Payments coverage. This is a good will type ofcoverage whereby if someone is injured, Chubbwill pay up to $10,000 for their medical payments.

If the volunteer is severely injured (and inju-ries are over $10,000) he can then put in a suitagainst United States Power Squadrons for theirinjuries and the Chubb Policy would respond totheir claim.

All of the policies have a $1,000,000 peroccurrence limit, and then the Umbrella Policy of$14,000,000 comes next. USPS has a total of$15,000,000 for a claim.


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CHIEF COMMANDER’S REPRESENTATIVES REFERENCE GUIDE

PART TWO - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1) Where can I locate information about theUSPS?

Almost any question can be answered byexamining the Operations Manual. The manualmay be downloaded from the USPS website at

www.usps.org/national/om. Both the entire manualas well as individual chapters may be downloaded.Note as well that the Secretary’s, Treasurer’s,Membership and Squadron Development Manualsare available in book form with a cover, title pageand the like.


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USPS CHIEF COMMANDER’S REPRESENTATIVE REFERENCE GUIDE Page RX-1

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AAnnual IRS Reports R-10

BBoating Safety R-9

CCoast Guard Auxiliary R-9Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety R-9

Ee-postcard R-10

IIRS Form 990 R-10IRS Form 990EZ R-10IRS Form 990-N R-10

OOn The Water Instructor Insurance R-11

PProgram Visitor R-9

UUpdate Log R-5USPS Insurance R-10

Page RX-2 USPS CHIEF COMMANDER’S REPRESENTATIVE REFERENCE GUIDE

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