MAC meets the Coast Guard

Brig. Gen. Ed Wilson (in flight suit), commander, 45th Space Wing, is surrounded by members of the Sea Services during the monthly Military Affairs Council meeting held at Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral Wednesday evening. Also pictured are (left to right) Cdr. Matthew Meilstrup, Lt. j.g. Blake Leedy, Capt. Jim Kuzma, commander, Naval Ordnance Test Unit, Chief Warrant Officer James Dubea, Lt. Cliff Harder, Chief Petty Officer Jason Brennan and Command Master Chief Louis Kitchin. The group is standing in front of "USCGC CONFIDENCE," which is commanded by Commander Meilstrup.

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Cocoa Beach MAC meets the Coast Guard

Published Aug. 26, 2010
By Lt. Karl Wiest
45th SW Public Affairs

Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. -- The August meeting of the Cocoa Beach Military Affairs Council (MAC), which is a subset of the Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce, went swimmingly.

The MAC members, who represent local businesses or are individuals who just simply want to be involved and support the military, got an opportunity to meet with members of the Coast Guard who are stationed at Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral.

Much of the focus of this group is to support and recognize young servicemembers and "first termers." Some of the events MAC sponsors or supports throughout the year are the Junior Enlisted Picnic, the Community Service Awards Banquet, and the dorm holiday party in December.

MAC meets once a month, every third Wednesday to be exact. Meeting sites for MAC alternate between military sites and associated businesses off base.

At these meetings a short "business" agenda is followed and then the senior military members representing each unit - such as Brig. Gen. Ed Wilson of the 45th Space Wing - and representatives from all local tenant units, such as the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, the 920th Rescue Wing, the Air Force Technical Applications Center and the Naval Ordnance Test Unit -- are called upon to give a short update on what is going on in their units.

In order to support and fund the events mentioned above, there are a multitude of fund-raising efforts throughout the year.