Educational Department
- Basic Public Education -

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Basic Public Education Committee

This site is provided as a means of communications with the USPS National Basic Public Education Committee (BPECom).  We welcome your questions and comments on our public courses and associated materials.

R/C Eugene E. Molteni, SN
Stf/C John A. Sherrick, JN
Stf/C Pablo Prieto, SN


 

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Course Pages

 

 

Archived Course Pages

 

News

  • America’s Boating Course

    The remaining copies of America’s Boating Course, original edition, are available free to Squadrons, except for shipping and handling. This course can be used to teach young children in a school or camp setting. It is no longer NASBLA approved and cannot be used to meet current boating course requirements in most states.

    The order number is 03-73-125. There are approximately 1200 copies available for free (except for shipping and handling), and they will be available until supplies are exhausted. Fulfillment of orders is subject to approval by the BPECom Chairman or the ANEO. (23 Jul 09)

  • Reporting Boating Classes

    With the release of America’s Boating Course - 3rd Edition, some changes need to be made in how classes are reported on the ED-27 form. There is no change in the way The Squadron Boating Course or Boat Smart is reported on the ED-27 form.

    For ABC 3 the following should be done:

    For those students who take the 8 hour version of ABC 3 it should be reported as ABC. For those who take the 12 hour, navigation portion, report the class as The Squadron Boating Course. The old ABC course should also be reported as ABC.

    We are doing this so as to be able to track the boating course statistics from year to year. It will take about a year before there is no more reporting for Boat Smart courses and about two years before there are no more The Squadron Boating Course reports. We'll revise the reporting when all that reporting is done.

    Questions should be directed to the Chairman of the Basic Public Education Committee, R/C Gene Molteni, SN. (03 Feb 09)

  • Basic Boating Skills CD

    There is a problem with the Basic Boating Skills CD 6.2 and earlier with Chapter 3 VHF Radio audio slides when run on Windows Vista based machines. The slides for Call Demonstration, Mayday, Pan-Pan and Securite do not play. Vista does not recognize the compression technology used in these slides. There are no problems with XP machines. If you are using Chapter 3 PowerPoint on a Vista based machine, please substitute these 4 PowerPoint slides (4818KB) for those on the Basic Boating Skills CD Chapter 3. (03 Jan 09)

  • Revised Slides for The Squadron Boating Course Presentation. See the Download section of The Squadron Boating Course web page for an update to this presentation. (05 Mar08)

  • Boating Course Recruiting Aid. A five slide recruiting aid is provided here for all squadrons. The purpose of the presentation is to attract students, considered to be high potential members, from the 8-hour Squadron Boating Class to a follow-on class on charts and digital waypoint navigation. There are a PowerPoint presentation (1293KB, PPT) and Instructor Notes (1477KB, PDF). (07 Nov 07)

  • Exam Administrator Information for All USPS Public Boating Courses. See the important summary sheet of exam administrator information (57KB, PDF).  (10 Jul 07)

  • Running the Maptech Digital Chart Training CD under Vista. Maptech's Offshore Navigator (and related products, such as Offshore Navigator Lite and Chart Navigator Viewer) was created long before Microsoft Windows Vista was released. As you may be aware, Microsoft Vista is designed to restrict access to certain core components of the operating system, in order to make the system more robust and secure. Unfortunately, by doing this, older applications must be run "As Administrator" and in "Windows XP Compatibility Mode" in order to function correctly.  Click on the following link to get instructions for how to do this http://www.maptech.com/support/emailed.doc.cfm?docat=573.24.  Just a reminder, once you have this Chart Navigator software on this CD loaded and operating, you can download and use any charts you would like from Maptech following the “Download - Free NOAA Charts” link on this page.  (12 Apr 07)

  • Special Update and Information Package. This 8-page document (40KB, PDF) provides information necessary to conduct short eight (8) hour and longer twelve (12) hour boating courses for the public using The Squadron Boating Course . The document provides course syllabuses for both formats, as well as instructor manual and exam information.

  • The Best Public Boating Course Afloat. It pays to advertise, so get the word out that USPS has the the best public boating course afloat (PDF, 19KB). (31 Dec 05)

  • Important Information Concerning Digital Charting CDs Packaged with USPS Courses. Read the PDF file (8KB) that contains information regarding updates for the Digital Charting CDs included with The Squadron Boating Course, Piloting, and Advanced Piloting. (28 Dec 05)

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Public Boating Programs

  • America's Boating Course - 3rd Edition is our primary civic effort toward public instruction in the fundamentals of safe boating.  Both short (8-hour) and long (12-hour) formats are designed to familiarize the student with the fundamentals of safe boating and qualify for certification in most states that require boating education before operating a watercraft.  Subjects include:
    • Boat handling under normal conditions
    • Adverse conditions and emergencies
    • Types of boats and boating terminology
    • Required and recommended equipment
    • Boating regulations and navigation rules
    • Lines and knots
    • Charts and aids to navigation (in 12-hour format only)
    • Piloting techniques (in 12-hour format only)
    • Marine radiotelephone usage
    • Trailer boating
    Information for instructors and assistants is available from the ABC3 information page.
  • Seminars address specific boating topics and needs of interest to both members and the public in a two-hour format. Squadrons conduct seminars to provide specific information to its members and the public, and to increase awareness of USPS knowledge, skills, and abilities to the public. Seminars also serve as excellent public relations fora from which to entice new members. Information for instructors and assistants is available from the Seminars information page.

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Paddle Smart

Paddle Smart is a USPS seminar on a series of topics created especially for paddle sports.  There is also a related (but more for the public) Paddle Smart web site, which has been in existence for some time.  Web site topics include:

  • Navigation Rules with emphasis on kayaks, canoes, etc.
  • Personal Flotation Devices (life jackets)
  • Charts and Maps
  • Homeland Security
  • Weather and its impact on paddlers
  • Electronics for paddlers including GPS, cell phones, etc.

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Questions or Comments?

If you have any questions or comments about any of the public boating courses, please contact the National Basic Public Education Committee chair by e-mail, phone or postal service mail.  Please be sure to keep your SEO and/or DEO advised of any correspondence you may have with the National committee. Addresses for the National BPECom chair are listed in The ENSIGN and on the Committee Chairpersons page.

We will try to answer your questions as soon as possible, but please allow 5 working days for an answer.

Anyone wishing to provide input on these courses, please contact the committee chair.

If you are interested in becoming a member of this committee, submit a resume on-line at the Committee on Nominations web site.

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This page last updated Thursday, November 12, 2009 17:23