History Division

The History Division is dedicated to the collection, preservation and promulgation of information and materials that pertain to events and persons important to the history of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The national historian's staff collect and promulgate information that relates to national events, national officers, and members who have made historic contributions. Materials collected included documents, photographs, and significant artifacts, such as uniforms, flags, commemorative items, etc. 

The History Division also provides augmentation support to the U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C. (www.history.uscg.mil). Division staff members, when called upon by the Chief Historian of the Coast Guard, provide research/writing assistance, curatorial advice/support, oral-history interviewing assistance and public-speaking support to complement the USCG History Program. The Auxiliary History Division is the "research, writing and publishing arm" of the Historian's Office. In addition, the Auxiliary History Division provides public-relations support to the executive director of the future "National Museum of the United States Coast Guard" (www.coastguardmuseum.org) and serves as a liaison to the USCG Auxiliary Archives located in the Joyner Library at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina (http://media.lib.ecu.edu/spclcoll/coastguard/). Finally, the History Division provides augmentation support to the Atlantic and Pacific Area Historians located in Portsmouth, VA and Alameda, CA, respectively.

Mark A. Snell, PhD., is a retired U.S. Army ordnance officer as well as a retired history professor.  He currently serves as the Chief Historian of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (DVC-AH).  While on active duty with the U.S. Army, he served both as an enlisted soldier and a commissioned officer.  In addition, Mark served from 1987-1990 as an assistant professor in the Department of History at West Point, and then became the executive officer of the Academy's support battalion (1st Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment) as well as the commander of the U.S. Military Academy Airborne Detachment from 1990-1991.

Upon his retirement from the Army in 1993, he taught for twenty years at Shepherd University and was the founding director of the university's George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War before retiring again in 2013.  In 2008 he was the Visiting Senior Lecturer of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom.  Mark's specialty is the American Civil War but he also has produced studies on World War I and World War Il, and has written, edited or co-edited eight books and is under contract for two more.  He also has contributed to numerous anthologies and professional journals.  Dr. Snell lives in Gettysburg, PA, and currently is editing an anthology about the U.S. Coast Guard's wartime role in the 20th century.

Mark also has undertaken a tasking to research and write the history of the United States Coast Guard Research and Development Center, which is projected for publication in 2022.  He has given tours of historic sites to political and military notables, including Vice President Dick Cheney and the late Senator Ted Kennedy.  Mark was a historical consultant for the movie "Gods and Generals" and has appeared as a "talking head" on several History Channel, BBC and PBS programs.  Dr. Snell also is a member of the Gettysburg Foundation and the Adams Rescue Mission (both for which he frequently volunteers).  He has been a member of the USCG Auxiliary since April 2017. 

 
History Division Staff List

Branch Chief for History Division Archives
Jose Edwin Nieves, BC-AHA

Branch Assistant for History Division Archives Researcher
John Cochran, BA-AHAR

Branch Chief for History Division USCG HQ History Liaison
James Knights, BC-AHL

Branch Assistant for History Division HQ History Atlantic
Vacant, BA-AHLA

Branch Assistant for History Division HQ History Interviewer
Glendon Buscher, BA-AHLI

Branch Assistant for History Division HQ History Pacific
Vacant, BA-AHLP

Branch Assistant for History Division HQ History Reserarcher
Vacant, BA-AHLR

Branch Assistant for History Division HQ History Writer
Michael Hugh Wendelin, BA-AHLW

Branch Assistant for History Division HQ History Publisher
Vincent Del Guidice, BA-AHLY

Branch Chief for History Division Museums
Bruce F. Buckley, BC-AHM

Branch Assistant for History Division Museums Curator
Steve Marthouse, BA-AHMC

Meet the History Division Staff

Branch Chief for Museums - Bruce Buckley, BC-AHM

Bruce retired in 2012 after a 40-year career in sales and marketing with a major communications/electronics corporation. He has been a member of the Auxiliary for eighteen years, all in Flotilla 014-25-03, in Mystic, Connecticut. Bruce has served as a flotilla commander, division commander, district captain and numerous flotilla, division and district staff-officer positions. He also is the National Lead Instructor for the Auxiliary Upper Level Officers Course (AULOC); the “Auxiliary Ambassador” to the National CG Museum Association; and President of New London Ledge Lighthouse Museum Foundation (listed on the National Registry of Historical Places). Mr. Buckley’s vision as Branch Chief for Museums is to instill in the Auxiliary membership—through properly curated historic artifacts—a deep appreciation for the men and women of Team Coast Guard that have come before us to serve and protect with Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty.

Branch Assistant, Museum Curator - Steve Marthouse, BA-AHMC

Steve earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Saint Francis University in 1969. He is a US Air Force veteran, having served in several locations around the world while on active duty.  Following his military service, Mr. Marthouse spent over 35 years in private sector and held positions of increasing responsibility and authority in logistics, purchasing and inventory/production control. After retiring in 2010, he continued working as a part-time substitute teacher. He joined the US Coast Guard Auxiliary in 1986 and has held all elected offices to include District Captain. Steve currently serves as District 5NR's Historian, and had served as DSO-MT for more than 10 years. Through his affiliation as an Auxiliarist, he served as FEMA Reservist in the Lower Night Ward of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. A true Coast Guard and USCG Auxiliary "history buff" and artifact collector, he also serves as President of the Board of Directors of the US Life-Saving Service Heritage Association (USLSSHA). That organization's primary mission is to preserve the history, old stations, boats and equipment of the US Life-Saving Service (which merged with the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1915 to become the U.S. Coast Guard). Presently, Steve is deeply involved with the USLSSHA's ongoing project of developing the "Surfman Roster". Steve lives in Chambersburg, PA, and is a member of Flotilla 053-20-01.

Branch Chief for Headquarters, History Liaison - James Knights, BC-AHL

James earned a B.A.in Soviet and East European Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a M.A. in International Relations at the University of Chicago. He served in the active USCG and Coast Guard Reserve, receiving a direct commission in the Reserve. After working as an intelligence analyst at the National Security Agency, Knights joined the FBI as a Special Agent in 1983, later serving at FBI field offices in Baltimore, Dallas, Newark and Pittsburgh, and temporary duty assignments at legal attaché offices at American embassies and FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Mr. Knights deployed to Iraq with the FBI in 2007. During his 26-year FBI career, James has been a SWAT sniper, media representative, surveillance pilot, and flight instructor, and served in the FBI technical investigations program. During this period, he joined the Civil Air Patrol as a pilot, becoming a squadron commander and public information officer. Mr. Knights has published several books on topics of historical fiction. He joined the Auxiliary in 2020 and is a member of Flotilla 082-12-01, “Knoxville-1” in Tennessee.

Branch Assistant, Writer - Michael Wendelin, BA-AHLW

Mike Joined the Auxiliary in January 2016 and earned his AUXOP qualification in May 2018. He is a member of Flotilla 013-05-03, in Boston, Massachusetts, and currently serves as Academy Partner and FSO-HR. Mike has completed 4.8 flight hours as an Observer Trainee in AUXAIR. He holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Arizona and an MBA from California Lutheran University. Mike is the “Senior North American Logistics Manager” for a global medical-device company. While a member of the US Navy Reserve, he was mobilized to active duty for seven and a half years and was a qualified naval loadmaster, logging 4000 flight hours in C-130T aircraft. During his mobilization time, Mike also served as his squadron’s public-affairs officer. One of the many highlights of his Navy career was delivering fifty-four tons of relief materials to the Japanese people during Operation Tomodachi, the response to the Sendai earthquake and tsunami. Mike has contributed articles to Naval Aviation News, ANA Wings-of-Gold Magazine, and Jax Air News. He has flown with the International Ice Patrol HC-130J, Live-Marine Resources Mission HC-144A, sailed shake-down on USCGC Seneca (WMEC 906), and attended Academy events aboard Eagle (WIX-327).

Branch Chief for Archives - Jose "Edwin" Nieves, BC-AHA

Edwin is a civilian physician with the U.S. Army Medical Detachment (MEDDAC) at Fort Eustis, Virginia. He is also a faculty member at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. Throughout his career, Dr. Nieves has supervised graduate and undergraduate medical trainees from Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School, Eastern Virginia Medical School, the United States Navy, and the Uniformed Health Services’ University of the Health Sciences. He is a frequent contributor and researcher for to the Puerto Rico Office of Historic Preservation, the National Park Service Southeast Region, the U.S. National Archives and the U.S. Army Medical Department Office of Medical History as well as the U.S. Army Transportation Museum, Fort Eustis, VA. Edwin has published on medical-related military history topics and naval history, and completed several missions interviewing and recording the experiences of Coast Guard Forces during the historic 2017 natural disaster season. He is a Past President of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Nieves joined the Auxiliary in 2013 and is a member of Flotilla 054-06-03 in Poqouson, Virginia.