Director / Deputy Director

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Bill Hanlon was appointed Director in 2022.  Bill previously served as the Q Division Chief for Response activities and oversaw the Dashboard development where up-to-the-minute emergency information data sources reside.   He served five consecutive District 7 Commodores as the Auxiliary District Coordinator for emergency & pre-planned large-scale Incident Command System (ICS) events.  He enjoyed the confidence of multiple Directors of the Auxiliary (DIRAUX). 

Designated by each District 7 DIRAUX, Bill was the Auxiliary’s initial point of contact with Coast Guard senior command staff whenever an Area Command Incident Management Team (AC/IMT) was activated.  His AC/IMT activities included participating daily in Command & General Staff and Planning conference call meetings; during ICS activations, Bill coordinated requested AC/IMT resource needs for Auxiliary support with six Auxiliary Sector Coordinators and four Coast Guard Air Stations.          
 
Aux Hanlon commenced his Auxiliary voyage in 2008.  After attending a Public Affairs C-School, Bill developed the idea to produce Public Service Announcements (PSA) promoting community awareness of the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).  He directed multiple 60-second PSAs and developed storyboards, scripted, narrated, edited, and oversaw post-production efforts before a nationwide distribution in several movie theater chains.  A US Senator, Congressional Member, and NFL Hall of Famer VIPs were among the varied individuals who responded to his call, taking the time to contribute with the critical public-service messaging.  A few years later, two survivors of a boating accident (between Florida and the Bahamas) advised seeing one of the PSAs and deciding to purchase an EPIRB.    
 
Bill was awarded the CG Plaque of Merit for rescuing two trapped persons from an overturned motor vehicle a few moments before the car burst into flames along the Interstate.  He also received the Auxiliary’s Public Affairs National 1st Place award for seeking approval and then coordinating with the Florida Department of Highway Safety in displaying digital messaging signs along the Interstate Highway System National Safe Boating Week and arranging for the Goodyear blimp’s visual display screen to promote safe boating messages.  
    
Following a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, Bill assisted the Coast Guard’s AC/IMT.  He was assigned to the Joint Information Center (JIC) at the Miami Command Post.  It was evening when a phone call came in from a local media outlet.  They advised that one of their correspondents on the scene in Port au Prince had come upon a collapsed building.  Faint screams for help were heard beneath the rubble. A Google search found the longitude and latitude coordinates where the caller said they were.  A call was then made from the JIC to the Coast Guard Cutter positioned off the coast of Haiti.  A helicopter was dispatched to the location.  While the aircraft circled over the general vicinity,  the media reporter at the collapsed structure was directed from Miami to use a flashlight so the pilot could locate the victims.  Ultimately, this was just one of many saves coordinated by Team Coast Guard.  
         
As a Strike Force Team-certified ICS instructor, Bill traveled throughout the country to Coast Guard and other federal installations, teaching advanced ICS to Active Duty, Reserve, and Auxiliary cadres.  As a senior ICS instructor, Bill was identified as a Subject Matter Expert in Emergency Management.  Bill led multiple efforts on significant and innovative mission assignments. Those activities included numerous deployments in support of Gulf Coast oil spill remediation efforts following the Deep Water Horizon oil-rig explosion, coordinating Black Swan Exercises in the Caribbean & Hawaiian Islands, and developing and implementing a first-of-its-kind Auxiliary Mass Rescue Operations Specialist Program. Other activities involved public speaking opportunities on behalf of the Coast Guard with our foreign nation partners concerning implementing and exercising mass rescue plans at both air & seaport facilities.

Bill authored District 7’s Auxiliary Contingency Support Plan (ACSP).  With the Admiral’s signature, the ACSP was fully integrated as an Annex in the District’s All Hazards Response Plan.  The significance of that document was to ensure Auxiliary participation in all full-scale exercises and tabletop discussions.  During those annual exercises, “training injects” were specifically directed to test the Auxiliary response.  Those exercises allowed senior Coast Guard personnel to interact and witness firsthand the benefits of utilizing Auxiliary resources during actual ICS events.    

Multiple DIRAUX Commanders called upon Bill to conduct internal investigations involving Auxiliary member misconduct.

Bill worked for the FBI, then the Miami-Dade Police Department, and retired after more than 51 years. Some work assignments included Organized Crime, Internal Affairs, Special Weapons & Hostage Response, Counterfeit/Trademark Infringement, Human Trafficking, and Background Investigations.Aux Hanlon earned a BA in Management, a Masters degree in Public Administration, and a Juris Doctorate. Bill is married to Marjorie. They have two children and five grandchildren.  Bill’s other activities include: Florida Bar Unlicensed Practice of Law investigative committee member, beekeeping, and sports officiating.  Bill is a college football replay official.  Postseason assignments have included the Cotton and Peach Bowls, the Semi-Final Bowl Championship Series, and an Army-Navy contest.