Seaman Thomas Goatley and Petty Officer Second Class Richard Smith were Employees of the Month for January and February, respectively, for the United States Coast Guard Station St. Ignace.

Seaman Goatley was commended for his numerous hours successfully training new shipmates and working with them on their ice rescue qualifications. As a result, five crewmembers qualified. When the Aids to Navigation department needed assistance with an aid, he jumped at the opportunity to take a helicopter ride in freezing conditions to Beaver Island to help fix it, his supervisors reported.

As a seaman, he performs the “deck side” of operations, including boat handling and boarding vessels for inspections. He also assists the Aids to Navigation department with maintaining buoys and lighthouses.

Seaman Goatley comes from a Navy family and has moved around the Eastern seaboard. He joined the Coast Guard in April 2008, with St. Ignace as his first station. He will be attending machinery technician school in Yorktown, Virginia, in April.

With prior experience as a satellite installer, he spent long hours in below-freezing conditions installing a satellite for the television in the crew lounge. It was owing to his determination, supervisors said, that the crew enjoyed the Super Bowl in the new crew lounge.

He and his wife, Alexis, were married in October. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and four wheeling.

Petty Officer Smith took over the responsibilities as the Rescue and Survival Systems Petty Officer and was instrumental in getting the unit prepared for the annual Ready for Operations evaluation. During the stations evaluation, his rescue and survival equipment was inspected with high results.

In addition, he artistically created a unit coffee mug board on his own time, spending many hours adding the station’s name and operational pins, his supervisors reported, a project that will be used for years to come.

Petty Officer Smith has been in the Coast Guard for nine years. His first station was on the Coast Guard Cutter Confidence in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Other duty stations include Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook in New Jersey, and Coast Guard Cutter Resolute in St. Petersburg, Florida. He joined Station St. Ignace last summer.

He and his wife, Jamie, have three children with one on the way. He enjoys four wheeling, fishing, and spending time with his family.