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 Richard L. Carson, JN
Stf/C George Malindzak, SN
Stf/C Luis Molero, JN

Topics

News

• February 2013 Boating Class Reports Available for Printing or Download. (09 Mar 13)

• America’s Boating Course, 3rd Edition, Student Kit Description – Bonus Items

  The student kit contains two bonus items: a CD and a DVD. The ABC3 Companion Courseware CD augments chapters 1 thru 4 (sections 1-16) of the manual with audio and video clips. Most of the Flash and Shockwave slides are narrated. The Coastal Explorer DVD augments chapter 5 (sections 17-18) with an introduction to GPS and Waypoint navigation. Complete information on how to install and use these bonus items is available on the ABC3 home page under Downloadable Material. (28 Feb 13)

• 

  BPECom Assistance Form

  If you need assistance from BPECom regarding HQ-800, the ABC3 CD or DVD, or anything else, please use this form to request assistance. Filling in as many sections as possible will help to minimize the number of times we need to contact you while providing the fastest response for you. (28 Feb 13)

• January 2013 Boating Class Reports Available for Printing or Download. (23 Feb 13)

• Correction to Appendix A in ABC3 Student Manual 2012 Reprinting

  Appendix A in the ABC3 Student Manual provides discussion on Canadian Rules and Regulations. Topic A-1 on page 219 discusses ENTERING CANADA. The discussion incorrectly states non-stop transits by U.S. vessels through Canadian waters need not contact Canadian officials. This change (58KB, PDF) to ABC3 Appendix A removes that discussion and inserts the requirement to report to Canadian officials when crossing the International border for any reason. (02 Jul 12)

• ABC3 Reprint 2012 Student and Instructor Kits Being Shipped

  The 2012 reprinting of America’s Boating Course 3rd Edition (ABC3) has been completed and products are being shipped. Order your materials from the On-line Materials Catalog & Shopping Cart found on the EdDept Home Page, in the “Order Course Materials” pull-down tab. The ABC3 2012 Student Kit reprinting includes the 2012 Student Manual, bonus Coastal Explorer Express Edition updated DVD, and the bonus Student Courseware v3.2 CD. The 2012 Instructor Kit includes the items in the Student Kit plus the 2012 Instructor Manual, and 2012 Instructor PowerPoint CD. The PowerPoint CD includes presentations for Part 1, Chapters 1 through 4 that comprise the NASBLA approved 8-hour course, and Part 2, which is Chapter 5 that may extend the course to 12+ hours. Part 2 introduces charts and piloting then presents Appendix A (Canadian Rules and Regulations), and Appendix E (Boating Decision Making). Appendix F in the Instructor Manual is the complete English language assessment examination package: instructions, end-on-chapter questions answer key, two 50-question NASBLA approved examinations and their answer keys with cross references, and the Chapter 5 examination and answer key.

  Headquarter’s stock of prior editions of ABC3 Student Manuals have been exhausted. However the 2008 and 2010 reprintings of the ABC3 Student Manual held by squadrons may be used to present ABC3 provided that knowledge is assessed using the 2012 NASBLA approved assessment examinations (available from the EdDept Materials Catalog and Shopping Cart, and in the 2012 Instructor Manual). The 2012 ABC3 examination series has been translated to Spanish, and is available through the On-line Materials Catalog & Shopping Cart. The ABC3 2012 assessment examinations are the ONLY exams currently authorized for USPS/NASBLA Certification of successfully completing the ABC3 class. (21 May 2012)

• ABC3 On The Water Guide Now Available.

  The ABC3 On-The-Water Teaching Aid Guide is now available for downloading and use from the Downloads section of the ABC3 page. The Guide takes the classroom knowledge to actual on-water experience, covering the material in the ABC3 2012 reprinting, 8 and 12 hour course versions. Concomitant to building confidence in new boaters, these skills will establish a foundation for on-the-water training in advanced courses and seminars, and foster interest in the BOC program. (15 May 12)

• America's Boating Course, 3rd Edition - 2012 — Information, Registration, and Assessment Overview

  Announcing and Advertising Your USPS Public Boating Course: All ABC3 public boating courses are to be listed on-line on the USPS website. This serves several purposes. First, it announces to the general public the date, time, location, and point of contact for each class. Next, the new features of the on-line registration system will automatically send email notifications of the boating class schedules and completion results to the designated state Boating Law Administrator (BLA) or his/her representative. This feature meets the reporting requirements contained within just about all of the Memorandum of Understanding between USPS and the states.

  Pre-Registering Students: The on-line registration process for potential students to pre-register for squadron public boating classes supports the student who chooses to do contact on-line, and provides the host squadron with information that helps prepare the student for the course. The process requires that squadron boating class information be listed in the on-line HQ-800 database. Squadrons enter their class information into the database via the USPS Education Department Home page, then select “Manage Public Programs,” select “Register Boating Courses (HQ-800), and enter course data. When entering course data, check the “allow on-line registration” box and consider checking the “offer 6 month memberships" box. Once activated, students may fill in the pre-registration form with all their personal data, greatly simplifying the process of entering the data into the course completion report.

  Supports On-Line Searches: When Google and other on-line search engines are used to seek terms such as "safe boating classes" or "public boating education", the courses listed in the HQ-800 System are provided.

  Summary Information for the Educational Department: The cumulative reports from squadron submissions are used to manage stock levels to support squadron efforts, track trends in USPS Boating Safety Education, and may be used locally to manage course schedules and inter-squadron teaching efforts. The summary report of ABC3 classes completed and numbers of students with these classes is updated and posted monthly on this web page. (13 Apr 12)

• Squadron and District Guide for On-Line America’s Boating Course – 3rd Edition. The Squadron and District Guide for America’s Boating Course – 3rd Edition, for use by squadrons and districts to manage ABC3 on-line students, may be found in the Downloadable Material section of the ABC3 web page. Currently, on-line student information is passed to the respective districts and their squadrons to administer the required state education and NASBLA approved final examination, and if a passing grade is achieved, issue the Certificate of Completion. An on-line testing program to fully automate the on-line course is under development. (13 Apr 12)
  
  
• USCG District 9 Charts for Use in Coastal Explorer Express Program.

  The previous (February 3, 2010) CD version of Rose Point's Coastal Explorer Express viewer program may have a corrupted zip file for the charts of USCG District 9. If you have a problem loading District 9 charts from your CD, download a good copy of the zip file (254,458KB) and install it in Coastal Explorer. Note that this is a rather large file and may take some time to download depending on your Internet connection speed. The procedure to download and install the file is as follows:

  • Click on this link to download the zip file, browse to your "C:\Charts" folder/directory, and save the zip file to this folder/directory.
  • Start Coastal Explorer Express.
  • Click on the menu icon to "Access program options, install charts, and configure electronics.", and select "Install Charts..." from the pull-down menu.
  • In the resulting window, click on the "Install charts from a ZIP file..." option.
  • Browse to your "C:\Charts" folder/directory if it doesn't come up automatically.
  • Click on the file you just downloaded, which should be named "09CGD_RNCs.zip", then click "Open" or "OK". You should get a message that the charts are being installed and that it may take a little while to complete.
  • Close the window after the charts are installed. You can then check that the charts are installed by using the Chart Portfolio to see all the charts you have installed. (22 Nov 11)
    
    
• Intracoastal Waterway PowerPoint Teaching Aid

  A short presentation (1814KB, PPT) on navigating the Intracoastal Waterway has been prepared. Please include any part or all of it in those classes where you have students traversing the Intracoastal Waterway. (11 May 10)

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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.  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, VHF marine radios, 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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