Photo by Mark Kracker
Every year I look forward to seeing Mark, and of course his photography. He always waits for the end of the day, and every year he gets the sun shots beween the two worlds.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
End of training Day brief
Monday, September 14, 2009
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Ryan - Warren - Challenged Athletes (36)
Mike Alpha and Shawn Alladio instructor Ryan Levinson and Warren Frank
Thursday, July 30, 2009
puu-4484 Shawn shower
SW's Rewarming outdoor station!
This was taken prior to the break before out night operations training. Needless to say I think we all had the shower on full HEAT!
I think I'm the only one who doesn't have a tattoo! LOL
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
BBQ 025
AWA PWCoffshore.com Club, H2O Responder Club, Socal Club, and Liquid Militia friends and family come together for a July Fellowship BBQ. A wonderful time of friends, acknowledging thier contributions to the PWC community.
Masa's mother and father, our honored guests!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Trawlercat
PWCoffshore.com's team racers, Shawn Alladio and Gunz Racer Ralph Perez at the LB2CAT 2009 in Long Beach Californai July 11, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Matasuura July 24, 2009
Masa wanted our hands to touch. This was the first time I was able to touch him, almost 2 months have passed since the fire. He looks so good and is so happy. Plus he has lost a lot of weight! Not so easy 2 lift him out of his SUV! Now he's skinny! LOL
Ryan Levinson
Ryan inspired the Challenged Athlete division for PWC Offshore endurnace racing. Without his vision and determination this class would not be avaiable to other athletes. A new insertion for people who are struggling with access, Ryan has proven the Jet Ski doesn't discriminate, only the lack of trying does.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
LB2CAT 2009 (153)
Craig Warner (Monster Energy & Kawasaki) takes 1st place again at the LB2CAT followed by Mark Gerner of PWCoffshore.com
Saturday, July 18, 2009
LB2CAT 2009 (314)
Hellwoman's 'broken helm station'
The LB2CAT National offshore endurance race will never be so tame again! LOL
LB2CAT 2009 (407)
Hellwoman's friends:
Nicole, Ryan, Steve, Mike and Warren at the LB2CAT 2009 Awards program in Long Beach.
LB2CAT 2009
Ryan Levinson podiums in second place in the newly ordained 'Challenged Athletes' Racing division at the LB2CAT National PWC Offshore Championships
http://www.RyanLevinson.com
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
PWCoffshore.com June training (30)
Alladio getting ready for USMC Recon training, talking over the course with Joe at the Recon boat locker at Camp Pendleton
Sunday, June 21, 2009
MH-53 Landing on USS Denver
090620-N-5538K-355 AT SEA (June 20, 2009) Aviation Boatswain's Mate 3rd
Class Kevin A. Bourne signals an MH-53E Sea Dragon to land on the flight
deck of the forward deployed transport landing dock USS Denver (LPD 9).
Denver is currently underway to Australia to participate in Talisman
Saber 2009 (TS09). TS09 is designed to help maintain a high level of
interoperability between U.S. and Australian forces and demonstrate both
countries commitment to their military alliance. (U.S. Navy Photo by
Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Casey H. Kyhl/Released)
K38 Poland (3)
...more than 500 kilometers in two days the river Wis³a, from Warszawa to Gdañsk via Personal Watercraft June 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
USMC Recon Appreciation Day (46)
May is Military Appreciation Month, but we appreciate every day of the year. Pirate getting suited up, heading out to launch the Jet Ski's for Gunny Brad's platoon, May 29th, a day of ocean, drizzle and food. Hoorah!
USMC Recon Appreciation Day (142)
He ain't heavy, he's my sister...LOL
Gunny Brad and his boys lend a hand..fun day of drizzle and jet skis at Camp Pendleton
USMC Recon Appreciation Day (32)
Gunny Brad's Devil Dawgs get their safety brief from Alladio, then its time for the rides...
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Ryan - Warren - Challenged Athletes (67)
Warren Frank walks the deck to find his movement and balance points for centering. He did realy well with his prothesis and this is not an easy skill set.
Ryan - Warren - Challenged Athletes (42)
Ryan Levinson flushing our training boats. Our daily trash recovery during offshore training, one hat a varied balloons. Every time you see a piece of garbage, no matter where you are, pick it up and take care of it. If we all did that, just picked up one piece every day, we make a significant difference. That can be applied ot many thigns in life as well.
Ryan - Warren - Challenged Athletes (33)
Challenged athletes, Warren Frank and Ryan Levinson in training for their first LB2CAT personal watercraft offshore race. They are the first athletes in the PWC community to race under the new 'challenged athlete' division and will be racing from Long Beach to Catalina Island and back on July 12, 2009. A 60 mile transit through the open waters of the channel islands. Inspiring, courageous and driven, these men are changing the world around us, ask me how I know?
Warren is an amputee and Ryan has muscular dystrophy, no two finer characters have I ever rode with! Training day with RXTUSMC out of Camp Pendleton, CA
Mike Alpha and Ms. Levinson thank you for the photos
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
We are What We Do - Ed Brenegar
We are what we do
Everyone needs a dog. Dogs cut through the verbal mumbo-jumbo that we humans pass off as our intentions and purposes in life. All they know is action. Our dog Thor only knows us through our actions. He loves us and is loyal to us because we scratch his head, throw him a tennis ball and steal firewood from him so that he can chase us. Thor only knows us through our actions toward him. Because Thor is simple like that, he makes it simpler for us as a family to love each other. Thank you, Thor.
Over the past few weeks, I've met a guy, who will go nameless, who, through his blog, has introduced me to a woman, whom I've now met, who will also go nameless because of her story. She personifies a principle that I believe is important for leaders to understand. Her story in moment.
I meet people all the time who tell me their stories. What is compelling in their stories is not their rationale or their interpretation of it, but rather their description of the actions they have taken to get where they are.
Thirty years ago, when I was in seminary, there was an idea floating around some churches, and is still prevalent today under different names, that all you had to do is claim God's blessing, and it was yours. It was dubbed, "Name and Claim It." What I found then was that for the vast majority of people who accepted this belief system, it was an invitation to passivity, an entitlement mindset and the self-deception of blaming others for their own failure to act. Believing in "Name and Claim It" became an emotional narcotic that was not fed by action, but by constantly seeking out new inspiration to believe in the idea. I find it sad and incidious.
My assessment of this success faith is that it is a parasite on the richer tradition of individual freedom and entrepreneurism. It is parasitic because the belief suggests that all you must do to be successful is place an idea in your head, and it will come true. Not so, every successful person I know has worked hard to get ahead and stay ahead. There is no magic to becoming a successful person. Even the luckiest, gain and keep their success through hard work and perseverance through the many transition points that are required to create a successful life.
I set up this woman's story with this conceptual context because of what she did, not what she said she did. I leave her name out, simply to respect the anonymity of her actions. What she did was not done for fame or recognition, but rather to be herself, to live an authentic life, each and everyday. I honor her action by not granting her more public exposure than she wishes.
Let me give her the initial H as her name to make the telling of the story easier. H is a part of group of people who work in most communities as rescue workers. Her rescue work is on the water. She is the leader of a team of water rescuers. They train hard. And they put their life on the line for people every day. They are like the police officers who run toward gun fire, the firefighters who run into burning buildings, and soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who go into the most violent places in our world to provide safety for us at home. H is in this class of person. Even before hearing her story, I had the highest level of respect for her because I know people just like her.
To know me is to understand that I place a person's actions above their intentions. I believe that we spend most of our lives rationalizing either our action or non-action. We are people prone to self-deception, and it is only through dealing with the hardest, darkest side ourselves that we discover the truth of who we genuinely are. To see this is to be free of fear of discovery, free from humiliation, free no longer to appear to be more than we truly are, and instead to act to do what we must to do be our authentic selves.
H's story is one of heroism. She was returning home to her family after a weekend of training. She comes across an automobile accident that has just happened. Let my other friend tell the story as he heard it.
Just got a call. A visceral scream was the first thing I heard. Someone unloading into their phone and I was the recipient. Confusion, alarm, concern, all the keywords one goes through when you know something bad has happened to the person on the phone with you, flashed my psyche as dread fell upon me.
I then realized that (H) was the gutteral scream. She was in her car, naked for the most part, burned, bruised, in shock. We established a rapport and I began to talk her down.
It is 12:15 AM. I am now wired and beyond alert. (H) had rung off as she reached her home in (C). I knew that she had just done a long day at sea with the military in an appreciation day that her company, ... had just put on.
In her weary drive home she had rolled up on a flame wall on the (X highway). She said that she had driven through it and that it looked like Armageddon. Pulling up to a burning car she got out and saw movement in the flames. Grabbing a prybar she broke the window and grabbed at the squirming flame ball that was a man. She said his hands had looked like candles as they burned.
There were bystanders and she screamed for help, but as sometimes happens no one moved and as she managed to gain control of the flaming man she began to pull him out and his foot caught in the debris. Screaming at the bystanders, they finally broke from shock and jumped the two. As they dragged the guy away, the car exploded.
“I smell (D), I smell like fire and burning flesh, I think I fractured my arm, I am almost home”
H thought that the car had punctured it’s tank in a collision with the guard rail, setting off the tempest. I am taking a sip of vodka right now. It burns and rasps my throat. I am worried about my friend. Emotionally peaking myself, because I love her and can do nothing. But knowing H, I understand that she will be all right. Eventually. Someone lives tonight, albeit in agony, because H was where she was supposed to be. It is her lot, this sort of thing. Lucky guy.
H always lectures us that rescue (and life) is all about seconds and feet. You have seconds in which to assess and feet in which to react. Tonight once again she illustrated her point. Seconds and feet.
H acted heroically. Talk to military people and they will tell you that the only heroes are the ones who lost their lives in battle. To be a hero is to act sacrificially, even if it means giving your life for another. This is what I see in H's action. A hero acts, not out of a desire for fame and recognition, but rather out of a commitment to serve.
The leadership principle is this. Our actions lead others, and our words follow. They are the measure of who we are. If we say one thing, and do another, we create doubt about our authenticity. If we act wrongly, and then explain it away as if it does not matter, then we have driven a wedge between ourselves and others. When we rationalize our inaction or failure, tossing blame on someone else or institution, we rob ourselves of truth, and consequently our freedom to be authentic.
Yesterday, I was introduced to another woman, and in the spirit of the post, she'll remain nameless too. I'll call herF. I have a lot of respect for her. In telling me her story, she told me how she has come to understand the power of forgiveness. For her it is not an idea for appreciation, but how she has learned to treat those who have hurt her deeply in her life. She lives forgiveness, just as H lives heroism. And she is free as a result to be her true, authentic self.
We are what we do. As leaders, how we treat people, not what we say for public consumption is what matters. This is what our family saw everyday from our dog Thor. Monday night, after two weeks of rapidly declining health, Thor, was put down. Thor was loyal, loving and a part of our family. He didn't care about my intentions or my philosophizing. All he knew were my actions toward him. All he wanted was for me to chase him, to throw firewood to him and rub his head.
Consider today what you do. You only have seconds and feet to take the right actions. There are people around you who are watching, looking for you to act in accordance with what you believe. Ideas matter, but only as they reveal our inner motivation to act. Our actions are mirror of our intentions.
We lead by actions, and our words follow. Make sure that they are one and the same, and you'll find peace and freedom, and the respect and love of others in return.
Good bye, Thor, my friend. Rest in peace
http://edbrenegar.typepad.com/leadin...hat-we-do.html
Everyone needs a dog. Dogs cut through the verbal mumbo-jumbo that we humans pass off as our intentions and purposes in life. All they know is action. Our dog Thor only knows us through our actions. He loves us and is loyal to us because we scratch his head, throw him a tennis ball and steal firewood from him so that he can chase us. Thor only knows us through our actions toward him. Because Thor is simple like that, he makes it simpler for us as a family to love each other. Thank you, Thor.
Over the past few weeks, I've met a guy, who will go nameless, who, through his blog, has introduced me to a woman, whom I've now met, who will also go nameless because of her story. She personifies a principle that I believe is important for leaders to understand. Her story in moment.
I meet people all the time who tell me their stories. What is compelling in their stories is not their rationale or their interpretation of it, but rather their description of the actions they have taken to get where they are.
Thirty years ago, when I was in seminary, there was an idea floating around some churches, and is still prevalent today under different names, that all you had to do is claim God's blessing, and it was yours. It was dubbed, "Name and Claim It." What I found then was that for the vast majority of people who accepted this belief system, it was an invitation to passivity, an entitlement mindset and the self-deception of blaming others for their own failure to act. Believing in "Name and Claim It" became an emotional narcotic that was not fed by action, but by constantly seeking out new inspiration to believe in the idea. I find it sad and incidious.
My assessment of this success faith is that it is a parasite on the richer tradition of individual freedom and entrepreneurism. It is parasitic because the belief suggests that all you must do to be successful is place an idea in your head, and it will come true. Not so, every successful person I know has worked hard to get ahead and stay ahead. There is no magic to becoming a successful person. Even the luckiest, gain and keep their success through hard work and perseverance through the many transition points that are required to create a successful life.
I set up this woman's story with this conceptual context because of what she did, not what she said she did. I leave her name out, simply to respect the anonymity of her actions. What she did was not done for fame or recognition, but rather to be herself, to live an authentic life, each and everyday. I honor her action by not granting her more public exposure than she wishes.
Let me give her the initial H as her name to make the telling of the story easier. H is a part of group of people who work in most communities as rescue workers. Her rescue work is on the water. She is the leader of a team of water rescuers. They train hard. And they put their life on the line for people every day. They are like the police officers who run toward gun fire, the firefighters who run into burning buildings, and soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who go into the most violent places in our world to provide safety for us at home. H is in this class of person. Even before hearing her story, I had the highest level of respect for her because I know people just like her.
To know me is to understand that I place a person's actions above their intentions. I believe that we spend most of our lives rationalizing either our action or non-action. We are people prone to self-deception, and it is only through dealing with the hardest, darkest side ourselves that we discover the truth of who we genuinely are. To see this is to be free of fear of discovery, free from humiliation, free no longer to appear to be more than we truly are, and instead to act to do what we must to do be our authentic selves.
H's story is one of heroism. She was returning home to her family after a weekend of training. She comes across an automobile accident that has just happened. Let my other friend tell the story as he heard it.
Just got a call. A visceral scream was the first thing I heard. Someone unloading into their phone and I was the recipient. Confusion, alarm, concern, all the keywords one goes through when you know something bad has happened to the person on the phone with you, flashed my psyche as dread fell upon me.
I then realized that (H) was the gutteral scream. She was in her car, naked for the most part, burned, bruised, in shock. We established a rapport and I began to talk her down.
It is 12:15 AM. I am now wired and beyond alert. (H) had rung off as she reached her home in (C). I knew that she had just done a long day at sea with the military in an appreciation day that her company, ... had just put on.
In her weary drive home she had rolled up on a flame wall on the (X highway). She said that she had driven through it and that it looked like Armageddon. Pulling up to a burning car she got out and saw movement in the flames. Grabbing a prybar she broke the window and grabbed at the squirming flame ball that was a man. She said his hands had looked like candles as they burned.
There were bystanders and she screamed for help, but as sometimes happens no one moved and as she managed to gain control of the flaming man she began to pull him out and his foot caught in the debris. Screaming at the bystanders, they finally broke from shock and jumped the two. As they dragged the guy away, the car exploded.
“I smell (D), I smell like fire and burning flesh, I think I fractured my arm, I am almost home”
H thought that the car had punctured it’s tank in a collision with the guard rail, setting off the tempest. I am taking a sip of vodka right now. It burns and rasps my throat. I am worried about my friend. Emotionally peaking myself, because I love her and can do nothing. But knowing H, I understand that she will be all right. Eventually. Someone lives tonight, albeit in agony, because H was where she was supposed to be. It is her lot, this sort of thing. Lucky guy.
H always lectures us that rescue (and life) is all about seconds and feet. You have seconds in which to assess and feet in which to react. Tonight once again she illustrated her point. Seconds and feet.
H acted heroically. Talk to military people and they will tell you that the only heroes are the ones who lost their lives in battle. To be a hero is to act sacrificially, even if it means giving your life for another. This is what I see in H's action. A hero acts, not out of a desire for fame and recognition, but rather out of a commitment to serve.
The leadership principle is this. Our actions lead others, and our words follow. They are the measure of who we are. If we say one thing, and do another, we create doubt about our authenticity. If we act wrongly, and then explain it away as if it does not matter, then we have driven a wedge between ourselves and others. When we rationalize our inaction or failure, tossing blame on someone else or institution, we rob ourselves of truth, and consequently our freedom to be authentic.
Yesterday, I was introduced to another woman, and in the spirit of the post, she'll remain nameless too. I'll call herF. I have a lot of respect for her. In telling me her story, she told me how she has come to understand the power of forgiveness. For her it is not an idea for appreciation, but how she has learned to treat those who have hurt her deeply in her life. She lives forgiveness, just as H lives heroism. And she is free as a result to be her true, authentic self.
We are what we do. As leaders, how we treat people, not what we say for public consumption is what matters. This is what our family saw everyday from our dog Thor. Monday night, after two weeks of rapidly declining health, Thor, was put down. Thor was loyal, loving and a part of our family. He didn't care about my intentions or my philosophizing. All he knew were my actions toward him. All he wanted was for me to chase him, to throw firewood to him and rub his head.
Consider today what you do. You only have seconds and feet to take the right actions. There are people around you who are watching, looking for you to act in accordance with what you believe. Ideas matter, but only as they reveal our inner motivation to act. Our actions are mirror of our intentions.
We lead by actions, and our words follow. Make sure that they are one and the same, and you'll find peace and freedom, and the respect and love of others in return.
Good bye, Thor, my friend. Rest in peace
http://edbrenegar.typepad.com/leadin...hat-we-do.html
Thursday, May 28, 2009
RUDI SCHULTE
ON Memorial Day 2009 we sat and remembered Mr. Schulte and all his contributions to medical support for children and families, and to the Schulte family and thier Foundation. Thank you for your generosity and kindness to others. You are good stewards of humanity.
Pic by David Pu'u
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
PWCoffshore training!
Me and the boyz getting ready for an offshore training run from Dana Point. We are one week out of the Catalina Sprint 2009 Offshore race from Dana Point to Avalon.
Bottone, Annigoni, S & A
Coming home, leaving Italy! Fabio Annigoni of K38 Italia brings Sabrina and Angelo Mantonvenelli to the Rome Airport as FLEOA's John Bottone and I are about to leave for the USA.
March 2009
Friday, January 09, 2009
USMC Kin Blue Beach - K38
Okinawa, Japan, 2008.
Kin Blue Beach training the Camp firefighters in PWC rescue with our partners at K38 Japan.
Oh...I had a blast, but I'm not sure about my interpreter Simon, I think he lost his mind! What a great two weeks we had!
Monday, January 05, 2009
K38 South Africa (32)
Shawn Alladio and Chris Bertish go over some K38 Instructor training guidelines, January 4, 2009
Thursday, January 01, 2009
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