Son of local couple receives advancement

Joshua A. Shirley, son of Jim and Peggy Woodard and the late Dan Shirley and a 2004 graduate of Goldendale High School, was advanced to U.S. Coast Guard Chief Aviation Maintenance Technician in a ceremony on February 1. The event occurred in an All Hands ceremony at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station, Miami. Shirley joined the Coast Guard in January 2006.

On January 21st, the Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) re-elected Lisa Evans of White Salmon, Washington, as the Vice-Chairwoman. Lisa won the vacated seat in a special election last January and ran unopposed at this year’s bi-annual reorganization meeting for a full 2-year term.

Lisa Evans commented “I was extremely humbled and honored to be nominated to continue serving as the vice chair of the WSRP. This past year was extremely interesting; I had opportunities across every county in the state to meet and speak with leadership and candidates. I am enthusiastic to continue the plans and accelerate the momentum that the Statelevel leadership has been developing. It is vital that smaller counties like Klickitat County are having a bigger voice at the table to represent views outside of Seattle. I continue to appreciate the support and exchange of ideas that I receive locally.”

Lisa currently serves as the Chairwoman of the Klickitat County Republicans and will continue to serve in that role alongside her role as Vice-Chair of the state party.

After Basic Training in Cape May, New Jersey, Joshua served for a little over two years in the Presidential Honor Guard under the George W. Bush administration. He then went to San Diego, California, for three months for initial aviation training, and from there, he traveled to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to attend A-School to become an Aviation Maintenance Technician. He worked his way up the ranks in Mobile, Alabama, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Miami, Florida to achieve this latest advance- ment, while working on Coast Guard surveillance and search and rescue planes. Joshua has flown almost 2,000 hours on numerous surveillance, rescue, training, and interdiction missions in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as performing his regular aviation maintenance technician duties. He has earned multiple certifications throughout his career, and in Miami alone he has completed 50 instructional fl ights.

Chief Shirley, his wife, Timmany, a Coast Guard veteran and micro-biologist, and their seven-year-old son, Timothy, will be receiving the location of Joshua’s next assignment shortly and will be moving from the Miami area in June. After a bit of time off to travel and see family, Joshua will be continuing his duties at his new duty station as Chief and working towards the next level of rank.

—Peggy