{"id":2012,"date":"2017-07-18T12:56:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-18T12:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/porthouston.com\/portweb-port-retiree-receives-honorary-pilot-award\/"},"modified":"2023-11-17T14:05:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-17T20:05:04","slug":"port-retiree-receives-honorary-pilot-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/porthouston.com\/port-retiree-receives-honorary-pilot-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Port Houston Retiree Receives Honorary Pilot Award"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 461px;\" src=\"https:\/\/porthouston.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Pilot-Award.jpg\" alt=\"Pilot Award.jpg\" width=\"461\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It takes unique skills and endurance to be a Houston Pilot, safely navigating some of the world\u2019s largest ships in and out of the Houston Ship Channel, one of the most challenging waterways in the world.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Longtime Port Houston employee, Mike Usher, who retired in December 2016 after 32 years of service, recently received an honor by the Houston Pilots designated as an honorary Houston Pilot. Only three people have received the award in the last 25 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the course of his distinguished maritime career, Captain Usher earned a well-deserved reputation as a safety-conscious and professional mariner, and a tough, but fair, marine investigator,\u201d said Capt. Robert Shearon, presiding officer of the Houston Pilots.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Houston Pilots appreciates and recognizes the lasting contributions that Captain Usher has made in furthering navigation safety on the busiest ship channel in the United States,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Usher was presented with the framed certificate naming him an Honorary Houston Pilot for longstanding service, loyalty and friendship at a June industry luncheon with Capt. Shearon and others, and was taken aback by the gesture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was taken totally by surprise,\u201d said Usher, who began his career in 1984 as a Hoseman on the <em>Farnsworth<\/em> in the marine department and worked his way up to senior captain on the fireboats, compliance coordinator and manager of pilot administration. \u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming to be recognized, and I\u2019m humbled and deeply honored.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Usher\u2019s maritime journey began at an early age, when he entered the U.S. Navy and spent seven years on amphibious ships and destroyers on both the east and west coasts.<\/p>\n<p>When Usher left the Navy and joined Port Houston in the Marine Dept., he had a desire to become a Houston Branch Pilot. He became qualified and eligible, but, as he described, \u201cdidn\u2019t quite muster.\u201d However, he continued to work closely with the piloted system.<\/p>\n<p>Usher has such respect for the Houston Pilots after his experience with its members and becoming familiar with their pilotage system, he went on to attain his master\u2019s license, then his harbor pilot license.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt blessed to be involved with this pilot group, and I was always determined to serve the Pilot Board and to protect everyone\u2019s best interests,\u201d he said. \u201cComing back full circle 10 years ago as a committee aide to the Pilot Board Application Review Committee and Investigation and Recommendation Committee, I\u2019ve realized my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Port Houston Retiree Receives Honorary Pilot Award [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/porthouston.com\/port-retiree-receives-honorary-pilot-award\/\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[123],"class_list":["post-2012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-port-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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