Yarbrough became a machinery technician, followed by three decades of service on 11 cutters and two shore units across nine states, including multiple trips to both the Arctic and Antarctic. All the while performing above and beyond the call of duty.
His mentor, retired Coast Guard Master Chief Diane Bucci, was the first female officer-in-charge of a cutter and also his first commanding officer. She attests to his creativity and initiative in the engine room calling him “the tinkerer”, and the most motivated junior member she ever worked with.
Bucci also said that having such an enthusiastic young fireman was often stressful, as Yarbrough was eager to try his own ideas when things broke down. He was fantastic at preventative maintenance, Bucci added. He never backed away from problems when they arose.
Yarbrough is now on his twilight tour as the main propulsion assistant aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless, a 210-foot medium endurance cutter, homeported in Galveston, Texas.
The Master Cutterman designation was created in 2007 to recognize those Coast Guardsmen who had spent 20 years on the sea. Yarbrough, a tried and true cutterman, has certainly earned his title.