[2] Until 1890, the School of Instruction was held on ships,[2] when the first land-based campus for it was established in Curtis Bay, Maryland,[2] likely making it where Van Boskerck lived.
[4] Van Boskerck's first prominent position was in 1914 and 1915, when he was tasked with overseeing the construction of the cutters Tallapoosa and Ossipee at Newport News, Virginia.
[3] The vessel's primary mission at the time was to intercept illegal shipments of alcohol (during Prohibition) aboard boats off the coast of Florida and the Carolinas.
[3] In 1923, Van Boskerck went to Newport, Rhode Island to attend the Naval War College, and in 1924 he was placed in command of the Great Lakes District.
In 1926, Van Boskerck returned to the East Coast and was named commander of the Norfolk Division in October in order to fill a vacancy.
In 1922, Van Boskerck was in command of the cutter USCGC Yamacraw, which chased boats smuggling then-illegal alcohol in the coastal waters of Florida and the Carolinas but was headquartered in Savannah, GA.
It was one of those so-called "flashes" that come to people, at times, apparently from nowhere.... And so I went... and wrote the words to the song which I named "Semper Paratus"[3]He then presented the lyrics to the officers of Yamacraw, expecting criticism.
While attending a dance held by the League of Coast Guard Women in Norfolk, he had the nine-piece orchestra play "Semper Paratus" in public for the first time.
[3] That fall, Van Boskerck traveled to Washington, D.C. to discuss his retirement with Lieutenant Colonel Harvey Miller, who also served as the Coast Guard Magazine's editor and publisher.
After this subject had concluded, Van Boskerck produced the lyrics and sheet music to "Semper Paratus" and said to Miller "In it I have tried to pour forth all the glory, honor, and tradition of the Coast Guard.
[6] After he delivered the words and music of "Semper Paratus" to Miller, Van Boskerck had intended to head to New York City for the Army-Navy football game that was to be held there.