The Coast Guard Auxiliary

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In today’s environment of budget cuts and curtailment °f some of the duties of the regular Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s cost-effective labor and experi­^ence is a valuable asset. History has shown that the work­load of the Coast Guard Auxiliary is proportional to the hard times and needs of the Coast Guard regulars. The ^more the regulars need, the more the auxiliarists have helped.

The modern-day Coast Guard Auxiliary has its origins ^ln the Coast Guard Reserve. The Coast Guard Reserve Act °l 1939 created a non-military service made up primarily °f volunteer boat owners and pleasure boaters whose mis- ^S|ons paralleled those of today’s Coast Guard Auxiliary. In February 1941, Congress changed its original legislation and called the new act the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Reserve Act. Two reserves were thus formed, the regular reserves and the temporary reserves. The forerunners of today’s auxiliary often joined in the war effort by serving ^wtth the temporary reserves. Some served for weeks at a time and, although furnished with uniforms, their effort ^Was strictly voluntary and most were not paid. Their mis- ^'°ns included: guarding the approaches to the United mates, patrolling and protecting waterfront facilities,

^°astal picket patrols, surveillance, rescuing survivors ^r°m torpedoed or scuttled vessels, and engaging the ^enemy where possible. More than 50,000 auxiliarists ^Served during World War II, using as many as 2,000 of heir personal vessels in the war effort. The regular Coast s^ard had operational control over these vessels, and their etews had full military ranks, ratings, and authority.

T’lie Coast Guard Auxiliary of Today: After World /'ar II, the Coast Guard Auxiliary resumed its recreational oating safety duties. Today’s auxiliarists’ main tasks in- ude recreational search and rescue, public education, and j-°urtesy marine examinations. They also are involved to a esser degree in safety and regatta patrols, private aids-to- ^navigation, harbor and pollution patrols, assisting during mobility exercises, and are active recruiters for the regular Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Auxiliary also provides platforms and personnel for realistic drug law enforcement training acts as blue/orange forces during readiness exer­cises. Auxiliarists also have participated in military readi­ness events by providing craft of opportunity (COOP) ves­sels for port and harbor mine surveys for mine warfare scenarios.

According to a recent congressionally mandated study, today’s 32,385 Coast Guard auxiliarists are a highly cost- effective, professional, and efficient arm of the Coast Guard. Many auxiliarists assist the Coast Guard in these austere times by doing administrative duties. Some retired auxiliarists even put in 40-45 hours a week helping out.

It makes sense to close with two examples of award­winning rescues performed by Coast Guard auxiliarists recounted in the 31 May 1988 Commandant's Bulletin.

On 28 January 1980, the Coast Guard cutter Blackthorn (WLB-391) and the 580-foot tanker Capricorn collided in Tampa Bay, killing 23 Coast Guardsmen. Kenneth Ander­son, of the Coast Guard’s 7th District (Miami), was one of the first divers to enter the debris-filled waters. He spent 15 hours searching the ship’s superstructure. He made the 50-foot dive five times and recovered four Coast Guardsmen.

In Mississippi Sound, Reba and Mortimer Johnson helped five people on board a 21-foot boat whose anchor was dragging. It was dark when they made their rescue. Their initial efforts at a stern tow were thwarted by a squall that broke the towing rig. Their dogged determina­tion enabled them to re-rig the tow and make for safe waters.

Commander Webster is currently a student at the Naval Postgraduate School and is working toward a master of science degree in the command, control, and communications curriculum.

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G_u ^la8^s will surely include the Coast 'ⁿk a ^m '^ts P*^ans f°^r eliminating the red in j/*ⁿ important Coast Guard mission 8^rarri '^s *^{10W t0 esca}P^e multiple pro- Do^ ^an(I budget threats. In the past, c_atl( ^aPP^ropriations have offset signifi- eo^uisition. operational, and support iti_0r^' ^'^lh DoD funding under pressure V>w_e ^{lan at an}y time in the past decade, arjy ^Ver’ this assistance will be in jeop- bf,_)u ^as never before. Indeed, 1988 fen_Se ^SOme ominous smoke to the de- itiabji-Stations P^rog^ram horizon. The fo_r p ¹ y to gain congressional approval $id_er^Cr.^s'^an Gulf operations could be con- p_Q^e a caution light.

^SPo_ns^rrh^ally’ G°^ast Guard defense re- ¹ ilities will not materially change

in the near term, but with the potential of a reduced threat overseas, there is sure to be an impact on its ability to promote the significance of its Maritime Defense Zone responsibilities to its budget re­viewers. In such an environment, the shrewdest Coast Guard apologists will be needed to weave policies sustaining de­fense operations and reserve programs.

To this laundry list of budget and pro­gram perils must be added the normal exposure the Coast Guard faces from the general budget squeeze on the non-DoD sector of the government. This is espe­cially so in a department and an OMB long preoccupied with politically active agencies having billions in trust funds to expend on transportation programs.

The foregoing is a partial list of the major issues the Coast Guard faced in 1988. The previous year had an equally impressive catalog of changes, uncertain­ties, and challenges, which the service met successfully. Nineteen eighty-nine will be no different.

Captain Duca retired as Chief of Staff, 7th Coast Guard District, in 1986 after 29 years of service, and is now employed as an Assistant Technical Director of Mantech Services, Inc. In 1984, as chief of opera­tions of the 7th Coast Guard District, he conceived and executed Operation Wagon Wheel, the first mul­tinational, multiservice, winter drug interdiction op­eration, which included protracted operations in the Caribbean, off the coast of South America, and in the Bahamas. In 1981, he coauthored the joint Navy- Coast Guard Study on Wartime Tasking, which gave rise to the Maritime Defense Zone concept and the Navy-Coast Guard (NavGuard) Board. An aviator, he served as Chief of Coast Guard Aviation and as Chief of Program Analysis at Headquarters.