Forgive me if I am about to ask some questions that the answers to may be found by doing an in depth reading of the posts and attendant links on the discussion board here.
I am an AB Tankerman with a large tug & barge company. I have known about the CG Aux for a number of years, but only through their BS&S classes. I've only recently become aware of the fact that they have a marine safety and port security mission as well. I understand that you do things such as container inspections, what else does the Aux do as far as commercial ports or vessels go? I am interested in getting involved. I will be relocating to San Francisco in the fall, which flotilla in the bay area would be good to be associated with if I was interested in pursuing these activities?
If you click on this web site you'll find (on the Join Us page) a link to an email address of a member of one of the Flotillas in San Francisco. Or you can try this Flotilla finder link to search for additional Flotillas in the S.F. area. If you don't get any response in a week or so we can probably drum up another contact for you. With your skill set I'm sure you'd be much in demand.
Depends on where you'll be living. District 11N has flotillas all over the place. As an AB on a tug you may find living in SF a bit spendy but there are more reasonably priced places in the area. Container inspections and Commercial Vessel crew certifications are done out of the Marine Safety Office, CG Island in Alameda, mostly at the Port of Oakland.
The USCG Auxiliary has been expanding many of its roles to what is being referred to as "direct operational". I looked into container inspector and they have a training program put together for that as well as several other programs they have been developing. My suggestion is to go to the national auxiliary website and look into the Trident program or simly try this link: http://www.auxmdept.org/Trident%20Program%20Info.htm.
This should provide you s good overview of the program.
