I've been aware of the Coast Guard's Reading List for a while, but since none of the books that looked interesting were available locally, I put off reading them. Well, I finally got around to putting in interlibrary loan requests for two of them, and my library decided to just go ahead and buy them, which surprised me.

Anyway, the ones I got were: It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, by CAPT D. Michael Abrashoff and Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership, by Donald Phillips and ADM James Loy.

I found Abrashoff's book a very good read, with lots of personal stories about what he did to improve the ship. Some of the issues were very particular to running a Navy ship and not very transferrable to volunteer situations, but still very interesting. I'd recommend it.

The Character in Action book was almost more of a "Go Coast Guard rah! rah!" book. Each chapter had at least one CG story illustrating the principle that the authors were trying to discuss and for the most part, were well-chosen for that task. However, I think they went just a little bit too far and almost said that because the CG did it, it was a great illustration of CG leadership.

For example, they used the "up or out" policy as an example of a way of developing officers. While this is commonly used in our military to ensure that we have a fairly young officer corps that is up to the very demanding tasks we place on them, I think the fact that the military is just about the only group that uses it demonstrates that there are also some drawbacks to this technique that they didn't really explore. Overall, it was fairly dry and not nearly as inspiring as Abrashoff's book.

However, the book did give the Auxiliary quite a lot of play. They first used the Aux as an exmaple of the CG's ability to make do with less by utilizing volunteers to fill the gaps. Then, in the epilogue, focused on the CG's response to 9/11 there are a bunch of Aux stories, mostly the same ones given in the recent Aux history book.

FYI, here is another review of the book that has a series of lesson plans that can be used with this as a text to discuss leadership.

So, if nothing else, the generations of CG Academy grads who are probably forced to read this book will get some level of familiarity with the Aux right from the beginning.

Any other recommendations or reviews of books on this list? None of the rest really grabbed my attention, though some of the historical books look interesting.

Found "It's Your Ship" at the library for sale (50 cents) was strongly recommended by our sector commander several years back. I enjoyed it but thought it lacked substance since the concept underlying the whole book could have been stated with a few examples in a paragraph shorter than this one...
Then again it was written by a swabbie

they used the "up or out" policy as an example of a way of developing officers

The Proceedings of the US Naval Institute recently had an article on that subject. They contrasted 'up or out' to the Merchant Marine's specialty tracks.

The Navy and CG insist on turning out general purpose officers. They also assume every officer wants to command a cutter. The Merchant Marine doesn't make that assumption. An officer can have a long, happy and renumerative career specializing - ie Engineering officer.

A big problem with both the CG and Aux reading list is the heavy tilt to 'leadership' books - many of which contradict each other and an almost total dirth of reading in the history of the service.

Contrast that with the heavy emphasis on service history in the COMMANDANT OF THE U.S. MARINE CORPS OFFICIAL READING LIST. While the CG and the Aux seem intent on turning out non-descript 'leaders' - the Marines use their list to make Marines.

quote:

In a world characterized by rapid change and great uncertainty, our reading program will act as a combat multiplier by providing all Marines with a common frame of reference and historical perspective on warfare, human factors in combat and decisionmaking. In so doing, the program will also strengthen the threads of cohesion that make our Marine Corps unique.

This is another version of the Marine Corps Reading List updated in 2007.

The Navy Reading List also puts a greater emphasis on its history in the reading program then the CG or the Aux do.

It is strange, the CG has the longest continuous tradition and from many sources - yet it ignores most of it in its reading program.

There are several CG history books on the list. Of course the CG doesn't have nearly as many books written about it as the Marines, for obvious reasons. But, I suspect the list below contains most of the recent books written about the history of the CG. You've got to work with what you've got.

The Coast Guard at War: Vietnam, 1965-1975

The Coast Guard in World War I: An Untold Story

Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf: First Commandant of the Coast Guard,

The Pendleton Disaster off Cape Cod: The Greatest Small Boat Rescue in Coast Guard History

They Had to Go Out: True Stories of America’s Coastal Life-Savers From the Pages of “Wreck & Rescue Journal

So Others May Live: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers: Saving Lives, Defying Death,

Of course the CG doesn't have nearly as many books written about it as the Marines, for obvious reasons.

Maybe that is true but the List of CG Books Currently in Print from the CG Historian is a lot bigger and more, shall we say, diverse then the limited selection on the CG Reading List.

The reading list encompasses one biography, 2 histories of the CG at War (but not its biggest war - WWII) and 3 on rescues. One of the rescue books may encompass the old Life Saving Service.

But, I suspect the list below contains most of the recent books written about the history of the CG.

See the link to the CG Historians site - there are a lot of books in print on the CG.

This isn't a knock on you, but with libraries it is stupid to restrict the list to books currently in print, as the Reading List appears to do. It should be considered near criminal that some books were excluded from the list, even if they may be out of print. Some that come immediately to mind:

Willoughby, Malcolm F. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute 1957; revised, 1989.


King, Irving. George Washington's Coast Guard: origins of the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service, 1789-1801. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1978.

King, Irving. The Coast Guard Under Sail The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, 1789-1865. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1989.

King, Irving. The Coast Guard Expands 1865-1915: New Roles, New Frontiers. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996.

Johnson, Robert Erwin. Guardians of the Sea: A History of the U.S. Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1987.

I just finished "Torpedo Junction". It's about the German U-Boats off the US East and Gulf Coast during the first 2 years of WWII. It was amazing to see the quantity of ships sunk during that time. Most of the people that lived on the East Coast had no idea that submarines were right there.

The efforts of the USCGC "Dione" is highlighted during the whole book. The Auxiliary played a big part during that time also.

Very interesting read.

A reading list has to be kept small to be of any use and based on the overall size of the CG list, I think they included an appropriate number of histories. Are those the best choices? Heck if I know -- I haven't read them yet.

But, it makes sense to include ones that are fairly recent and readily available. You and I may be familiar with using ILL to find old books, but that isn't common knowledge. However, that is getting to be less and less of an issue as various used book stores get hooked into amazon, etc.

I'm a bit of a history geek so the titles on the current list and the ones you suggested don't "scare" me any, but I think you have to admit that they're not really attention grabbing. The rescue-oriented stories are probably a little more likely to be read and be inspiring to folks than organizational histories.

Anything by Dennis Noble's a pretty good read as well.

LIFEBOAT SAILORS and THE RESCUE OF GALE RUNNER were both ++ reads about the USCG and its small boat community. Written from the deck plate looking up versus from the top of the mountain looking down at the peons, as a former enlisted small boat sailor I couldn't read either book fast enough-JRC

quote:

The Navy and CG insist on turning out general purpose officers.

Yes, CG officers are expected to be more "general," but there is more specialization within the CG officer corps, that may not be apparent to most Auxies.

The real difference is that the Navy has line and staff officer corps, but a Navy line officer can have a specialty that they'll stay in throught most of their career.

LIFEBOAT SAILORS

A great book and what he writes about the Aux on pp 196-203 plays right into the Death By Auxie thread.

quote:

Some in headquarters ... believe that, if the Auxiliary is given more "exciting" things to do, it may attract younger people to its ranks. Perhaps, but this will take time. Meanwhile, can senior citizens do the "exciting" work? To me, "exciting" work is the type most likely to get Coast Guardsmen and civilians killed.

Well we know that already happened.

Getting to the issue of raising Auxie standards to CG standards. We already heard from Pachesman on that score. Here is it from the book (empahsis added):

quote:

This leads to another aspect of the concerns.It takes months and years to get regular Coast Guard persnonnel qualified as boat crewmen and coxswains. Will the Auxiliarists be held to the same standards as regular service personnel?

He then lists the physical standards and states:

quote:

Can a 65-year old meet the demands of the standards for younger people? If so, he or she deserves to be called a boat crewman. I think, howver, that it will be very difficult to have volunteers of the age of many of the Auxiliarists put in the kind of work and have the physical prowess needed to pass the requirements. There have been a few who have done this, but they are in the minority.

quote:

For years, the Auxiliary has been known among those in the service as primarily a social organization for older people. It became, in short, a place for retirees to put on a uniform, replete with medal ribbons, and impress the local community, while having their boat fuel and food provided free. ... It is no wonder they are not taken seriously by many at the small boat stations.

quote:

the expanded use of the Auxiliary and some of the ideas about their use are other examples of the chasm between those at stations and headquarters.

quote:

The expanded use of the Auxiliary is an idea spawned by planners who seem to know nothing about the reality of the work at the stations and by Auxiliarists who, in many cases, know little more.

quote:

It appears headquaters is setting up the commanding officers for failure to follow orders. That is, the commanding officers will receive heavy pressure from headquarters and the district to employ Auxiliarits and, if they give into this pressure, and someone dies, then the unit commander will be at fault, not headquarters or the district. On the other hand, if commanding officers stand up to the pressure and do not push Auxiliarists onto the boats, they will receive poor officer evaluation reports and thus poor chances of promotion.

OK - now we know why that book didn't make it to the reading list.

Lets try to focus on book reviews....

FWIW The Aux had its own Auxiliary Reading List. I wrote 'had' since I cannot find a link to that from the Nat site. I had to dig it out of NACO's archives. It might have gone extinct after NACO Gene departed the scene.

Although at the time he put the list together, there were at least 2 Aux history books - neither made the list. Nor did any general CG history. The entire list is leadership books - several of which contradict each other.

"Torpedo Junction"

You might want to read "Iron Coffins" by Herbert A. Werner. My copy is an old paperback published by Bantam. Werner was the last captain of U-953. U-953 was one of the last 3 operational U-boats in the Atlantic at war's end.

Also Bloodstained Sea: The U.S. Coast Guard In the Battle of the Atlantic, 1941-1944 by Michael G. Walling.

Two volumes of the 15 volume "History of United States Naval Operations In World War II" by Samuel Eliot Morison are also of interest.

Vol. 1 The Battle of The Atlantic 1939-1943. Chapter XI is "Amateurs and Auxiliaries". The Coastal Picket Force and the USCG Aux are discussed pp 268-276. CAP's section is pp. 276-281.

Vol. 10 The Atlantic Battle Won May 1943 - May 1945 completes the story but I don't remember any mention of the Aux or CPF in that book.

Well FL, that ain't the ONLY reason LIFEBOAT SAILORS has never been on the Commandants Reading List, although RESCUE OF GALE RUNNER has.

There was(and I imagine still is) a HUGE disconnect between the CG Officer Corp, the enlisted that are stationed @ Small Boat STA'a, and the very structure of the STA itself.

Small boat Stations are not in an Officers Career path. Many times ya can go to a station and find a 3rd or 2nd class Petty Officer witha coxswain pin that has far more responsibility than many O-2's, O-3's, and O-4's.

Dr Noble points that out rather succinctly in LIFEBOAT SAILORS if I remember correctly.

If I'm also remember correctly he also points out that the CG has the highest Officer to enlisted ratio in all of the branches of the military. And he doesn't do it ina very good light.

He also talks about what happened @ STA Menemsha, doesn't he??

NOT sterling reviews of the CG Officer corp if I remember correctly.

Geez, I haven't read LIFEBOAT SAILORS in years. Gonna have to go dig thru my archives(plastic bin boxes in my basement), and read it again.

Ditto RESCUE OF GALE RUNNER-JRC

He also talks about what happened @ STA Menemsha, doesn't he??

It isn't listed in the index under "M" or the "Station X" entries.

quote:

Originally posted by FL51D7:
The entire list is leadership books - several of which contradict each other.

sounds limited and boring, but I'd like to point out that leadership models are supposed to contradict each other. Just as a Phillips head screwdriver and a normal flathead srewdriver contradict each other, you select the appropriate one for the situation...


--
William Baldwin, Jr
MBA HCM program Univ of Phoenix
Ground below Zero, City of New Orleans, La
on the web: www.coastguardauxiliaryslidell8cr.us

I might have the name of the STA wrong.Or it may not have been in there at all.

I KNOW I read about it in PROCEEDINGS.

Its when the OinC "casreped" the whole station and put the station, the personnel, and the boats into charlie status-JRC

You might want to add "Bloody Winter" by Waters and "The Coast Guard Under Sail" by King. Also, anything by Dennis Noble.