In the scheme of nationwide volunteer organizations, the Aux isn't really a big fish and I'm not surprised that we weren't mentioned.

How can anyone fault Time for not mentioning the Aux, when the parent department of the USCG, DHS, doesn't mention the Aux on its website?

See the following DHS websites and play the "Where in DHS is the USCG Aux" game.

Citizen Corps: Programs & Partners

Citizen Corps Programs & Partners: National Citizen Corps Council Partners.

The Aux isn't in the main frame in either of the above pages nor is it in the index frames to the left.

For laughs and giggles go to the DHS Main Page. Type, include the quotes, "Coast Guard Auxiliary" in the search box in the upper right and hit enter. You will get 13 results, of which only 7 will be unique. One of which is a link to the USCG not the Aux. None will take you to the USCG Auxiliary web site nor does any of the links give you specific info about the Aux.

So tell me again, why Time should have mentioned the Aux when apparently DHS couldn't be bothered to include the Aux on its website?

quote:

How can anyone fault Time for not mentioning the Aux, when the parent department of the USCG, DHS, doesn't mention the Aux on its website?

A while back, didn't DHS or the Secretary mention somewhere that the Aux was the lead volunteer organization in the Department? Or did I dream it when I was delirious in the hospital last year? (Sometime I'll hae to tell y'all about the weird dreams I had . . . or maybe not.)

...gjd

Sometimes all it takes is a little push to get stuff like that fixed. The AF had left CAP off their main page, but after some public affairs types started talking about it someone got it fixed and now CAP is listed. If someone in the Aux leadership shows some initiative, it probably could get corrected quickly.

it probably could get corrected quickly.

The absence of the Aux from the DHS website has been a problem ever since DHS became a department many moons ago. It is well known to the Aux and CG leadership. For a bright and shining moment the Aux did appear on the web site. In one iteration, that didn't last long, the web site had a "Volunteer" button and the Aux was listed at the top of the volunteer groups. For unknown reasons that iteriation didn't last long, the Aux went into the bit bucket and has remained there ever since. And to repeat - the Aux and CG leadership is fully aware of the non-mention of the Aux.

A while back, didn't DHS or the Secretary mention somewhere that the Aux was the lead volunteer organization in the Department?

ChDirAux used the expression at NACON (Jan) 2003 Day 3

quote:

Captain David Hill, Chief Director of Auxiliary, followed and added his welcome to the Admiral's. "The Auxiliary will be the lead volunteer organization in the new Department of Homeland Security," he said.

Then NACO Gene used the expression in his NACO address in the Spring 2003 Navigator (pdf page 8)

quote:

The Coast Guard Auxiliary became part of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) March 1, 2003. As the lead volunteer organization in the department, we have some unique responsibilities.

Then NACO now NIPCO used it as part of the explanation for his Responsive Key Word:

quote:

The US Coast Guard Auxiliary, as the lead volunteer organization in the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible to the citizenry, to the Coast Guard and to the members themselves. Responsible

But I can find no occurence of DHS using the expression in relationship to the Aux. Maybe DHS dropping the Aux from its web site and lists of volunteer organizations was DHS's way of putting the Aux in its place. Many of if not most of the organizations in the Citizens Corps have more members then the Aux does - so where the Aux got off claiming 'lead' status begs the question.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FL51D7,

Well, it doesn't appear to me that the Aux is actually a member of the Citizen Corps program, so why would we expect to be listed there? Unlike them, the Aux is actually part of the DHS while they merely coodinate the others.

That being said, have you noticed that even the Coast Guard doesn't get prominent play on their web site?

Would I be happier if we had more prominence? Yes.

My 'devil's advocacy' instinct tells me that perhaps DHS and CG don't want to advertise that there are a significant # of Auxies who (as the local 'CG units' in many places where the CG LE response may not be swift due to distances, assets available etc,) are civvies with no LE authority. Doing so (again according to my devil's advocate alter-ego) would be essentially advertising a potential liability that could, in theory, be exploited. Kind of like a football running back running at the guy he knows can't tackle him... a good coach should be hiding that guy in the line somewhere...

I may be over-thinking this, perhaps, but I have also wondered why we don't see more visible mention of the Aux as DHS lead volunteer group... perhaps the more they keep us 'below the radar', the more we're able to blend in with CG units etc, insofar as the public perception is concerned (may also be why they have us wearing ODUs..?)

Just some thoughts...

Just saw this online via Yahoo news...

Volunteers help monitor nation's rivers

By JOHN FLESHER, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 8, 6:32 AM ET

BIG BAY, Mich. - Day after day, Chauncey Moran leaves his backwoods cabin, packs his pickup with gear and embarks on a scientific mission: checking the health of the Yellow Dog River.
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Friends call the 62-year-old retiree "River Walker" for his devotion to the trout stream, which meanders through forests and sandy plains in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and eventually feeds into Lake Superior.

Moran is part of a nationwide corps of volunteers who monitor lakes, rivers and wetlands for pollution and its effects. Their role is becoming more crucial as government water protection agencies struggle with staff and budget shortfalls.

"Citizen monitors are the first and sometimes the only line of defense for our waterways. There's often nobody else there looking," said Scott Dye, director of the Sierra Club's Water Sentinels Program, which provides equipment and training for volunteers in 18 states.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has partnerships with numerous organizations that keep tabs on local waters, said spokesman Robert McCann. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists about 900 water monitoring groups around the country with 190,000 trained members — and officials say the number is growing.

Moran regularly visits about 20 spots along the 51-mile-long Yellow Dog in northern Marquette County, wading into swift currents to gather data and filling out charts that he forwards to the state DEQ.

He measures water temperature, clarity, acidity levels and other characteristics. He notes fish species. He pokes through sediments, scooping up aquatic bugs, mussels, and worms, the variety and abundance of which offer clues about water quality. He snaps thousands of photos a year.

The off-the-beaten-path Yellow Dog is better off than many rivers, but Moran has spotted problems from sediment buildup, which damages fish habitat. Near the mouth, stream flow has been diverted and a section filled with eroded sand, triggered by a decade-old landslide that people may have caused.

His primary goal is to develop benchmarks that could signal dangerous trends in the future.

Threats to the river are many, Moran said. He is vice chairman of a group fighting a proposed nickel and copper mine in the area, which opponents fear would pollute the watershed despite Kennecott Minerals Co.'s promised safeguards.

Moran, who sports a bushy beard and shoulder-length, graying hair, has had run-ins with loggers and off-road vehicle riders over damage to the river and its surroundings.

"This is God's creation, and I feel driven to care for it," he said. "This is my ministry, this is my mission."

However deeply felt, spiritual and emotional appeals count for less than hard science when environmental rules are made and enforced. So Moran doggedly compiles a statistical and photographic record.

Government officials say data produced by volunteers is helpful — to a point. Sometimes it falls short of scientific standards needed to prove a violation of environmental rules, said Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the Michigan DEQ. But it can tip off regulators that trouble may be brewing.

That's important in states like Michigan, which has dozens of watersheds. The DEQ said it has enough staff to evaluate each of them just once every five years.

"I'd love to have a volunteer organization in every watershed that's been trained, so we're pretty confident about the quality of the information," said Gary Kohlhepp, a DEQ aquatic biologist. "But I don't think it's a substitute for a professional."

Still, four years into it, Moran works hard at what he does.

"I've been with him in the winter where there's ice and snow ... and we've been at it five or six hours and his hands are about frozen," said John Anderson, a fellow member of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. "There's no shortcuts."



Any thoughts and/or reactions re: Aux MS/EP and how perhaps maybe we should be doing something like this (if not this)? I'm an SO-MS and I am not exaggerating when I say that virtually NOBODY in my Division seems to give a rats @$$ about environmental missions, which IMHO is a shame. Seems like as I began to read this, I would have hoped to see the Aux mentioned; we have assisted a harbor / LI Sound water quality monitoring program in one flotilla in my division, but other than that, I know of nothing going on in our AOR.

And for the record, I recognize that a) this may be a state waterway / federal waterway issue, (or may not- anyone know all the facts, I'd appreciate the clarification) and b) it isn't necessarily God's work, and my posting of this isn't any endorsement of any position on God whatsoever, good bad, whatever...

what say ye all? thank you much...

Obviously our folks should be looking for and reporting any pollution events, but my question would be whether the CG's mandate includes regular water quality monitoring. If it does, yes the Aux probably should do this, but if it isn't something the CG does, then we probably shouldn't.

If a mission code can be used on the 7030 for monitoring then is it a legal mission?

See the descriptions on page 6:

quote:

28F CONDUCT/ASSIST NAT’L DEBRIS MONITORING SUPPORT AREA PROGRAM - Time spent conducting or assisting the National Debris Monitoring program, including coastal and inland waterway cleanup activities.

28H WATERWAYS POLLUTION DETECTION/MONITORING MISSION - Time spent in any activity associated with pollution detection while under orders or at the direction of the USCG.

28J LANDSIDE POLLUTION DETECTION/MONITORING MISSION - (USCG Orders). Hours spent in any onshore activity related to pollution detection and/or monitoring and reporting while under orders or at the direction of the USCG.

And the mission is already being performed, see:

Coast Guard Auxilliary Sampling - a Red Tide study

Red Tide in the Big Bend related to the above

Typing in the following google search (with the quotes):

"coast guard auxiliary" "red tide"

turned up 345 hits - so the Aux is getting a lot of play from the Red Tide study.

Okay, so it is ok as a mission. The next question is whether or not the CG is willing to pay fuel costs to do it (on the assumption that at least some of it would have to be done outside of regular patrols). Maybe they are. I've got no heartburn with it.

On the topic of the "invisible" AUX, see the last paragraph of this description of a joint exercise that took place yesterday (08 Sept). It lists a dozen participating agencies but doesn't mention the AUX. (Auxiliarists volunteered as "cruise ship" passengers during the rescue operation, and of course there were many AUX OPFACS participating in the exercise.) So has the AUX been so successfully absorbed into TEAM Coast Guard that it doesn't need separate mention?
===============================================

BALTIMORE- The Coast Guard will lead a multi-agency response exercise this Saturday to implement the preparedness plans of federal, state and local agencies in the Port of Baltimore.

Exercise Nautical Shield 2007, is designed to implement the Area Maritime Security Plan, Area Contingency Plan and the Coast Guard’s mass rescue plan. The objectives of Nautical Shield 2007 are to exercise notification procedures, establish a unified command, keep the public and media informed, deploy resources to conduct on-water oil spill recovery operations and implement protection strategies outlined in security plans.

“Protecting our port is a team effort,” said Coast Guard Captain Brian Kelley, the Federal Maritime Security Coordinator for the Port of Baltimore. “This exercise will test our resiliency, how well we are prepared to work together and will help us identify areas for improvement.”

A press briefing will be held at Sector Baltimore followed by opportunities for media to view the exercise as it begins.

Other federal, state, county, and local assisting and cooperating agencies involved in the drill include the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Port Administration, Maryland Transportation Authority, Baltimore City Fire and Police Departments, the Baltimore City of Emergency Management, and private sector organizations, vessels and facilities.

Source:

I have wondered if that was the case in the past, that the Aux is absorbed into the CG- and that suspicion would (I think anyway) be supported by the recently re-done DIRAUX website, perhaps, as it gets more integrated into the CG site's visual imagery... a subtle change, for sure, but indicative of the subtly changing mindset? (see http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg3/cg3pcx/ )

Personally, I think the Aux should be so 'absorbed'; simplifies things (and it's not like that would change the nature of our mandate or our mission in Team CG)

-C

quote:

Originally posted by RiverAux:
Obviously our folks should be looking for and reporting any pollution events, but my question would be whether the CG's mandate includes regular water quality monitoring. If it does, yes the Aux probably should do this, but if it isn't something the CG does, then we probably shouldn't.

I was envisioning quality monitoring as leading to violation enforcement... something we could support the CG in, by virtue of our ability to cover more ground..?

I have wondered if that was the case in the past, that the Aux is absorbed into the CG- and that suspicion would (I think anyway) be supported by the recently re-done DIRAUX website

You are reading more into that then is warranted but no fault of yours since you don't know why the move happened. I was one of the original team members who built that site. Other 'originals' are also posters/lurkers here. The site ran on an Auxie's private server. That was OK for many years but the USCG decided that all official USCG sites had to run on USCG or at least official government servers. Hence the move to the new server.

It had nothing to do with abosrbing the Aux.

The Aux is doing something similar. The "I" reports from NACON state that they want to move all Aux sites that are running on private servers to the CG Aux Assoc Inc server. They have their work cut out for them since several National department sites in whole or part run on private servers of Auxies (almost always for free). Moving all that stuff to the Auxie server will probably require more disk space (and therefore backup space and media) and maybe more bandwidth.

I think once (and if) Nat moves all the National stuff to the Nat server, pressure will be brought to bear on districts, divisions and flotillas to abandon private servers for Big Brother.

Maybe Nat should be the Aux Borg - it might be trying to absorb all Auxies.

quote:

The Aux is doing something similar. The "I" reports from NACON state that they want to move all Aux sites that are running on private servers to the CG Aux Assoc Inc server. They have their work cut out for them since several National department sites in whole or part run on private servers of Auxies (almost always for free). Moving all that stuff to the Auxie server will probably require more disk space (and therefore backup space and media) and maybe more bandwidth.

The effort to consolidate Auxiliary IT infrastructure in a single relatively secure location with appropriate intrusion and threat protection and data backup, archiving and fast recovery has been going on for some time (at least three years). I supported this idea completely in concept. But when it came time to fund it we got zero support there.

I can report that a year ago the National Association location (where this was supposed to happen) had only one unimpressive server running a Linux derivative (freeware) and were locked into a bizarre and entirely inadequate ISP/bandwidth contract that would never come close to serving a consolidated Auxiliary data center.

Standard business level IT safeguards and protections were not in place and the folks at the Association had no people to and no idea how to implement it, even if they had the money to buy the stuff.

Response to requests for changes or enhancements to Aux department applications that that were already hosted there, were ignored or required an act of Congress to get done.

As a result, there were (and probably still are) pieces of the Auxiliary IT infrastructure running in a multitude of computers and servers, in garages and back-bedrooms all over the country.

The company I own has done IT infrastructure consulting and implementation for business for 18 year and we're damn good at it. The Auxiliary's situation when I last looked at, was very scary.

I always thought the smart thing would be to go to the USCG with food-bowl in hand and ask for a small corner of some unclassified data center someplace and use their bandwidth, security tools and server space.

I hope that they have funded and made a plan to get this under control as it is necessary. But to do it right and meet current standards, it will not be cheap.

I love my flotilla's FREE web page!

A contra-indication to the absorption theory - or "The Aux isn't mentioned since they are so well intergrated with the CG".

Coast Guard, Other Agencies Participate In Large Scale Exercise On Anacostia River

The Aux is mentioned in the last paragraph as one of the the

quote:

Other federal, state, county, and local assisting and cooperating agencies involved in the drill include the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, D.C. Emergency Management Agency, D.C. Fire Department, D.C. Police Department, Coast Guard Auxiliary and private sector organizations and vessels.

So the Aux in this case isn't absorbed - it is an 'other' to the CG.

Attention active and former Coasties and CG Auxiliary active or retired: We are looking for volunteers in the restoration and operation of the former Coast Guard Cutter WMEC 202 COMANCHE (a 143 foot former USN ATA sea going tug and a WW-II vet and with one Battle Star for action in the invasion of Okinawa.) She was built in 1944 and served the Coast Guard from 1959 to 1980. She and her sister WMEC 194 MODOC, were the smallest of their class. Modoc is also here in the South Puget Sound, “pimped” into a luxury yacht. We go aboard her for parties, etc., too.

Comanche is about 70-80% as the Coast Guard left her in 1980 and is operational - complete with records, CG papers and 'barf buckets'. We, the COMANCHE 202 FOUNDATION just acquired her this month as a gift, after a years worth of hard work and due diligence. We are a Federal 501(c)3 non-profit. She is berthed down town Olympia, Washington. We have a great crew of leaders and advisers, including retired coasties up to the rank of Rear Admiral - but can use a lot more… even other services and civilians. It’s the people cutter now. It’s going to be a blast. Think of it as your very own cutter! Giver yourself a promotion! You can even sleep aboard. See http://www.cg-tugs.org/comanchee.htm Contact me for more information. Now set the special sea detail!