Folks
I have read a number of responses on this forum which say "not me, I haven't personally experienced anything like that" The question really should have been have you witnesssed some injustices that effected others? Have you ever wondered "I wonder what that yo yo of a DCP was thinking"? How about the latest screw up with the hot line phone number?
Here is a list of observations and complaints to serve as a memory jogger. I bet you can identify with one or more.
The way I look at the "Leadership" are a bunch of people who hide behind the leadership title like the All Powerful Wizard of OZ behind his curtains
Real Leaders in the Auxiliary are rare and are leaving
 Current leaders do not take action. Overlook unacceptable member behavior Leaders are for the most part pompous juveniles playing war
 Misuse the “Chain of Leadership” do not pass up criticism or pass down information
 Leaders are elected by their peers without consideration of ability. Good old boys
o Selection process must be changed
Our leaders can not articulate why or what. They tell us to do it because they say so
o And not to do things because the higher ups say so (transparency)
 Continue to pursue the wrong missions. Patrols when the Coast Guard does not want our help. "Dead Birds"
 Do not reconcile local objectives with the national view (Disconnect)
 Present awards without knowing what they are for
 Allow hours not good deeds to drive the award process
 Look around for someone to blame.
o No good deeds go unpunished therefore there are fewer good deeds
 Forget to pass down accolades or send up good news.
 Are not just. Good members are withdrawing
 Leaders have difficulty with new ideas
 Steal Ideas and once they have them they don’t follow through
 If they haven’t thought of it its worthless
 Are insensitive, cold and don’t listen.
 And wouldn’t know a plan if they fell over it
This is not true for all leaders but as volunteers we are entitled to exemplary leaders and have the right to demand this.
Tomorrow complaint category # 2 "Diversity where is it"

Does "Coxswain pockets meal allowances that were designated for crew" count?

Or how about, "Filling out a "Fail" form for VSC's along with another one that says they passed-- even though they never failed (in order to get double the credit? and win the award for most VSCs?"

Or, "sitting at the dock with a couple of beers and claiming gas money for your boat."

Or, "claiming you worked 34 hours in one day on Auxiliary business" to win another plaque.

Those are just a few things I had witnessed.

I'm not sure why you're getting worked up over other people saying they don't see it. Of all the things both you and Forewatch have mentioned all I have seen is "Leaders have difficulty with new ideas" I'm sure as a 24 year-old it isn't my place to be the one to break it to you but old people (a group a large portion of our leaders belong to) don't always do well with new ideas.

People are people, I'm not having any problems here but your mileage apparently varies.

quote:

Tomorrow complaint category # 2 "Diversity where is it"

Unless you have some evidence that other races, nationalities, sexes or age groups are being actively intimidated or blocked from joining, don't bloody well bother with something so stupid. You can't force diversity.

I guess I am one of those old fogies but I happen to love new ideas and I generate a hell of a lot of them. I am over 70 years old retired from 43 years at IBM. Have my PHd
Also, young man, I don't think diversity is stupid. For one thing if we are diverse it would help us reach a lot more of the boating public. I can't recall one act where the Aux reached out to other cultures for members. The NACO says we should but we don't. The Aux is an old boys club and I am sure you young guys feel discriminated against when you bring forward new ideas and you get stone walled

quote:

Originally posted by JasonWilsonAUX:
I'm sure as a 24 year-old it isn't my place to be the one to break it to you but old people (a group a large portion of our leaders belong to) don't always do well with new ideas.

Chill with the ageism, pal. It's as bad as sexism and racism. Maybe you need to take a diversity course!

Lady, gentlemen, before we all go off and say things that will draw the ire of the Mods... let's just take a couple of deep breaths and 'chill' a little.

Diversity is important to the Commandant and so it is important to you. If you can't live with that, thank you for your service and move along.

I sense that some may be confusing Diversity with Civil Rights, please don't, they are different.

Sir (17798559), your accomplishments are laudible, I respectfully suggest that if you'd like to be taken a little more seriously, that you complete your profile. Your nice comments and great new ideas may carry more weight if you stand behind them, otherwise it seems you are 'yelling into the wind'.

Dear, dear Forewatch please don't pile on. 17798559 responded well enough, however inaccurately (as to diversity, I am sure he(?) has his bio correct.)

For what it is worth at this point, I believe that Jason's 'stupid' comment was a knee-jerk reaction to the pending complaint comment and not directed at the poster or the topic of diversity. I am certain, having read Jason's other posts, that he is eager to learn, open to new ideas and will embrace the policies of the Coast Guard and AUX.

v/r,
--Mark

Mark,
I am brand new on this fantastic forum and was looking around last night to update my profile. Perhaps you can give mee some guidance on how to do that.
About age in the Auxiliary, I got some info the other night from another forum poster that our average age in the Aux is in the high 58.5. There are 1234 0ut of 36249(all categories) who are in age range of 17-29. The highest is the 60s 10509 with 3277 in their 80s. The diversity I am talking about is our makeup of Black and African Americans as well as other minorities. Of the 29974 active Auxiliarists 370 are in this category. In 1SR there are 34 out of over 3000. I will be posting more stats later. Where have the directives to actively recruit from all cultures and groups within our communities gotten us? I am sure that passsively we will enroll anyone who comes to us but how about us attracting as well.
Bruce

17798559M1A3 et al:

If you want the Auxiliary to suck, than for you, it certainly will.

The quoted percentages are from a March 31, 2007 article about the CG Academy in the NY Times . I don't know what the comparable numbers are for enlisted and reserve personnel, but clearly we should all be concerned along with the Commandant.

"Minority cadets account for 13.5 percent of the total, down from 16 percent in 1991, according to the report, which added that 7 percent of academy staff and faculty are from minority backgrounds."

Hrm... that perhaps could have been worded better. I didn't mean diversity is stupid, it is obviously not. What I did mean it that getting worked up over a lack of diversity, when there aren't any active blocks to it is stupid or at the very least futile. You cannot force a diversified group to join, if you aren't blocking diversity, it will either come of its own, or it won't.

Or are we talking about different types of diversity?

quote:

Unless you have some evidence that other races, nationalities, sexes or age groups are being actively intimidated or blocked from joining, don't bloody well bother with something so stupid. You can't force diversity.

You can however, create a culture and environment where diversity is welcomed. The AUxiliary does not do that.

The Auxiliary, on the other hand, occasionally does try to "force diversity" which inevitably results in a dismal failure.

Jason
It is dangerous to turn our backs to these types of issues. You in your age group, are in the minority at about 3%. As such you are under represented and as you said, not getting a fair hearing on your ideas.
Turning ones back on these types of injustices allows those perpetuating them to control it all. .

It's kind of like the experience most younger veterans have when they attend a VFW or other veterans organization function where most of the members are there old enough to be your grandfather or great-grandfather. Understandably, this seems to turn off many new potential members. The same can probably be said of the Auxiliary.

I know that I probably wouldn't have joined at the first meeting if there hadn't been some members in the 30-60 age range that night.

Luckily, my flotilla has a diversity of ages so pretty much everyone can feel welcome when it comes to that portion of the diversity equation.

Jack
I don't want the Aux to suck but in many ways it got that way without my help.
A brief story.
A buddy and I got involved in a humanitarian effort but lo and behold it started going so well that I got a note saying "The Auxiliary leadership" says cease and desist. Who are they and whats wrong I asked. Nobody would fess up to being the great and glorious wizard. Then all of a sudden my DCP had mee on the phone grilling me with rediculous questions and then had the audacity to ask me if my buddy tells the truth. Being that we were close I told my buddy that this happened and he went balistic. Sent a blasting e-mail to the Como and then resigned on the spot. The RCO then sent me two hateful messages saying that I insited my friend etc etc. The reason I am asking you guys is that I am sure that this wasn't the first time these Ozzies berated good qualified Auxiliarists with their bluster,. I am very much like that fictional character Don Quixote who fights windmills. I am not making the Auxiliary Suck its the blowhards. All for now...Bruce

Bruce,
Not good, there maybe be more to the story though. Uniformed aid of xyz org may not be in the interest of the AUX despite the good outcome. Hard to tell but from what you have said it should have been handled better.

For what it is worth, I think that some of what we are seeing and living is a result of a larger systemic failure / absence of a 'real' HR function.

--M

M
There is certainly more. For instance I presented a detailed view of what I had been doing on the project at a Division meeting with the RCO present. Everyone paid a lot of attention. I never hid anything but it took them a month to say cease and desist. Certainly terrible leadership...Bruce

TCT certainly begs that I continue asking these questions
?: TCT (Team Coordination Training) states that we all have a duty to speak out
From the Introduction:
“Assertiveness can be achieved if all people know they
have “rights” and act accordingly. These rights are:
The right to have and express your own ideas and feelings.
 The right to be listened to and taken seriously.
 The right to be treated with respect.
 The right to ask for information from others.
 The right to make mistakes”
Therefore we have an obligation to our team to speak out if we don't agree and think some harm will result.

Okay I can kind of see what you are saying. Although to be fair, the auxiliary is just much simpler for people who are well established in their career or retired as they can usually devote more time to it.

That said, on young aux in our area has started a program working with William and Mary and has a group of college age kids who not only participate they LOVE what they are getting to do. Now the idea is that these kids are likely to go into OCS later and join the gold side, but the fact that there are 'kids' (heck they' aren't hardly younger than I am) who are this excited about it could be a catalyst.

My friends reasoning is pretty simple, they don't have a Coast Guard ROTC program. By providing auxiliary 'detachments' they're exposing more people in the age group.


Sorry I railed on you beforehand, just seems like most of the time I hear diversity in an argument it's calling for something stupid, like the way Warner Robins, GA buses kids all the way across town to maintain the black to white ratio.