quote:

Now "M" gets the name of the Directorate wrong. As seen above "M" and "O" do not belong in the same directorate and the CG will never understand Auxie 'missions and operations' until the Aux understands how it is supposed to be organized. "M" is not an Operations department - it is a Prevention Department with RBS.

Yes indeed. That is one major source of Auxiliary schizophrenia.

I advocate that we should not be so concerned about aligning with USCG. Our programs do not fit their programs. When we twist to "align" we distort our programs and USCG pereceptions of what we are and what we do.

I have sort of a hard time getting very worried about the national level Aux organizational structure since it all breaks down into individual officers doing their own things at the Division and Flotilla levels anyway.

Our biggest trouble has been in getting boards set up once we've been working on the PQS's.

I'll try and round out the rest of "M"s report in this post.

The Aux still has to scramble to find money to fund programs the USCG wants performed but doesn't provide the money to perform them. Two items in this regard:

From the 2007 Recap/Accomphishments section:

quote:

Despite the high visibility, both AWW and Sea Partners were affected by loss of funding. Fallout funding has permitted both to replenish their supplies and the Auxiliary will be recruited to fill in for Reserve activities.

quote:

..... secured a grant for $16,000 from ALCOA to provide sixteen traveling trunks for his program. This will give us the materials needed for outreach on aquatic nuisance species education. ..... has been working with HQ on the specifics regarding species for inclusion and sources for specimens. It is anticipated that the first trunks will be available by late May. Details for distribution will be made available at that time.

The same items in the CY08 Projects section:

quote:

Locate and obtain grant to fund environmental education publications
Due to the reduced funding for Sea Partners the stock of environmental education materials at ANSC is extremely limited. The M Department will work with CG Headquarters personnel to identify recommended publications and seek out and apply for grants to replenish materials currently out of stock, or nearly out of stock, at ANSC.

STATUS: New project for 2008

quote:

Completion of ANS Trunk project

Late in 2007 a grant was obtained to create 16 Aquatic Nuisance Species Education Traveling Trunks. Currently work is underway, in coordination with CG Headquarters, to identify specimens to be included and sources for these specimens. Once completed procedures for distribution will be finalized and the trunks made available for use.
STATUS: Anticipated completion date of 01 June 2008

The funding issue keeps coming up in that section of the report:

quote:

Increase AWW visibility among Auxiliary programs and with other partners including state and local agencies

Continue to work with A, B, O, and V Departments to increase public awareness of America’s Waterway Watch and Sea Partners programs. As funding for Reservists is reduced, the Auxiliary may be asked to increase our outreach efforts for both programs. Funding became an issue when DOD reviewed Title X but work is still underway to identify new sources of financial support.

STATUS: On-going

quote:

Explore grant funding for outreach materials

The reduction in funding for the Sea Partners program has resulted in reduced availability of environmental education materials such as “Inky the Whale” and “Officer Snook” color booklets and various pamphlets. The M Department will work with CG Headquarters to determine which materials would be of most benefit and seek grant opportunities to fund restocking of these materials.

STATUS: On-going

There isn't enough USCG money to support those key outreach programs but the CG spends about $1-2 million on year on the Auxie "P-Thing That Cannot Be Mentioned".

That about raps up the "M" report. I'll start reading some of the other reports to see what News You Can Lose.

And as always:

quote:

Off the record, on the QT and very HUSH-HUSH.

The "I" report isn't too exciting - tech stuff never is. But you might find the following to be of passing interest.

quote:

Loss of the Smile Tiger Conferencing system has impacted the ability of Departments and District Commodores to communicate efficiently with their staff/leadership. We are currently researching web and landline systems for cost and effectiveness to serve our leaders.

quote:

Available resource limitations affected the ability to address a common branding vision among owners of all ten National Department websites. Time constraints, priorities and individual department resource availability during this quarter prevented formal discussions on this issue. This initiative will be included in the I-Department planning sessions to be conducted during first quarter of 2008. Interdepartmental communication was also a challenge during this period. Shifting technologies and functional changes presented some time/resource dependent roadblocks.

quote:

The I-Department consulted with the National Legal Officer to determine US Coast Guard Auxiliary requirements to meet DOD and DHS policy guidelines. The NL Officer confirmed the Auxiliary, by law, is not federally mandated to meet 508 accessible compliance standards. However, the I-Dept will strive to meet compliance standards to the extent possible so our online information will be accessible to everyone.

quote:

The 7030 consolidation project has gone through a tremendous effort to finalize and address the numerous details required for the January 1, 2008 implementation. The Forms Division and Information Division have worked tirelessly with Headquarters and Department Chiefs scrutinizing each category to determine whether they should be deleted, added, or renamed. The final changes are as follows:
• 46 deleted or combined with another mission
• 29 description changes
• 49 remain the same
• 7 new missions

quote:

As programs and certification processes change, the need to program those changes in Auxdata are constantly required. There are currently 58 items to be addressed on the work list but through the diligent work on the part of OSC Martinsburg, Headquarters, and the Information Division, positive progress is being made. Programming, identifying, and evaluating are essentially transparent to Auxiliary members and leaders. However the reality is that thousands of hours a year are devoted to improving and correcting even the smallest detail in the AUXDATA system.

The next one should interest some here, since many of us have discussed the lack of data integrity in AuxData/AuxInfo and their predecessors AuxMIS I and II for years.

quote:

The I-Department recognized the need to additionally ensure the accuracy of information in AUXINFO/AUXDATA data cubes. Therefore, additional efforts were targeted toward identifying erroneous errors. In the fourth quarter, a Quality Checks program was established and manned to constantly evaluate and monitor AUXINFO cubes inaccuracies within every District. A few of the key items initially being monitored are:
• Resource Missions (which affect awards)
• Demographics cubes

An interesting factoid related to the above. The Unit Acitivites Cube is 'rolled up' from the Member Activities Cube. After a roll-up, fixing an error in the Member Activities Cube does not correct the same error in the Unit Activities Cube - the error will persist forever. In my old flotilla, I reported a data entry error that had a patrol in excess of 1,000 hours. They fixed that but since the roll-up had already happened the 1,000+ hour patrol ended up in the Unit Activities Cube where it remains buried in the data to this day. And it is because of persistent errors such as those, that AuxInfo/Data can only be taken as a rough guide as to what happened. But at least it looks like "I" is finally addressing the problem (that was pointed out to them years ago).

The following is "I"s summary of its own "Futures" section:

quote:

The I-Department must quickly address:
• currently emerging and future technologies, such as:
o RSS Feeds
o Podcasts
o Mobile Web enabled sites
o E-Books
o Web Blogs
• Current and emerging Auxiliary business needs, such as:
o On-Line Association Donation Opportunities
o Online Registrations
o On-line Scheduling/Calendaring
o On-Line E-Commerce

I picked "I" to do third for a reason. A year ago much hoopla was made about some multi-million grant/gift the Aux got to roll out a national call-out system. It was to be prototyped in 2 districts. I forgot if "M", "O" or "I" (or some combo) was responsible for that project - so I went looking thru all 3 reports to get an update. As is obvious, there is no update nor has any "Word" been passed on the Nat Aux web site over the last year on how the project is going - if it is going.

So either the thing died on the vine (or was still-born) or it is a very stealthy project.

quote:

The I-Department recognized the need to additionally ensure the accuracy of information in AUXINFO/AUXDATA data cubes. Therefore, additional efforts were targeted toward identifying erroneous errors. In the fourth quarter

You have toi watch out for those "erroneous errors" lest they be confused with real errors.

quote:

The following is "I"s summary of its own "Futures" section:

quote:
The I-Department must quickly address:
• currently emerging and future technologies, such as:
o RSS Feeds
o Podcasts
o Mobile Web enabled sites
o E-Books
o Web Blogs
• Current and emerging Auxiliary business needs, such as:
o On-Line Association Donation Opportunities
o Online Registrations
o On-line Scheduling/Calendaring
o On-Line E-Commerce

While I do appreciate that they have, once again, outlined the technologies where the Auxiliary needs to focus in "I", most of these are hardly "emerging". Most have been main-stream everyday use technologies in the business world for many years. With the exception of a few, this is the same list we produced five years ago. And in some key areas we have actually regressed, losing important capabilities within the Auxiliary.

It was always my contention that within the "wild bunch" or the "Diraux West" as they called themselves, we had the embryo of one of the most innovative and results oriented Auxiliary IT technology providers imaginable. At the time, they were ahead of even most of the military branches in their ability to deliver content and leverage electronic communications technology for the Auxiliary.

Incredibly self-centered, inept and heavy-handed Auxiliary political bumbling managed to destroy all of that capability and now we sit at the rear of the technology bus, rediscovering how to do the things we where we used to lead. That was a very sad and destructive chapter in National Auxiliary history. Frankly, within our current structure, I cannot see how we can ever achieve that promise again.

Back when I was a newbie, D7's e-training center was the only one around. It was superb! To anyone from Diraux West, you guys rock!

Maybe they should use the cash for NSAR and hire a couple of programmers/dba's.

This is the Public Affairs or "A" (they like to call themselves the "A Team") Report. I guess you could consider it Ed's Swan Song as he moves on up.

Now since this is the "A" Report I couldn't let this one slip by. It might equal "I"s "erroneous errors" as a funny.

From "Some of our successes during the third quarter of 2007 include the following:" (italics are in the original)

quote:

We have continued to work with the P Department in revising Joint the Auxiliary web site, which have been substantially updated to reflect the lessons earned from the generations study undertaken by COMO Gates. Ultimately, we believe this site has more appeal than the old page. We are working with our Audio Branch Chief to introduce interviews with members, describing why they joined the Auxiliary, to give the site a more personal appeal.

The rest of the report discusses the accomplishments of the various "A" Corps (video etc.)

What I thought most interesting, given that Ed is movin' on up to NADCO-RBS is the section "APPENDIX B: STRATEGIC LOOK AHEAD THROUGH 2012" (emphasis added):

quote:

Some highlights of the various projects we plan to establish during this time period include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Create a series of PPTs and speeches for use by Auxiliarists in the field.
• Establish a weekly radio program, discussing boating safety, on either XM satellite or Sirius satellite networks
• Create a monthly video program on boating safety topics (30 minutes in length). capitalizing on the offer from Time Warner cable to utilize their personnel and equipment.
• Work to find an economical way to stream the national events (N-Train and NACON) live from the web for those members unable to attend.
• Work with the E Department to create a way for students to take our boating safety courses online or via TV.
• Work with the other departments to increase the availability of training program through the use of video.

Despite my earlier statements about not caring about how national is organized....didn't I heard something about us going to a numbered system to match the CG and dropping all the letters?

I haven't heard that one but it would fit the Aux's "monkey see, monkey do" attitude.

The following are extracts from the National Marketing Group report. In the extracts, names have been changed to protect the whatever.

quote:

Recruitment Advertisements - Some suggested ad copy for this ad was submitted to DC-P and NADCO-MS on 14 Sep 07. NADCO-MS turned this over to DC-xxx but no further developments available to report.

quote:

2. {name deleted}– Partnership with this company was denied by the Coast Guard legal due to ethical and fiscal issues. The incumbent is reviewing this decision with possible newer suggestions and counter-offers for consideration. The company is considering forming a 501-C (3) organization and kicking part of the proceeds to the CGAux Association

I am going to bunch 2 items together.

quote:

2008 NMMA Boat Show Directories – The USCGAUX will be participating with the NMMA and Allstate Insurance Co. on a lifejacket education promotion. In turn, the USCGAUX will get free advertising in 22 of the 2008 show directories. [See #4 below]

The "#4 below" mentioned above (emphasis added):

quote:

4. 2008 NMMA Boat Show and Allstate Insurance Company Promotion – The NMMA and Allstate Insurance Co. requested assistance from the USCGAUX to participate at 22 NMMA and a number of non-NMMA boat shows by making short presentations on lifejackets using local USCGAUX unit instructors. All ARCOs and DCOs were informed of the most recent calendar of schedule shows planned for 2008 as of 05 Oct 07. There have been a few non-responsive instances and a few flat out refusals to participate in this promotion.

Methinks some Auxies don't feel comfortable being that closely tied to a commercial organization. This reminds me of the initial flare-up over State Farm and the VSC decals. Oh - while we are on the subject of sponsored decals:

quote:

7. RBSVP Decal Sponsor – The present status of the sponsorship through xxx xxx, Inc. (makers of zzzzz) is moving forward. The company has been busy contacting various decal vendors for price quotes who can manufacture 2-sided window decals. A draft MOA with the CGAuxA, Inc. is also in development. The actual benefits and terms of the deal are still under consideration by xxx xxx.

Under CY2008 Goals:

quote:

i) Introduce and recommend a Boy Scout Boating and Water Safety Outreach Award program to the RBS community

The next goal, in conjunction with one of the items above cause one to ask "WTF has CGAuxInc been doing and with whom?". NACO Gene certainly seems to have started the Aux on the road to "running the Aux like a business" - one just like Enron or maybe Soprano's Inc.

quote:

o) Assist CGAux Association with a review of all partnerships that might violate Coast Guard’s fiscal and ethics policies

"T" or Nat Training is really responsibile for two things - leadership/officer training and the AuxOp program. The latter is supposed to be the premier training program of the Aux. All operational training was supposed to have been turned back to the operating departments about three years ago - however according to the report "T" maintained some responsibility for operational training. At least for now, I'm going to set aside the leadership and operational training aspect of "T"s job and focus on the AuxOp program - it is in deep trouble - but you have to read 2 reports to find out how bad. The second report is the report of the CGAuxAssInc and it has some interesting things to say about one of the AuxOp courses.

So we begin:

AuxSAR
The intro of this new AuxOp course, which is based on the CG SAR course, was ballyhooed some time ago. You probably think it is a real course at this point - don't you? Is it?

quote:

1. xxxx xxxx has been appointed to the position of Branch Chief-Search Execution, BC-TAE. He has completed the SC&E course and is a qualified lead instructor for the course. His first major assignment is to complete the development of the final examination questions for the AUXSCE Course.

2. The final release date of the AUXSCE Course will be influenced by the current budget restrictions we are experiencing. Because of these circumstances, a release date of the 2nd Quarter 2008 is most likely.

And you know how well the Aux is about meeting "most likely" dates. So with the old AuxSAR course gone and the new one experiencing a delayed birth - a member would have trouble completing AuxOp. But wait there's more.

AuxNav

quote:

3. Revision of AUXNAV requires the largest development effort in the division and has the highest priority. Several key development hurdles have been overcome. The process is now moving at a planned pace.

Under the Initiative Section with an expected completed date of Q3 2008 is this:

quote:

Rewrite AUXNAV using The Week End Navigator as the primary reference and be ready for distribution

Alrighty then - we got another probably ficticious Auxie date. So what is the status of BCN/ACN which is the current AuxNav course? Maybe a member could still take that and finish off his AuxOps. Further the Weekend Navigator is the replacement for BCN/ACN not only for Auxies pursuing AuxOps but it replaces BCN/ACN as the Auxie public advanced nav course.

So the status of BCN/ACN is critical not only to a member pursuing AuxOps but to flotillas for their PE plans for 2008. Well "T" doesn't write about BCN/ACN. But the CGAuxAssInc does - since it is responsible for the inventory and reporting income of sales to the Nat Board. Here is what CGAuxAssInc says:

quote:

The Advanced-Basic (ACN-BCN) Navigation course exceeded the previous year’s sales slightly; however, we exhausted the supply of student study guides therefore phasing out the course in early December. We still have some books available but not enough materials to provide complete cases for the course. The replacement navigation course is Weekend Navigator; however, that course is not ready for release yet or in the near future.

In the same initiatives section are the following comments, the dates after each course are the expected completion dates.

quote:

♦ Implement AUXSCE and be ready for distribution Q2 2008
♦ Rewrite AUXCOM and be ready for distribution Q2 2008
♦ Rewrite AUXSEA and be ready for distribution Q3 2008

The completion dates for those three course plus AuxNav have an asterik after them in the report. The following is the meaning of the asterik.

quote:

*Release to field will be consistent with CHDIRAUX budget considerations.

AuxPAT status:

quote:

Rewrite AUXPAT. Too early to provide availability date.

That leaves just AuxWea unaccounted for. AuxWea was supposedly updated a couple of years ago. I have never read a review of how well that went.

Other then budgets this might explain the delay in the AuxOp course updating. It is expected to be completed in 2008.

quote:

Establish the position of Branch Chief AUXOP Courses. Actively recruiting for candidates.

For the post-AuxOps member there is this little ditty and no further details:

quote:

Research additional advanced training opportunities for members who have completed AUXOP
♦ Investigate DOD, FEMA and DOT on-line training

That was also in last year's report - it must be a slow investigation.

A churlish question, consider the source.
6 years ago I was in the middle of AUXNAV when my instructor, the only member at the time committed to MT, died. I finished studying only to find that the course now had a new manual, meaning I should start over. With Comms and Weather in the bag, I walked away from the program and have never seriously contemplated finishing it for the sole purpose of getting the "coveted" little badge for my shirt.
Since most of the coursework is covered in Boat Crew training or elsewhere, of what value, short of the "coveted" shirt pin, is AUXOPS, save to instruct BCN/ACN and AUXOPS classes?

quote:

of what value, short of the "coveted" shirt pin, is AUXOPS, save to instruct BCN/ACN and AUXOPS classes?

Having been a member training officer, committed to educating and qualifying you unwashed masses, I have an answer. Auxop qualification is required for appointment to official procter. You would be amazed how rare they become when you are trying to replace a retiring procter.

I don't get it. Why does a proctor for an AUXOP test being given over the computer need to be an AUXOP? They're only there to make sure you don't cheat, not to answer questions or instruct you. Why not let any elected leader or CS/IS officer do it? This would make it much easier for people to take these tests in many places.

Roger that, Skyray, we got lucky when an old AUXOPS member rejoined the flotilla a few years back, just in time to replace a fellow with 40+ years who finally decided to pull the pin. Other than babysitting us retards is there any purpose for AUXOPS? I've always wondered

is there any purpose for AUXOPS? I've always wondered

There are multiple 'justifications' for the AuxOps program. Under one it is the "PhD" of the boat crew program. It was originally put in place to qualify a group of members for tasks 'above and beyond' what a regular boat crews could do. That quickly fell by the wayside and it became an advanced training program for individual members - hence the 'PhD'.

However, when the BCQP came in in 1984 the AuxOp program was never revised to account for the fact that much of its material