October Flotilla Meeting Highlights.

Post by FSO-PB Jonathan James

This months flotilla meeting was outstanding. We had close to 30 members and 3 guests which made for a great time for fellowship and to conduct the flotilla business.

First off, I would like to thank our visitors for joining us Wednesday night. It was nice to meet you all and I hope it was a good experience for all of you. Flotilla meetings are usually the most nitty gritty function of the auxiliary but it is vital to the success of our unit. It allows us as members of a flotilla to come together and plan for the months ahead. It also allows us to get together as friend and catch up on the going on's for the month and recognize members for their hard work.

Speaking of awards.
Paul Ploeger was awarded his 2nd Operational Service Award for more then 341 hours underway this year. That is just outstanding.

Rebecca Easton was awarded her1st Sustained Service Award for 5 years of service in the Auxiliary.

Matt Epstein was awarded his 4th Sustained Service Award for 20 years of service to the Auxiliary. BZ Matt, I know your looking forward to another 20 years of service.


Daren Lewis was officially introduced to the flotilla as District Captain elect and now represents the southern divisions. The District Captain is also responsible as a liaison for the Coast Guard Units in his area. The District Captain delegates some of this to the ASC (Auxiliary Sector Coordinator)BZ Captain Lewis on your new position.








For the program visitors, we have some PV specific materials that you may not be aware of. The most important is the CG-5093 Manufacturer ID Code System, which is the form to sign up the marine dealers as a program partner. The biggest thing this can can do for the dealer is provide them with the quickest recall updates available. There is no yearly renewal unless the business name or location changes.
ANSC 7048 PV Activity Report is another must have. You don't get credit for your visits unless this form is filled out and SENT TO THE FSO-IS.
A program partner sticker is also available for our partners to show their customers at the front door that they care and participates as a program visitor.


A FRIENDLY REMINDER: MEMBER DUES ARE PAST DUE. PLEASE GET YOUR DUES IN TO THE FSO-FN

The Flotilla COW has changed the date to 15 January 2012 due to the Division COW being held on the 7th and would require a good number of flotilla members to participate in 2 COW that weekend. Boarding time and meal cost will be available via email soon.


We voted on a couple VERY IMPORTANT motions at the meeting this month. The first of the two motions is as follows.............. Sorry I can't tell ya on the blog what the motions were. I will have the motions available soon in the flotilla meeting minutes.


Mary Magrant conducted our member training session at the meeting which covered the steps/process to becoming an instructor (IT). The first step to gaining your qualification is to study the Instructor Development Course located at http://www.cgauxed.org/elib/idc.htm
Once finished with the course you need to log onto the E-Learning site and take an openbook, none proctored test.
Once the course and test is completed you can move onto the Personal Qualification Standard (PQS) which is a book that has tasks that must be complete in the presence of a mentor. Once this is completed, your paper work is sent to district and walla. Please call Mary for a more in depth discussion on the steps required.

VE's please remember to submit any Vessel Exam paperwork that has not been entered. The leadership would like to see your numbers accounted for this year.


EVENTS TO ADD TO YOUR CALENDER:
22 OCT Sat: ECP Training Session at MSU.
02 NOV Wed: Division Meeting
09 NOV Wed: Flotilla Meeting. Elections will be held.
12 NOV Sat: HAZWOPER Training and Exercise.
19 NOV Wed: ABS Class. Contact FSO-PE for details.

Making it count: the art of reporting your time

Shipmates,
Almost everything you do as an Auxiliarist in support of the Coast Guard is reportable - and it is worth reporting for a number of reasons:

1. Your time counts towards a variety of personal and unit awards.
2. We make the case for the value of Auxiliary programs based on the time and mission accomplishment reported. Time really does equal money in many cases.
3. The Coast Guard has certain mandated missions and by reporting time and accomplishment on these missions we help meet these requirements.
4. Your reporting helps the Coast Guard and Auxiliary leadership plan for, and meet, the need for training and equipment for the Auxiliary.

Here is my cheat sheet on which form to use, it isn't comprehensive but it should get you started and lead you in the right direction for the cases not addressed. I'll discuss how to use these forms in future posts. Each form has instructions.

Missions with unique forms:

Vessel exams or a facility inspection?

• Mission time: Record the time on a 7038 Vessel Examination Activity Report
• Travel and preparation time: Report on your 7029 Member Activity Log

Recreational boating safety visit?

• Mission time: Record the time on a 7046 RBS Visitation Report
• Travel and preparation time: Report on your 7029 Member Activity Log

Some specified Auxiliary workshops

• Class time: In the case of 18 specified Auxiliary workshops the instructor will circulate a  7039 Workshop Mission & Attendance Report
  
• Travel and preparation time: Report on your 7029 Member Activity Log

Note: While there is a 7054 Aids to Navigation, report which is used in the AN chain, you still need to submit a 7030 for hours.

Everything else:

Most other activities are reported on either a 7030 Mission Activity Report or a 7029 Member Activity Log. Figuring out which of these form to use and how to use it can be challenging.

In general the 7030 is used for missions and the 7029 logs time for preparation, travel, and individual study. The concept of missions in this context is broad and there are over 80 different mission codes which can be used on a 7030. Luckily most of these are not relevant to the majority of us and new members need even fewer because of the "crew" concept of the 7030.

What do I mean by "crew" concept? When a 7030 is filed for a mission with multiple participants (or crew) it is filed by the lead on the mission. This is best illustrated by a surface facility (e.g. boat patrol) mission where the 7030 is prepared by the Coxswain as the mission lead. As a crew member you only need to report your preparation and travel time (on your 7029). Your Coxswain should send you a copy of the 7030 for the mission so you have it for your records -- if you don't get one ask for it.

What other kinds of missions are covered by the 7030?

• Any operational mission
• Augmenting at Sector
• Checking Aids to Navigation
• Public Affairs watch standing and many other PA activities (websites, newsletters, etc.)
• Member training (as the instructor only)
• ... and many more - the 7030 form has both a summary and a detailed list

The downside of a 7030 is that you can only report one day of continuous activity. If you do the same mission day after day (or broken into multiple segments in a single day) as an individual it can be tedious to create a form for each. Our Flotilla has a policy to simplify this reporting for missions done as an individual on an ongoing basis. Rather than submitting a 7030 you may send an email in the following format to the FSO-IS:

[Last Name], [First Name]

[Member number]

[Activity 1 Date in DDMMMYYYY format], [Start Time in 24hr format] - [End Time], [Mission code], [Hours rounded] hrs

[Activity 2 Date], [Start Time in 24hr format] - [End Time], [Mission code], [Hours rounded] hrs

[Activity 3 Date] ...

For example:

Lewis, Daren

121NNN

30SEP2009, 1430-1515, 10D, 0.75hrs

01OCT2009, 1733-1920, 10D, 1.75hrs

... which reports two days of website maintenance.

If your time is not covered by the 7030 mission codes it is reported on the 7029 Member Activity Log. Examples include:

• Attending, preparation and travel to/from Flotilla meetings
• Attending, preparation and travel to/from member training not covered by the 7039 Workshop Mission & Attendance Report including classroom portions of the crew academy but not the underway portions of the academy where you are logged as a member of the crew of the facility and thus on the Coxswains 7030.
• Preparation and travel to/from member training covered by the 7039 Workshop Mission & Attendance Report (see the pattern, your travel almost always goes on the 7029)
• Completing ICS courses at home
• Any self study at home
• Preparing uniforms

If you have any questions please let me, your mentor or any one of our long serving members know. This is a complex topic and I'm sure this article would benefit from your questions.

Member Training: FEMA Incident Command/NIMS/NRP Courses (IS-100/200/700/800)

One of the first things we tell many new members to do is to start work on your "FEMA classes" or your "ICS" courses. We do this for a number of reasons:

1. Many qualifications require two or more of these courses.
2. You can take them right away, there is no need to wait for your member number.
3. They get new members started with something substantive but, as they are produced by FEMA for a wide audience, something that does not require any specific knowledge of the Coast Guard or the Auxiliary.
4. (This is my secret reason) These courses encourage use of plain English and they encourage new members to ask questions when we fall into our own particular patois, "Auxiliaristesse". 

While there are many offerings from the FEMA Emergency Management Institute Independent Study program we are usually referring to four courses when speaking to new members:

• IS-100.a: Introduction to Incident Command System - This course introduces the Incident Command System (ICS) and provides the foundation for higher level ICS training. This course describes the history, features and principles, and organizational structure of the Incident Command System. It also explains the relationship between ICS and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
• IS-700.a: National Incident Management System (NIMS) An Introduction - This course introduces and overviews the National Incident Management System (NIMS).  NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.

• IS-200.a: ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents - This course is designed to enable personnel to operate efficiently during an incident or event within the Incident Command System (ICS). ICS-200 provides training on and resources for personnel who are likely to assume a supervisory position within the ICS. 
• IS-800.b : National Response Framework, An Introduction - The course introduces participants to the concepts and principles of the National Response Framework.

These courses can be found here: http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp

The courses are conducted by self study and include online testing. The suggested order is 100, 700, 200 and finally 800. Your mentor and member training officer will work with you to determine which courses to take but there is no harm in completing the entire series as time permits - the completion does not expire.

Please note that completion of these courses is not communicated to the Auxiliary. To get these classes properly entered into your record please forward the completion email you receive to the Flotilla Commander and the FC will send it on to Charles Claytor in the D13 Auxiliary Office for entry. (Policy in other Flotilla may be different)

Please print and retain a copy of your certificate. It is also very helpful to retain a copy of the email from the FEMA Emergency Management Institute.

A brief introduction to Flotilla 76 on SlideShare

Here is a brief presentation on the Auxiliary and Flotilla 76 I'll be using at the Detachment meeting this evening. Enjoy!

What Is The Auxiliary - Flotilla 76

View more presentations from Daren Lewis.

Buying, preparing and wearing the ODU

UPDATE NOV2010: This document is focused on the tucked-ODU. There are a few items of policy that are not reflected in the document and require updates.2009.01.11 - ODU Uniform Presentation

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other Presentations & Slid uscgaux odu

Ribbon precedence (order)

Correct wearing of the Coast Guard uniform includes correct wear of your awards. The proper order for your awards can be confusing for new members.

The Auxiliary Manual [COMDTINST M16790.1F] sets the precedence for awards received in the Auxiliary as well as prior service awards.

Luckily the Chief Director of Auxiliary provides an easy online tool to help you configure your ribbon bars, the ribbon checker .

Review the list, viewing awards using the "fx" button as required, and check off your Auxiliary awards and any prior service awards. Once you are finished the ribbon checker will display the proper order for you.

Finally, ask an experienced member to review your ribbon bar.

Getting underway: a guide to maximizing your time on the water

I joined the Auxiliary to do maritime search and rescue. Surface operations is still my passion, a passion I share with many of you. Occasionally I hear frustration from members about not getting underway as much as we'd like. Here are my strategies for increasing surface operations participation:

Get qualified: We work very hard to include crew trainees but members who are qualified crew are more simply more useful -- they count towards the minimum crew requirements. Actively working towards qualification and getting your qualification also shows a basic level of commitment. Qualifying as a coxswain makes you even more in demand since we have many member facility owners who are not coxswains.

Keep current: Once you are qualified make sure you stay qualified by doing your annual hours, completing the required workshops, and doing your triennial QE sessions. Try to get this done well before the deadlines, there is nothing like making the operations program scramble to get a mission together so you can get your hours in or get a QE session to gain you a certain unwanted reputation.

Be humbly competent: We operate in an environment that can be stressful and where everyone must pull their weight to ensure the safety of our team and the citizens who come under our care. Your qualification and currency maintenance ensures that you are minimally competent -- this is only the first step. Effective operators are constantly learning, training and increasing competence. At the same time they also recognize that no matter how much they know there are situations which arise that challenge their capabilities. There isn't room on Auxiliary facilities for people who "know it all" -- these folks break down team coordination (TCT) and cause mishaps. A special note: if you are an experienced mariner but new to the Auxiliary be aware that there is the traditional way and the Coast Guard way - you have almost as much to unlearn as a inexperienced mariner has to learn.

Consider weekdays and short notice call outs: While a significant portion of our operations happen on weekends and holidays when recreational traffic is high we do operate 24/7. If you have a schedule that allows flexibility during the week or for emergent cases please make it known.

Contribute a facility: Owning an Auxiliary facility puts you in the driver's seat, particularly once you are a coxswain. Facilities are the precious resource which allow us to operate. If you have a facility which is a good fit for our AOR, the missions we conduct and is regularly available you and your boat will be in demand.

If you don't have a facility pull your weight: If you don't own a facility recognize that it is an expensive and labor intensive endeavor. Be willing to show up early to help get ready for patrol and then make sure everything is cleaned up at the end of the day. If you have a regular berth (a boat you go out on a lot) it's worth volunteering to do maintenance and help out when the boat is in the yard.

Participate in other Auxiliary activities: The most active surface operators are involved in other facets of the organization - we are like any other group - you need to be around to be noticed.

Help run the organization as a staff member or unit leader: Beyond participation in other missions the next step is a staff or leadership position -- get involved in planning activities and you'll know what is happening and can make a place for yourself. For surface operators the operations, communications, member training, and information services (since you enter all the mission data) staff positions are a great platform for increasing participation in surface operations.

Be assertive: We all lead busy lives and no one is responsible for getting you on the water. Get involved, ask for access to the Patrol Order Management System (POMS) so you can look up who has missions scheduled, organize a mission yourself, get on the phone and call other active surface operators.

Be friendly: Finally, we associate voluntarily, maintaining a positive attitude and being easy to get along with are critical to getting invitations to participate. Fellowship is the glue of the Auxiliary - we want to spend our time among friends.

Please feel free to add your thoughts to the comments section and let me know if you have a dissenting view -- we'll get it posted.

UPDATE: Ken Babick our division vice commander and operations officer notes:

The reality is that many owner/operators have "regular" crew that they count on each and every patrol because they can be counted on in so many ways, available-competent-trustworthy-and easy and fun to be with.  Routine OPS are just that-- routine, but its when the rubber comes off the rim, that people have to be ready and prepared to make the mission a success.

New Members: the Auxiliary eDirectory

As a new member once you have received your member number you will want to activate your eDirectory password. Doing so allows you to:

• Look up the email addresses, offices and qualifications of any member of the Auxiliary
• Get a password for the National Testing Center so you can take Auxiliary qualification tests
• Access the District Store and other Shop Auxiliary offers
  

To activate your account you will need your member number, your zip code, and the password you want to use. Visit this site to start the process.

New Members: Tropical Blue Long uniform

In the choosing a first uniform post I suggested two uniforms as potential choices for your first uniform, the ODU and Tropical Blue, Long. The Tropical Blue Long, or Trops, uniform is the more formal of these uniforms and should be your first purchase if you plan to participate primarily in activities other than operations.

As with many of the choices you face as a new member choosing and aquiring your first uniform should be done in consultation with your mentor. This post will familiarize you with the terms and sources of supply so you can make the most of your conversation with your mentor.

Trops consist of a number of components, many of which are also worn with othe uniforms. Click here to see a full size version of the image to the right which describes the components of the uniform and the sources of each component.

Some of the components are general Coast Guard issue and are available at the Coast Guard Uniform Distribution Center (UDC) and at the Coast Guard Exchage at Sector Portland. The UDC is generally the cheapest source for the uniform items they carry.

• Garrison cap (UDC or Sector Exchange)
• Light blue short sleeve shirt (UDC or Sector Exchange)
• SDB trousers (UDC or Sector Exchange)
• Auxiliary belt and buckle (UDC)
• Black dress shoes (UDC, Sector Exchange, or commercial plain toe black oxfords)

A few items are Auxiliary unique and are only available from the Auxiliary District Store. Some of the uniform items above are also available from the District store but the prices can be substantially higher.

• Auxiliary garrison cap device
• Auxiliary member insignia or officer device (1 for cap)
• Auxiliary member of officer shoulder boards
• Auxiliary belt and buckle

There are two items from the commercial market:

• Black dress socks
• V-neck white undershirt. The undershirt should not show.

Finally, you will need an Auxiliary name tag - the flotilla provides these to all new members.

The assembly and wear, as well as various options, of the Trops uniform can be found in Chapter 10 of the Auxiliary Manual  

New members: Choosing a first uniform

Purchasing your first USCG Auxiliary uniform is a key milestone in becoming an Auxiliarist. The uniform identifies you as an Auxiliarist to the public and creates a sense of shared purpose with your fellow members.

Over time most members gather a fairly wide range of uniform items that are combined into various uniform ensembles. As a new member we encourage you to keep things simple and start with either the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU) or the Tropical Blue, Long uniform (usually called “Trops” or Tropical Blue). Eventually you will want both uniforms since owning these two uniforms, along with civilian clothing appropriate to formal occasions, will allow you to participate in any Auxiliary event.

Which uniform you choose is likely most influenced by your initial interests. If you plan on focusing on surface operations (boat crew) or vessel exams I suggest the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU). If you are more interested in teaching and public affairs I suggest Tropical Blue, Long.

A complete Tropical Blue, Long uniform including dress shoes ($60) costs around $175

A complete Operational Dress Uniform including boots ($60) costs around $145

We often have some donated uniform items available that can reduce this initial outlay.

Your mentor will guide you through the process of procuring the appropriate uniform items and we’ll discuss the elements of each uniform and proper wear in future posts.