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.