Qualifications: Public Affairs Specialist I & II and Coast Guard Public Affairs Support Specialist

We are all Public Affairs specialists in the Auxiliary. Each of us, in the course of our duties, interacts with the public and represents the Auxiliary and the Coast Guard. We rely on the skills we've picked up over the years to make these interactions successful. Few of us have any formal PA/PR training or significant PA/PR business experience. Over the last few years the Auxiliary leadership has recognized the need to provide training for, and formal recognition of, our public affairs specialists.

There are three levels of Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist (+1 since we are all PA)

• Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist
• Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist II
• Coast Guard Public Affairs Support Specialist

Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist (I)
There are two tracks to gain recognition as a PA Specialist (I).

1) Take the Auxiliary C-School AUX-12. [Definition: C-Schools are resident classes of 2-4 days with travel, food and lodging provided by the Coast Guard]  The current C-School schedule can be found here: http://cschool.auxservices.org/

For 2010 these classes will be held in:

• CGAS Clearwater - February
• CGAS Mobile - March
• CG Yard-Baltimore - April
• ISC Alameda - June 

2) Use the self-study method with online courses through followed by an oral board. Full details of this approach can be found at http://www.auxpa.org/parecog.html. There are four Auxiliary classes and you must also take ICS-100 through FEMA. The Auxiliary classes are:

• Introduction to Coast Guard Auxiliary Public Affairs (AUX-20)
• Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist 2nd Class (AUX-22)
• Journalism Basic (AUX-24)
• Introduction to Digital Photography (AUX-26)

Links to these classes can be found on the National Testing Center website (you will need to create and account to take the classes): http://ntc.cgaux.org/TrainingCourses.htm

For ICS-100a see this post: http://www.flotilla76.org/2009/08/member-training-fema-incident.html

There is a study guide and a Personnel Qualifications Standard (PQS) for the PA Specialist qualification [Definition: A PQS is a manual which lays out the requirements for a qualification and tracks mentoring and your progress - this is the standard Coast Guard approach to qualifications and is being increasingly adopted by the Auxiliary for our qualifications]


Beyond PA(I)
Once you have completed the Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist qualification you may pursue the Auxiliary Public Affairs Specialist II qualification followed by the Coast Guard Public Affairs Support Specialist qualification. These are also detailed at http://www.auxpa.org/parecog.html

These are great programs and I encourage you to consider pursing the first, or all of the qualifications. Attendance at AUX-12 would be particularly useful as this prepares you to participate as a mentor and oral board member for future members seeking the qualification.

Becoming a Vessel Examiner

UPDATED!

Vessel Examination is one of our cornerstone missions. By talking to boaters while they are safely ashore or dockside, discussing requirements and recommended equipment we reduce the risks those boaters face once underway - we are doing preventative SAR before the boaters get in trouble.

Vessel Examination is one of the easiest of our missions to accomplish as it does not require any equipment or scheduling - you simply need to be qualified, the forms and to be present where boaters congregate.

So how do you become qualified?

1. Request a VSC Manual M16796.8 or download a copy here.
2. Download Forms ANSC-7003, ANSC-7008, ANSC-7012, ANSC-7038 and ANSC-7045 here.
3. Download the Auxiliary Operations Policy Manual here.
4. Study the entire VSC Manual, the forms and the sections of the Auxiliary Operations Policy Manual concerning requirements for surface operational facilities.
5. Take the VE test at the Auxiliary National Testing Center.
6. Conduct five mentored vessel examinations with a currently qualified VE mentor. 
7. The mentor VE will file a 7038 showing you as a trainee with the FSO-IS for entry into AUXDATA. As with any form which includes your activity you should request a copy.
8. The mentor will also complete a D13 Request for VE Certification which is sent to the District Staff Officer for Vessel Examinations (not the DIRAUX).
9. Once you receive notification of qualification.... get out and do Vessel Exams.

As noted previously please inform the FC, VFC or FSO-VE by phone or email when you are planning to do exams to insure you are properly assigned to duty and under the (qualified) umbrella of USCG legal protection.

Speak a second language? Join the Auxiliary Interpreter Corps

Back in  September of 2008 the USCGC Dallas (WHEC 716) delivered 76,000 pounds of aid to Georgia.  This mission was assisted by the translation skills of Auxiliarist Alicja Power of Traverse City, Mich. When I spoke with the CO of the Dallas prior to the port call in Georgia he said that he had an Auxiliary linguists aboard and had also had Auxiliary linguist assistance in West Africa.

Read Ms. Power's story here.

Read more about how to participate or utilize the interpreter corps here. If you have the skills please consider joining this exceptional program - who knows where you'll get to serve.

AUXCOM qualification

All members,

Here is an update on the previous article on becoming AUXCOM qualified. Below is the e-mail I received concerning this change. Sorry about the confusion.

Paul

A couple of members have requested clarification on my previous message. Here is some background that should help:Over the past couple of months, some members have asked me how to become qualified to become radio facilities. Since the details for the new TC-PQS have not been completely worked out, I requested approval from our DSO-CM to allow members to qualify to become a radio facility by studying and passing the old AUXCOM test.I received approval on 13 December and sent an e-mail outlining the approved process.Now....Our DSO-13 has rechecked with national and been turned around. We are back to square one. So per the following orders http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg3/cg3pcx/missions/MSG-ALAUX-TCPQS.pdfAnyone who did NOT become AUXCOM qualified before 31 August 2008 will need to go through the TC-PQS, take the test and be reviewed by a QC. The QCs have not yet been trained but our DSO-CM is working on setting up some training for some of our members and me. Members who were AUXCOM qualified before 31 August 2008 have been "grandfathered in" and are not required to re-qualify.I hope this clarifies the situation. Please advise if you have questions.

Jim Price SO-CM-7

Qualifications: Becoming an Auxiliary Instructor

One of the most rewarding opportunities in the Auxiliary is teaching others about recreational boating safety (RBS). To teach our public classes you need to be a qualified instructor (IT) or candidate for IT status.

Most Auxiliary qualifications, of which the instructor qualification (IT) is one, are moving to the standard for Coast Guard qualifications the Performance Qualification System (PQS). A PQS is a set of tasks and other requirements to gain a qualification. Once you have been qualified many qualifications require annual currency maintenance, which will be discussed in future posts.

How do you become an instructor?

1. You read/study the Instructor Development Course (IDC) text  found here. Note a study guide for the course can be found here .

2. You take the online IDC test at the Auxiliary National Testing Center (NTC) and pass with a score of 90% or better. Print out the email the NTC sends and keep it. (You will need to sign in and get a pasword for the NTC using your Auxiliary eDirectory password. If you don't have an eDirectory password visit the eDirectory and set one up.)

3. The student is assigned a mentor that is a currently qualified Instructor and the mentor takes the student through 19 Tasks and signs off that the student knows and understands the tasks. (IDC appendix B-4 )

4. The student then presents a 10-30 minute lesson and a 1-2 hour lesson. The mentor evaluates the presentations using the "Instructor Qualification Check List" and then the "Instructor Evaluation Sheet" (appendix C-3 thru C-7 )

4. The mentor and the Flotilla Commander then certify the process by completing the "Certification of Instructor" form on appendix B-6 .

5. The  Flotilla Commander will then submit the "Certification of Instructor form" and a copy of the email response showing the score on the test and that the member passed by 90% to the District Staff Officer for Public Education (DSO-PE) for review. The DSO-PE will then recommend to the DIRAUX that the member be qualified.

6. Your certificate and ribbon will be sent to your FC for presentation at the next Flotilla meeting.