Coast Guard Auxiliary

[Rich Keller]

I am considering joining the Coast Guard Auxiliary and wanted to hear from anyone currently involved. I was looking for general information and what if any diving is involved.

 

[fiziks]

If you want to be a diver or rescue swimmer (the guys that jump out of helos) for the CG, then you have to go through their diving school, and I believe to qualify for their school you have to go active duty for three years minimum (possibly more). See U.S. Coast Guard Diving Program Information

There a plenty of things you can do in the Coast Guard Auxiliary without diving.

 

[dadediver]

If you want to be a diver or rescue swimmer (the guys that jump out of helos) for the CG, then you have to go through their diving school, and I believe to qualify for their school you have to go active duty for three years minimum (possibly more). See U.S. Coast Guard Diving Program Information

There a plenty of things you can do in the Coast Guard Auxiliary without diving.

This is inacurate. The AST's (resuce swimmers) are not divers. They do not scuba dive neither as a rate nor collateral duty. All AST's are active duty & enlisted (not auxilary or reserves).

The USCG auxilary are volunteers that provide mission support to the USCG. They dont go through the USCG boot camp as the active duty or reserves do. The USCG is just getting to the point of having a diving program as a rate. Currently they do have dive lockers for thier divers or as a collateral duty.

I would suggest to the OP if you wanted to do mission status patrols, to join the reserves (which many of these recruits will end up on PSU teams walking a patrol or as BTM on 25' defenders) and sometimes OCOUNUS.

If you want to join to dive, pick another branch.

 

[Rich Keller]

Thanks, I was not expecting there any to be any diving in the auxiliary but I did not know for sure. What about auxiliary duties? What exactly do they do?

 

[dadediver]

Thanks, I was not expecting there any to be any diving in the auxiliary but I did not know for sure. What about auxiliary duties? What exactly do they do?

I want to be careful on how I word this. From my understanding, the Aux is not really that much part of the USCG. They have thier own rank structure, many of thier crafts are owned by their members. They, I believe are not armed nor do any MLE duties. They dont attend the USCG boot camp nor any A or C schools. I think they do mostly vsc, they, I believe have to "ask" for permission to board for vsc's and they performed boating safety courses. I am going off the interaction of who my kids train with.

When my kids were part of small boat stations, they trained with quite a few reserves but not the Aux. When they go out to sea or take to the air, they never crossed trained with the AUX.

 

[Akimbo]

If your objective is to volunteer diving services for a the public good, then you might find lots of opportunity as a public safety diver with police and fire departments -- especially with your commercial diving skills. I'm not sure your area is rural enough, but lots of small police and fire departments around the country use volunteers.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

At least in Monterey, I see the USCGAux doing the following:

Safety Patrol. This is usually in support of some event, like the opening day of salmon season (regular USCG is also out, in force), or escorting a
big outrigger canoe race.

Vessel Safety Checks.

Chuck

 

[cugeno]

The Auxiliary does a lot... but it depends on the location, the Flotilla, and until recently I was not aware that they had any diving elements. Apparently they do, though, it is listed in the CGAUX policy manual as a possible option:

Qualified watchstanding
Aids to Navigation
Commercial fishing vessel safety examinations
Augmentation of Coast Guard boats and cutters
Augmentation of Coast Guard aircraft as qualified air observers
Auxiliary Dive Program (as may be authorized by specific directive)
Assistant Barge Inspector
Assistant Pollution Investigator
Assistant Maritime Enforcement Investigator
Assistant Foreign Freight Vessel Examiner
Assistant Foreign Passenger Vessel Examiner
Assistant Marine Casualty Investigator
Assistant Life Raft Inspector
Auxiliary Machinery Inspector
Assistant Port State Control Examiner
Assistant T-Boat Inspector

In addition to the above, Auxiliarists also serve as Aircraft Commanders, First Pilots, Co-Pilots, Air Crew, Air Observers, Coxswains, and Boat Crew (in civilian vessels officially tasked with supporting USCG missions), and as Interpreters for Coast Guard operations. Auxiliarists assist with all manner of Coast Guard missions except military operations and direct law enforcement.

As noted above, though, your mileage may vary depending on the local Flotilla members, leadership, and relation with their ACDU counterparts. I have noticed that the CGAUX kind of run the gamut from highly motivated and squared-away (often prior-service types) to... well, not very motivated nor squared-away. That said, the best way to find out what an Auxiliary dive program involves would be to contact someone who is actually doing it. Apparently it is a thing, which could be cool, but it is not one of the more common CGAUX operations. When I was looking at the Auxiliary I sent a few emails and ended up receiving plenty of information about my area of interest.

 

[cugeno]

Belay my last. The CGAUX website offers the following information on USCG Dive Teams and Auxiliarists:

"...'dive operations' means 'a part of the dive team,' whether or not actually entering the water, including observing, tending, coordinating, or any other activity in support of an actual dive.

Auxiliary members may, however, be a resource (Dive Casualty Investigation Team) for a dive investigation that the Coast Guard might be involved with, but they absolutely need to stay dry."

So... no dives. The USCG ACDU divers do that.