Overview and timing of the Boat Crew program:

At any given time, there are several people training for boat crew at different stages in their progress. Boat Crew Training candidates have up to two years to complete all of the “Signoffs” in the book. Once the Signoffs are complete the trainee is tested by a QE (Qualified Examiner) to finalize the qualifications.  When they pass, they are certified. If they do not properly complete the requirements that the examiner was expecting to see, the candidate will simply re-schedule the testing and demonstrate ONLY the items that they missed.      

If a candidate does not complete the program within two years they only have to redo and re demonstrate the tasks that are older than two years to stay in the program.

Prerequisites Before Starting the Boat Crew Program

A member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary who wishes to be in boat crew first needs to be a minimum status of BQ (Basic Qualifications) Basic Qualifications are the core trainings classes of the Auxiliary that include Workforce reliance, Diversity, Sexual Harassment, and other courses.

A candidate also needs completion of an approved safe boating class either by the Coast Guard Auxiliary or any other certified State or Federal agency.  

An Analogy by Robert Kothe, SO-CS (Staff Officer Computer Services) and Coxswain Candidate: 

 After explaining boat crew to many people over the years I realized one day that it is like a bingo board where your goal is to fill in every box to get and keep certification. By breaking this down into tiny pieces anyone looking to make the commitment can do it.

Text in the above graphic is repeated below for screen reader software:

Game 1 - Fill in all of the B’s to be able to play the rest of the card

Game 2 - Depending on the time of year, classes offered, availability of trainers and Mentors complete all of “I” and “N” within 2 years. If something is older than 2 years simply re-do the task, so it is fresh in the mind. When complete, you can be tested.

Game 3 – In Non-Winter a QE will test you on Plotting, Knowledge from the sign-offs and Boat Skills. If you do not pass all of the tasks the first time, a new date will be scheduled to demonstrate only the missing skills.  

*This is a simplified representation of the program