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The following programs and activities are those authorized for Auxiliarists:
Academy Introduction Mission (AIM). Auxiliarists are authorized assignment-to-duty to assist the Coast Guard Academy with recruitment of cadet candidates. This assignment includes orienting and counseling high school students, attending college fairs and participating in AIM Week each summer at the US Coast Guard Academy (USCGA).
Administrative Support to the Coast Guard. Auxiliarists are authorized assignment-to-duty to assist and to augment administrative functions of any Coast Guard unit.
Aids to Navigation (ATON). Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities are authorized assignment- to-duty to support and augment the Coast Guard’s ATON Program. After training and qualifying as an Aids Verifier, Auxiliarists verify the position and characteristics of private aids to navigation (PATONs) and help the National Ocean Service (NOS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in updating nautical and aeronautical charts. Members also support ATON units in servicing federal aids after receiving Coast Guard training. ATON units also help the National Ocean Service (NOS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in updating nautical and aeronautical charts.
America’s Waterway Watch Program (AWW). Individuals and families are invited to participate in this program that is a nationwide initiative similar to the well-known Neighborhood Watch program that asks community members to report suspicious activities to local law enforcement agencies.
Bridge Administration. Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities are authorized to:
- Support and augment bridge surveys
- To investigate and to provide information regarding waterways safety and navigation situations pertaining to the bridge program
- To provide direct assistance and support to bridge program staff and other Coast Guard personnel in the Bridge Administration Program
Contingency Preparedness. Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities are authorized to provide platforms and personnel for defense and non-defense exercises and to develop plans and support contingency response operations for disaster and lesser incidents. Auxiliarists and their operational facilities may also provide support as unarmed opposition forces (OPFOR) and gather information and data for contingency plans.
Merchant Mariner Licensing. Qualified Auxiliarists are authorized to administer merchant mariner license and document examinations in remote areas, to conduct oversight of approved maritime training courses, and to provide administrative support for the marine licensing program at the local level.
Marine Environmental Protection and Safety (MEP). Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities assist with marine environmental protection and safety programs and pollution prevention and environmental disaster relief operations. Auxiliarists, when qualified and approved, may assist in a variety of Coast Guard maritime inspection programs.
Operational Support to the Coast Guard (OPS). Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities are authorized to support all Coast Guard operational units. Auxiliarists must be qualified per current Coast Guard and Auxiliary manuals and directive provisions and must serve under an active-duty unit commander’s direction.
Port Safety and Security (PS&S). Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities are authorized to support the Port Safety and Security Program. Auxiliarists may provide facilities and unarmed personnel for:
- Surveillance and reporting
- Harbor and anchorage patrols
- Assistance to Coast Guard forces in safety and security zone enforcement
- Support for vessel boarding
- Port facility and vessel verification visits
- Aircraft over-flights augmenting Coast Guard crews
- Administrative support
Public Affairs Support (PA). Auxiliarists are authorized to support both Coast Guard and Auxiliary public affairs programs.
Public Education. The Education Directorate’s mission is twofold:
- To provide exceptional boating safety education to America with the aim of reducing loss of life, personal injury, and property damage to recreational boaters
- To deliver the highest possible quality training, resources and timely materials in support of our flotilla instructors and public education staff officers at every level who are furnishing such boating safety education
Recreational Boating Safety (RBS). Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities may be assigned to support the recreational boating safety program by:
- Conducting Public Education
- Performing recreational Vessel Safety Checks (VSCs)
- Participating in State Liaison Programs
- Participating in Recreational Boating Safety Visitation Program (RBSVP), boat shows and National Safe Boating Week (NSBW) activities
Recruiting. Auxiliarists may qualify and be assigned-to-duty as military recruiters to support the Coast Guard’s recruiting program. This assignment includes qualification as a military recruiter, proctoring recruiting examinations, and administrative assistance to recruiting.
Search and Rescue. Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities are authorized to assist the Coast Guard in support of search and rescue operations. These duties include search planning, search operations, and the conduct of rescues at sea.
Training for Sea Cadets and Sea Scouts. Coast Guard Auxiliary members are authorized to provide shore side and underway training to Sea Cadets and Sea Scouts, under a program that is an outgrowth of the Auxiliary’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Naval Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC), and its Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
Inspections of commercial vessels. Qualified Auxiliarists assist the Coast Guard in marine inspection mission by:
- Supporting and assisting Coast Guard accident investigations
- Providing platforms for inspectors
- Conducting barge inspections
- Providing remote area surveillance and response
- Conducting voluntary examinations of uninspected commercial vessels
- Providing administrative and operational program support
Waterways Management. Qualified Auxiliarists are authorized to assist in Coast Guard waterways management mission areas by:
- Providing platforms and unarmed personnel for Coast Guard and other federal and state agencies
- Inputting information and data into the analysis process
- Providing administrative and operational program support for commercial vessels
In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary can perform any mission as directed by the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard or Secretary of Homeland Security except for law enforcement or military operations.
Recreational Boating Safety
Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities are authorized assignment to duty to support the RBS Program including:
- Conduct Public Education.
- Perform recreational Vessel Safety Checks (VSCs).
- Participate in State Liaison Programs (SLO), Recreational Boating Safety Visitation Program (RBSVP), boat shows, and National Safe Boating Week (NSBW) activities.
State Liaison Officer
The Auxiliary State Liaison Officer (SLO) program is established by provisions of 14 U.S.C. § 141 and 46 U.S.C. § 13109 which authorize the Coast Guard to help the State in its recreational boating program. The SLO facilitates Auxiliary use to supplement State efforts in search and rescue, safety and regatta patrols, PE, VSCs, verification of State maintained Aids to Navigation (ATON), and other areas of Recreational Boating Safety (RBS).
Search and Rescue
Qualified Auxiliarists and their facilities may be authorized assignment to duty to assist with and conduct search and rescue operations in support of the Coast Guard. These duties include search planning, communications support, and search and rescue operations in navigable and sole State waters.
Other missions
In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary performs any mission as directed by the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard or Secretary of Homeland Security except for law enforcement or military operations.