Navigation Systems
Private Aids to Navigation
One of the primary responsibilities of the Auxiliary Aids to Navigation Program is the reporting of discrepancies observed on both Federal Short Range Aids to Navigation (ATONs) and Private Aids to Navigation (PATONs). It is a partnership between the Coast Guard and the Auxiliary that focuses on assisting the Coast Guard in backwater and remote areas where the Coast Guard doesn’t transit in the normal course of daily operations, as well as the more traveled waterways of the country.
A secondary responsibility of the program is to verify the condition of PATONs at specified intervals for the Coast Guard. These verifications are specified in Federal and Coast Guard regulations.
Every year, the Fifth Coast Guard District’s Waterway Management Branch provides the Auxiliary with a list of all the Coast Guard documented PATONs within the Fifth District. The Division 23 Staff Officer for Navigation Systems (SO-NS) reviews the list and identifies those PATONs that are located within the Division’s areas of responsibility. That subset is then placed on the Division 23 website.
When preparing for their patrol missions, Division 23 Auxiliary Aids to Navigation Verifiers (AVs) access the list to see if any PATONs in their patrol area require verification and plan accordingly. Once the AV verifies the PATON and submits a report to the SO-NS, the SO-NS will update the list on the Division website by entering the verification completion date. This is so another AV following later can see that this particular PATON has already been verified so as not to waste time and effort.
A secondary responsibility of the program is to verify the condition of PATONs at specified intervals for the Coast Guard. These verifications are specified in Federal and Coast Guard regulations.
Every year, the Fifth Coast Guard District’s Waterway Management Branch provides the Auxiliary with a list of all the Coast Guard documented PATONs within the Fifth District. The Division 23 Staff Officer for Navigation Systems (SO-NS) reviews the list and identifies those PATONs that are located within the Division’s areas of responsibility. That subset is then placed on the Division 23 website.
When preparing for their patrol missions, Division 23 Auxiliary Aids to Navigation Verifiers (AVs) access the list to see if any PATONs in their patrol area require verification and plan accordingly. Once the AV verifies the PATON and submits a report to the SO-NS, the SO-NS will update the list on the Division website by entering the verification completion date. This is so another AV following later can see that this particular PATON has already been verified so as not to waste time and effort.
The report is also sent to the local Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) where a specially trained Auxiliarist enters the information into the National Aids to Navigation database IATONIS. Personnel at the District Waterways Management Branch will review the information and determine if correspondence with the PATON’s owner is necessary.
Besides the PATON list, the other links found on the Navigation Systems portion of the Division 23 website provide AVs with all the tools and references necessary to properly perform their verification missions.
Besides the PATON list, the other links found on the Navigation Systems portion of the Division 23 website provide AVs with all the tools and references necessary to properly perform their verification missions.
Navigation Systems Links
Public Boating Navigation Resources
5th District Local Notice to Mariners
US Coast Guard Light Lists Light List Corrections
Coast Guard Auxiliary Navigation Systems LInks
National Auxiliary Navigation Systems Site