Welcome to the Recruiting Website for the
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary

When you join the Coast Guard Auxiliary, you could find yourself on patrol saving lives and property, assisting in marine safety and environmental protection, radio watchstanding, educating the public in boating safety and much more. That’s what our members do. We don’t just train. We train and perform.

Since 1939 the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary has safeguarded our Nation’s maritime interests in the heartland, in the ports, at sea, and around the globe. Members from all walks of life bring their training and experience as a member of the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard.

Our main goal is recreational boating safety and education, while acting as a force multiplier in support of Coast Guard authorized missions.

Today’s U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, with nearly 21,000 men and women, is a unique force that carries out an array of responsibilities touching almost every facet of the U.S. maritime environment.

The Coast Guard’s motto is Semper Paratus, meaning "Always Ready".

The overarching mission of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is to contribute to the safety and security of our citizens, ports, waterways and coastal regions. We will balance our missions of Recreational Boating Safety and Coast Guard Support with Maritime Homeland Security and other challenges that emerge as a result of our growing understanding of changes required in the post-9/11 era.

Please take the time to read about the history of the Auxiliary, benefits of joining, the missions we are involved in, awards and recognition, and the pride in wearing of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary uniform.

Boating always has been one of America’s favorite pastimes and entered the sport arena in the early nineteenth century. Rowing and yachting races were among the most popular spectator sports through the 1930's. The wealth generated in post Civil War America, along with the growth of railroads, spurred the development of resorts, country homes, and the suburbs, all places to go boating. The Federal Government began to construct large dams, reservoirs, and lake systems during the Depression, adding waterways. With the development of the single opera tor motorboat and the outboard engine at the turn of the Twentieth Century, the number of recreational boaters skyrocketed. In 1939, the Coast Guard reported that there were more than 300,000 boats operating in Federal waters. In the previous year it had received 14,000 calls for assistance and had responded to 8,600 “in peril” cases, a record number. Boaters needed to be better trained in seamanship and Federal law. At the same time, civilian yachtsmen were pressing the Coast Guard to establish a volunteer arm of the service.

As a result of these demands, on June 23, 1939, the Congress passed legislation that established the Coast Guard Reserve, its volunteer civilian component, to promote boating safety and to facilitate the operations of the Coast Guard. Groups of boat owners were organized into flotillas and these into divisions within Coast Guard Districts around the country. Members initially conducted safety and security patrols and helped enforce the provisions of the 1940 Federal Boating and Espionage Acts. Then in February 1941, a military reserve was created and the volunteer Reserve was renamed the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Following America’s entry into World War II in December of 1941, recruits flooded into Auxiliary flotillas in a burst of patriotic fever. In June of 1942 legislation allowed Auxiliarists to enroll in the Coast Guard Reserve on a part-time temporary basis. Throughout the war, some 50,000 Auxiliarists constituted the core of the temporary Reserve membership. These reservists, along with newly enrolled civilians, performed coastal defense and search and rescue duties. They patrolled bridges, factories, docks, and beaches. They fought fires, made arrests, guided naval vessels, and conducted anti-submarine warfare. As their ranks grew, thousands of active duty Coast Guard personnel were freed up for service overseas.

Following the war, by 1950 the four traditional Auxiliary cornerstone missions of public education, operations, vessel examination, and fellowship had been established. The public education program yearly trains tens of thousands of boaters in seamanship, piloting, rules of the road, and weather, among other topics. Specially qualified coxswain and crew members conduct search and rescue missions in their own boats and support Coast Guard missions. Auxiliary pilots and air observers search for boaters in distress, floating hazards, pollution spills, and ice-locked vessels. Communications watchstanders handle distress calls at Coast Guard and Auxiliary radio stations. Vessel Examiners conduct Vessel Safety Checks under which recreational vessels are examined for properly installed Federally required equipment and systems.

During the past decades, the Auxiliary has continued to grow in membership which today totals more than 30,000 members in the United States and its territories. Training is held at every level from the flotilla to national training schools. Leadership and management training, award programs, and data management systems ensure a high level of professionalism.

Under legislation passed in 1996, the Auxiliary’s role was expanded to allow members to assist in any Coast Guard mission, except direct law enforcement and military operations, as authorized by the Commandant. Thus, Auxiliarists can be found examining commercial fishing vessels, flying in C-130 aircraft, working in Coast Guard offices, and crewing with regulars. The three components of the service, the Active Duty Coastguard, the Reservists, and Auxiliarists, truly constitute TEAM COAST GUARD.

In any given year, Auxiliary members work an untold number of hours, as they largely administer their own organization. In 1998, their assistance to the public resulted in 445 lives being saved, 12,760 persons being assisted, and a total value of $36.4 million dollars in volunteer services being provided for a wide range of specific missions. Since 9/11, members have been integrated into the Department of Homeland Security and perform a variety of port security functions. In 2006 on any given day, the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary averaged saving 1 life, assisting 28 people, completing 62.5 safety patrols, performing 299 vessel safety checks, educating 369 people on boating safety, participating in 100 Coast Guard Operational Support missions, attending 70 public affairs functions, and more. The 32,950 members of the Auxiliary field 4,971 vessels, 2,873 personal watercraft, and 226 aircraft and man 2,641 communications stations.

Over the years, Auxiliary programs also have kept pace with boating trends. Members helped implement the provisions of the 1958 Federal Boating Act. In the 1970's, they formed flotillas in sole-state waters to meet local demands for water safety. They introduced new courses such as those for sailors and personal water craft (PWC) operators as their numbers increased.

The U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the largest volunteer marine safety organization in the world and has fostered similar ones in foreign countries.

The Auxiliary is an organization of uniformed volunteers. Membership is open to any citizen of the U.S. and its territories and possessions who is seventeen years of age or older (no mandatory maximum age) and a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary Association, Inc. (CGAuxA, Inc.). Membership is predicated on full and successful completion of the Auxiliary enrollment application, including the passing of the New Member Exam and acknowledgement of CGAuxA, Inc. membership. It is also predicated upon receipt of a favorable (FAV)Personnel Security Investigation (PSI). Individuals who hold dual citizenship with the U.S. and another country may become members of the Auxiliary. Such individuals whose other country of citizenship is one of those specifically identified in Table 2-2 of the Coast Guard Recruiting Manual, COMDTINST M1100.2 (series), will not be authorized to pursue a Direct Informational (DI) or Direct Operational (DO) PSI nor any of their associated activities. This is not an all-inclusive list in that countries may be added or removed.

Auxiliary membership is open to all U.S. citizens, or those of dual citizenship as described above, who are current military active duty or Reserve personnel, or veterans of these services who were discharged under honorable conditions.

Facility (vessel, aircraft, or radio station) ownership and special skills are desirable, but not mandatory for membership.

Auxiliarists may join any flotilla of their choice regardless of geographical location.

There are no specific physical standards that must be met in order to be eligible to enroll in the Auxiliary. There are also no requirements for Auxiliarists to schedule physical examinations solely for the purpose of evaluating their physical fitness to perform missions. However, all Auxiliarists and Coast Guard Order Issuing Authorities (OIA) are expected to take all appropriate action to ensure the safety of assigned crews, facilities, the public, and Auxiliarists themselves.

Any Auxiliarist, regardless of physical limitations, may participate in training to achieve certification in a non operational or operational position. However, to become certified in an operational discipline, Auxiliarists must demonstrate their ability, mobility, and endurance to satisfactorily complete performance-based training and qualification tasks that are based on the procedures outlined in associated qualification guide(s) as established by Commandant (i.e., the Auxiliary Boat Crew Training Manual, COMDTINST M16794.51 (series), and associated qualification guides). Once certified, Auxiliarists must meet currency maintenance requirements in order to validate their continued ability, mobility, and endurance to safely perform any qualification task for which they are certified.

Individuals are NOT eligible for enrollment in the Auxiliary when any of these circumstances, which shall be addressed by all individuals in the course of application for enrollment, exist:

1. Does not possess a Social Security Number (SSN).
2. Any pending or unresolved criminal court action or judicial proceeding(including pre-trial intervention or diversionary program sanctions).
3. Convicted of a felony, major misdemeanor, or minor misdemeanor(s) given consideration for waiver in accordance with established provisions.
4. Current or prior registered sex offender.
5. Convicted of any domestic violence charge.
6. Currently under criminal restraint, serving a sentence, on parole, probation, or other civil restraint.
7. Prior military service with a DD-214 that reflects a reenlistment code of RE-4 (individual’s ineligibility for reenlistment is based on unsatisfactory performance due primarily to personal behavior/conduct). Limited circumstances may warrant waiver, in which case the Director shall consult with the Chief Director prior to any such action.

Individuals are also NOT eligible for enrollment in the Auxiliary when any of these circumstances exist:

1. Raised and trained in institutions having mental or correctional features, including voluntary.
2. Repeated drug, including marijuana, or chemical substance abuse/use, where the use of and reliance on these substances are part of the person’s behavior pattern (this includes participation in a drug rehabilitation program, but does not include drug experimentation which is defined as a few times for reasons of curiosity, peer pressure, or similar reasons).
3. Intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of application or during any stage of processing.

Once approved for membership the other requirements will be:

• Annual Dues
• Certain missions may require you to purchase the appropriate uniform.
• Auxiliary Core Training (AUXCT)
• Certain missions may require specific training and currency maintenance, much of the training is available online.
• Other requirements as established by the Commandant of the Coast Guard.

Auxiliarists in uniform or with proper identification, can purchase anything sold in the Coast Guard Exchange Stores except liquor and cigarettes. Dependents may accompany Auxiliarists to the Exchange, but may not make individual purchases. Members of the Auxiliary are also welcome at Department of Defense Exchanges, but according to policy, only uniform items or accessories may be purchased.