Question about USCG Aux.

[JohnKachenmeister]

To any of the "Dual-Auxiliarists..."  I just saw some USCG Aux. guys at my marina yesterday doing some boat-safety thing there.  I chatted them up for a few minutes, and it looks to me (and I AM a trained observer) that they are wearing Air Force uniforms but with a different hat and insignia.  Does the AF and CG wear the same basic uniform? 

That's what it looks like to me, but my experience with government tells me that such a level of efficiency is inconsistent with bureaucratic core values. 

[MIKE]

The light blue shirts, lightweight blue jacket, and the cardigan and pullover sweaters.  For males anyway.

[RiverAux]

Yeah, the CG (and the Aux) went from wearing uniforms that were almost identical to the Navy to at least one uniform that is almost identical to the AF. 

A real nice benefit of being in both CAP and CG Aux is that you can use some uniform items for both. 

[PHall]

The Coasties have been wearing a modified Air Force Service and Service Dress uniform since the late 70's IIRC.

[MIKE]

^ There are noticeable differences between the uniforms.  Both in shade and weave and actual construction. i.e. the trouser pockets.  In fact Air Force trousers are prohibited by regulation.  It is not an older style Air Force uniform with Coast Guard buttons.

[JohnKachenmeister]

OK, so the pants and shirt are the same and the dress jacket is completely different.  The light windbreaker jacket is also AF. 

None of the guys I saw yesterday were wearing any type of jacket, since we were in the low 80's.

[MIKE]

The pants are not the same.  I guess I really should post a pic of some CG dress trousers next to some 1620s, but the gallery is broken.  What you saw was most likely Tropical Blue... The only item of that combo with an AF certification label is the short-sleeved shirt.

[Major Carrales]

The pants are not the same.  I guess I really should post a pic of some CG dress trousers next to some 1620s, but the gallery is broken.  What you saw was most likely Tropical Blue... The only item of that combo with an AF certification label is the short-sleeved shirt.

Mike,
I had some donations of uniforms a few years back and amid the trousers were three that were of a different shade and even had a flap on the back pocket.  The tagging had been removed and thus, I did not fully accept them donating them to our schools' clothing bank.

Might these have been of that type you mention?

[MIKE]

The back pockets on mine are the same style as my 1620s.  It's the "hand-warmer" pockets that are different.  Can only speak for current issue.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

The pants, service dress coat and garrison cap are not the same as the AF, in cut or shade of blue.

[JohnKachenmeister]

Thanks for the information.

I accepted their invitation to visit a meeting, and I came away with some impressions as an outsider.

Good things:  Augmentation of the USCG by the Aux is smooth.  An Aux. officer matches USCG needs with Aux skills.  CAP should do that to augment the USAF, but all I see of the USAF augmentation program is that National designed a new uniform for it.

     Everyone was in ONE uniform.  And everyone appeared to wear it properly.

Bad things:  Very confusing alphabet-soup system of assignments.  It must take forever to learn, especially with "Division" and "District" both starting with the letter "D."

     The absence of earned rank but rank insignia used for office holders, some with red letters, some with blue, and always wearing the highest office earned seemed to me to be confusing.   

[RiverAux]

The Aux is pretty addicted to using two-letter identifiers for its various staff officer positions and that had me confused as a new member for quite a while.   The only confusing equivalent I've seen in CAP is that crazy staff structure used in Southeast Region.  Otherwise I've almost never heard a CAP staff office position referred to by the two letter abbreviation we're supposed to use in correspondence, with the exception of the CC. 

Regarding uniforms we're usually pretty good about mostly being in tropical blue long in the summer, but in the winter a lot of folks wear the ODU because it is warmer so those meetings have quite a mix. 

They're sort of going away from the different colored As -- on the ODU they're all black now.  I suspect the same might happen on the shoulder boards at some point. 

[RVT]

The Aux is pretty addicted to using two-letter identifiers for its various staff officer positions and that had me confused as a new member for quite a while.   The only confusing equivalent I've seen in CAP is that crazy staff structure used in Southeast Region.  Otherwise I've almost never heard a CAP staff office position referred to by the two letter abbreviation we're supposed to use in correspondence, with the exception of the CC. 

They're sort of going away from the different colored "A"s -- on the ODU they're all black now.  I suspect the same might happen on the shoulder boards at some point.

The red & blue "A"'s are already gone on ODU.  All of them are black now.  The "A" is being taken off the shoulder boards completely next revision.

Which brings me to another point - my favorite CG Aux uniform is the Ops Polo.  I've been wondering why CAP doesn't use a combination like that.   We already have all of the pieces for it.  No development time or procurement issues.

For those who don't know - the CG Aux Ops Polo outfit consists of a blue polo shirt (which CAP already has) and Blue BDU style pants (which CAP also already has).

Its functional, comfortable, durable, and presents a consistant appearance, vs a hundred shades & styles of grey.  And there is also a precedent for it - look at CAWG's ground team uniform.

[MIKE]

The "A" is being taken off the shoulder boards completely next revision.

Source?

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

During my time as an Auxiliarist in that fine, committed organisation of volunteers, I came up with a few conclusions uniform-wise:

Theirs made a lot more sense than CAP.  I saw people of all shapes and sizes with and without facial hair wearing the modified CG uniform.

The alphabet soup of office symbols never made sense to me.  During my time with them I was an FSO-SR (wearing an ensign's gold bar with a red A, and a single sleeve ring with a red A in the shield) and a VFC (wearing a LTJG's silver bar with a blue A and one-and-a-half sleeve rings with a silver A in the shield).

Since you held no rank, you were obligated to salute any and all officers of the Armed Forces, from WO1 to O-10.

I got saluted a fair bit (especially by the Navy) and called by rank titles I did not hold ("Good morning, Ensign," "Good afternoon, Lieutenant").

The CGAUX as a whole were very zealous about not having rank titles.  However, I did see a few proposals floated (ouch!), such as doing away with the different-coloured "A's" (which sounds like is happening; though I never heard anything about deleting the "A" entirely) and standardising on a solid silver shield for sleeve braid.  I heard proposals for having rank titles such as ENS(AUX), LTJG(AUX), CAPT(AUX), but it never went anywhere.

However, confusingly, District Commodores and up do use the rank of "Commodore" (COMO), a title not used in the CG (or Navy), though they wear silver Admiral's-type shoulder boards.

It kind of sucked having to have two sets of insignia - "member" when augmenting the CG, and "office" when not.

However, it was really cool being able to earn some of the same decorations the active CG does...there's no reason we couldn't do that in CAP with the civilian awards the Air Force grants.

[RVT]

However, I did see a few proposals floated (ouch!), such as doing away with the different-coloured "A's" (which sounds like is happening; though I never heard anything about deleting the "A" entirely) and standardising on a solid silver shield for sleeve braid.

When I said the "A was going away I was referring to the solid silver shield.  I should have said "going away on dress uniforms".  I was verifying what you said as being correct, or at least attempting to.

[arBar]

I met my first couple of CGAux members this week while visiting a Bass Pro shop.  They were polite and professional, looked good in their uniforms, and impressed me overall.  I was amazed that one of the gentlemen offered to do an inspection on my boat at my home or other preferred place.

I got information about their meetings and hope to visit soon.  I'd really like to learn more about this flotilla and the organization as a whole.  I doubt seriously that I could join both groups though.

Yes at first glance I swore they were Air Force or CAP until I got upclose.  Their uniforms are distinct from ours and the AF but close enough to be mistaken at a distance.

[Slim]

I met my first couple of CGAux members this week while visiting a Bass Pro shop.  They were polite and professional, looked good in their uniforms, and impressed me overall.  I was amazed that one of the gentlemen offered to do an inspection on my boat at my home or other preferred place.

I got information about their meetings and hope to visit soon.  I'd really like to learn more about this flotilla and the organization as a whole.  I doubt seriously that I could join both groups though.

Yes at first glance I swore they were Air Force or CAP until I got upclose.  Their uniforms are distinct from ours and the AF but close enough to be mistaken at a distance.

If you have the time and ability, go for it.  I was a dual member for about 5 years, and enjoyed the different aspects of both organizations.  I actually got a little more out of my CGAux membership, being in an area with one of the highest concentrations of recreational boaters in the country, and supporting  one of the busiest boat stations in the Coast Guard.  But, when the free time became less and less, and the requirements to stay current in the CGAux started going up, I decided that I had to make a decision as to which master I wanted to serve. 

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

I have been a member of both, though not simultaneously.  However, I have known a couple of dual-members.  I also knew a few ex-CAP members in the CGAUX who were thoroughly disaffected with CAP and didn't hesitate to let me know it.  That was where I first heard the phrase "the Air Force's red-haired stepchild (sanitised version)."

The financial outlay to be a member of both is considerable, especially maintaining two sets of uniforms.  Some of the items are interchangeable (light blue shirt, wooly pully, lightweight jacket, trenchcoat) but the real expensive stuff isn't.

Both organisations have their value, though very different.  Probably the reason I left the CGAUX was the prevailing attitude among many of the members that "if you don't have your own boat you're less of an Auxie."

The CGAUX is both more and less "military" than CAP.

"More" in the sense that they are far more integrated with their parent service and have a much less adversarial relationship than CAP with the AF.

"Less" in the sense that even though the member you see may have a lot more rings and ribbons than you do, s/he does not "outrank" you, you do not salute one another (though you do render one to any and all commissioned and warrant officers of the Armed Forces; a WO1 outranks a CGAUX officer wearing stars), and you call each other by name.  I found that the CG actually shows up at Auxiliary activities and functions a lot more than the AF does with CAP (YMMV).

I also found that unless you live very near a CGAS, your opportunities to take part in Auxiliary Aviation are extremely limited, as are your opportunities to augment with USCG aircraft.

But it is a worthy pursuit...and the uniforms are cool!

[Patterson]

So how does the CG AUX get away with wearing uniforms and insignia that look so very similar to the actual CG?? 

Sounds to me that they had better leadership at a time when CAP leadership was less than sub-par.