Question about USCG Aux.

[Major Carrales]

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.

No...it is more likely that it is a difference in mission and relationship with their Parent Service.

[Ned]

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

You're kidding, right?

CAP uniforms and insignia are indistinguishable from USAF uniforms by 95% of the general public as it stands.  Even folks who know the difference would have a hard time distinguishing the two from 10 yards out.

(CAP members, however, may be a different story.  They can be fairly distinctive at times.)

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

Nice.  Very constructive.  Just exactly the kind of anonymous sharpshooting that helps make the Air Force want to bring our uniforms more in line with theirs.

[PA Guy]

Nope.  It has to do with a different service and a different culture.  I'm a dual hatter.

[RVT]

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."

Not if you are boat crew qualified!  The boat owners love you then since they need a crew to take the boat out and the boat owners all want to use their own.  Fully qualified boat crew members who do NOT own their own boat are a valued commodity and you will have many friends.

Not to mention at least in my flotilla the boats are rather large.  You can't put an entire CAP squadron in any airplane we have - but we can send the flotilla commanders boat out with a crew of 23 if it ever made sense

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Nope.  It has to do with a different service and a different culture.  I'm a dual hatter.

Agreed.

The Coast Guard is the smallest armed service, hence it needs more "help."  It doesn't have the benefit of a very large Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve the way the AF does.  I'm not sure how big the CGRES is, but it's probably the smallest reserve component.  That's a big reason why the CGAUX is called upon so much by the CG brass.

And the uniforms aren't that similar to the CG.  All the insignia is silver - you even have to change-out the buttons from CG gold to Aux silver on the CG service dress.

When I was an Auxie we called the Aux the "silver side" and the CG/Res the "gold side."

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Not if you are boat crew qualified!

I was.

But also I lived inland, and the only boat I ever crewed on was quite small.

[RiverAux]

The reason I enjoy being in both is that with CG Aux I get to plan out when and where I do almost everything.  If I want to go do vessel safety checks on a nice sunny day, I go do them.  If I feel like patrolling, I find a coxswain going on patrol, etc., etc. 

With CAP you are pretty much restricted to waiting around for a SAR or DR to happen, and those are pretty few and far between.  But, when they happen, you have a chance to be somewhat useful.  For the most part, CG Aux doesn't get involved in such emergency situations.  Yes, I know that there is plenty of work to do in CAP, but just about all of it is mission support, not actual missions. 

[JK657]

Does anyone have a link to a CAPTALK- like forum for CGAUX?

[MIKE]

http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/7501922942

[RiverAux]

Unfortunately, it isn't very active in general and a fair percentage of the participants are former Aux members (some with serious axes to grind).  Also, military.com has some very dumb linking policies that make it a very difficult forum to use, but it is the most used one out there.

[DG]

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.

The CG Aux is part of the USCG.

The same organization.

Not so with CAP and the USAF.

[RiverAux]

Well, actually there is a "corporate" side of the CG Aux too, known as the CG Auxiliary Association that collects all our dues so there isn't really much difference except that the CG retains almost total control over anything important in the CG Aux (regulations, operational money, etc.) while the AF has delegated that authority to CAP the corporation (for the most part).  It wouldn't take much to put CAP in much the same situation as the CG Aux is.  Might even be able to do it under the current federal law regarding CAP. 

[Ltc Browne]

The Coast Guard wears the same color shirt, but a  brighter blue trouser.  The shirts do not have epilets on them, which was the old AF style prior to their eplilet shirts.

The USCG Auxiliary does wear simular uniforms as the Coast Guard, but the shoulderboards are different, just like CAP's Uniforms are simular to the AF.

[MIKE]

Your information is a little dated.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Your information is a little dated.

nah...it would have really been out of date if the Lieutenant Colonel's information still had the CG and Aux wearing the double-breasted Navy uniform.

[SAR-EMT1]

Nope.  It has to do with a different service and a different culture.  I'm a dual hatter.

Agreed.

The Coast Guard is the smallest armed service, hence it needs more "help."  It doesn't have the benefit of a very large Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve the way the AF does.  I'm not sure how big the CGRES is, but it's probably the smallest reserve component.  That's a big reason why the CGAUX is called upon so much by the CG brass.

A decade or so ago the USCG Aux was actually larger than the Active duty force and Reserves combined.

Coast Guard AD 40,000
Coast Guard Auxiliary 30,000
Coast Guard Reserve used to be 7,500  pre 9/11. Since then it has gone up to 8,000 world-wide with the addition of the Port Security Units which are manned 100 percent by Reservists.
Coast Guard Civilian 7,000

TOTAL: 85,000

By comparison

USAF AD 330,000
USAF Reserve  68,000
Air Guard  95,000
AF Website does not list numbers for Civilian Employees
But back when I was in ROTC they told us Civilians were around 50,000

TOTAL 550,000 give or take.

Approximately 75% of USCG Auxies actively participate in USCG designated missions from lake patrol to communications watchstanding on Active duty bases and everything in between. When he retired ADM Thad Allen  (former USCG/CC) remarked that without  Auxiliary support  the Coast Guard "would not have survived" in the period after 9/11. He then announced that the Coast Guard Auxiliary would as a whole receive the CG Unit Commendation for "performance of duty and support for the service... which was nothing short of stellar"

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

When he retired ADM Thad Allen  (former USCG/CC) remarked that without  Auxiliary support  the Coast Guard "would not have survived" in the period after 9/11. He then announced that the Coast Guard Auxiliary would as a whole receive the CG Unit Commendation for "performance of duty and support for the service... which was nothing short of stellar"

I was a CGAUXist then, and I received that ribbon, with the "O" operational device.

It takes a proud place on my USAF-type CAP uniform.

That's a big difference in the CGAUX and CAP...we haven't been eligible for military decorations since the Air Medals awarded during WWII, while the CGAUX can get most, if not all, of the noncombat related USCG decorations.

[GroundHawg]

I want to say there are 10-12 USCG awards that can be earned by Auxiliarists. I have a few for my service in the Auxiliary. I get questions on them all the time from people in both the CAP and the USAF Reserves. That by itself has gotten people from my reserve unit interested in the CG Aux. Honestly, I cant belive that as much as CAP does for the USAF, that they have never received any type of Unit Citation.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

Honestly, I cant belive that as much as CAP does for the USAF, that they have never received any type of Unit Citation.

That would take AF acknowledgement of CAP as an integral part of Air Force operations.

Maybe 30+ years ago, but sadly not now, nor anytime in the foreseeable future.

Part of that is the Air Force's fault (they don't even instruct new Airmen on who we are) but part of it is also the corporatist element in CAP that would like to see us ditch all connections with the Air Force (including uniforms and ranks) and be nothing more than a flying ES group.

[SAR-EMT1]

I was a CGAUXist then, and I received that ribbon, with the "O" operational device.

It takes a proud place on my USAF-type CAP uniform.

That's a big difference in the CGAUX and CAP...we haven't been eligible for military decorations since the Air Medals awarded during WWII, while the CGAUX can get most, if not all, of the noncombat related USCG decorations.

I ASSUME the "O" came from your actually being sent down there?