August 2010 Commanders Comments

"The success of the Coast Guard Auxiliary will depend upon the extent of your participation and upon the quality of the Auxiliary leaders that you, the member, select." - Prologue to the Coast Guard Auxiliary new member pledge


Shipmates,
We are completing another outstanding summer of boating safety and operations activity -- thank you for your service across our mission areas and a special thank you to everyone who works in the background to make our activities successful. The prologue to our new member pledge correctly notes that our success is directly tied to the leaders we select for the Auxiliary. As we move towards fall it is time to consider participating in the elected and staff leadership of your Flotilla or the Division in 2011. We elect our Flotilla Commanders and Vice Commanders directly and these elected members select the staff for our programs. Before this can happen we, as members, must self select -- we must be willing to take up the leadership roles in our units and make this willingness known. I encourage each of you to consider taking up the challenge of leadership and, if you have already done so, consider continuing your current role or seeking a new position. While many of us hope to continue in our current roles we are a better organization when the next cycle of leaders are making themselves known. Those of us in elected positions serve a maximum of two, one year terms. In many cases transitions happen more often than every two years due to choices of the leader or circumstances beyond the leader's control.


Members seeking elected office must pass the Administrative Procedures Course (APC). This course is highly recommended for all staff officers as well and serves as a good introduction to the operation of the Auxiliary for all members. The APC is generally a self study course and the Auxiliary Manual is the primary text. There are student and instructor guides available from the National Training Department: http://www.cgaux.org/training/LeadershipTrainingCourses.html. The student guide includes a series of example test questions.


The APC test is taken online from the National Testing Center (http://ntc.cgaux.org/) which is accessed using your eDirectory/AuxOfficerDirectory/ShopAuxiliary password. The test has 40 questions, is not proctored and can be taken while referencing the Auxiliary Manual in an "open book" manner.


I also encourage you to discuss you interest with your elected and appointed leadership. These members can give you a sense of what the job entails.


Thank you for your service,
Daren