IN THIS STORY:
>New friends and old friends
>Apple pie and safe boating
>Eyes, ears, rudders, and wings
>Changing roles
>Name your pace
>Ready for anything
>Into the future

Printable version

Fall 2003 Issue

Like most Americans, Jim O'Connor was profoundly affected by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Living in Oak Harbor, Wash., O'Connor was far removed from the attacks, so he did what his instincts told him to do: On Sept. 12, O'Connor tried to reenlist in the Navy.

Never mind that he was 58 years old. O'Connor had two Navy tours in Vietnam under his belt and a 25-year career with Motorola behind him. "None of us are finished serving our country," O'Connor says with pride, then admits that the local Navy office "very diplomatically" told him that his age made him ineligible to reenlist.

Undaunted, O'Connor turned to the Internet. "I was trying to find a branch of the military that didn't have an age requirement," he explains.

He found what he was looking for; three days later he was a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

When working for the auxiliary, O'Connor is an unpaid volunteer who can do anything an active duty Coast Guard member can except law enforcement or combat duties. He is under orders of the U.S. Coast Guard and wears a uniform that to the untrained eye looks like an active duty Coast Guard uniform.

New friends and old friends

The Coast Guard has taken the old rhyme, "make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold," to heart. Volunteers are known as the "silver side" while active duty personnel are the "gold side," because auxiliary uniforms have a silver braid on their shoulders and active duty have a gold braid, explains Lt. Cmdr. Kelly Boodell, the active duty officer who directs auxiliary affairs for Coast Guard District 13, where O'Connor lives. By using the volunteer auxiliary, the Coast Guard gains a wealth of labor and expertise from both experienced military personnel and others who have never worn a uniform.

Boodell characterizes the auxiliary as "sort of a temp agency" for the Coast Guard. "Every time an auxiliary member can do a job for the Coast Guard, it frees up an active duty person for something else," O'Connor explains. Assistant Commandant of the Coast Guard Rear Adm. Kevin Eldridge agrees: "The auxiliary is part of Team Coast Guard. They have been an absolutely critical force multiplier since [Sept. 11]."

Apple pie and safe boating

They don't get a paycheck, but the volunteer members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary cite many reasons for putting on their uniforms. "A lot of them do it for mom, apple pie, and America," says Eldridge. Some join for the training. Volunteers can take advantage of free, advanced instruction from the Coast Guard in search and rescue, towing, radio operations, aids to navigation, and other boating skills.

Bob and Joan Lewis, who joined the auxiliary just after Sept. 11, live on a 48-foot powerboat at a downtown Seattle marina. Soon after the terrorist attack, Bob noticed an article in the local newspaper lamenting the Coast Guard's lack of resources, and Joan took the news to heart. "I'm a native New Yorker, so Sept. 11 was a personal loss for me," she explains, "I was looking out here at the bay watching the Coast Guard cutters and helicopters and said, 'If these guys are out here defending us, who's taking care of boating safety?' "

The Lewis' enthusiasm for their auxiliary work almost bubbles over as Bob, a former Navy air intelligence officer, explains, "It was exciting to think that maybe we could help, that maybe we could give back to the country." So, the Lewises joined the auxiliary, never imagining they would gain as much as they were giving. Joan, now a Coast Guard-qualified coxswain, can command a boat under Coast Guard orders, something she never saw herself doing. "To have the confidence to do this is wonderful, especially as a woman," she enthuses.

Director of a health insurance program for the state of Washington, Joan is impressed with the quality of training she has received. "I've had lots of management training as a state employee," she explains, "but I've never [before] gotten the kind of leadership and management training that I've received from the Coast Guard."

An added bonus for the Lewises was a chance to work with Joan Lunden, who moderated an Arts and Entertainment (a&e) Channel documentary about the Coast Guard. Coast Guard officials asked the Lewises to help by allowing their boat to be used as a film platform for the a&e crew, which also gave Joan Lewis a chance to complete her coxswain qualification. "One of the requirements for coxswain training is to be able to hold a boat in position for a set amount of time," she explains. During the filming, she held the boat for an extended period as Lunden jumped on and off their boat to be "rescued" by a Coast Guard helicopter. "It was extremely difficult," says Joan Lewis, the pride evident in her voice. "But it was fun!"

Eyes, ears, rudders, and wings

Boodell coordinates the activities of about 1,900 auxiliary members in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, and calls the auxiliary the "eyes and ears" of the Coast Guard. "When auxiliarists are patrolling, they have Coast Guard placards on their boats, they wear uniforms and orange vests, so when an untrained observer looks at them, the presence of the Coast Guard is there."

Auxiliary members use their own boats but are reimbursed for the cost of fuel and oil when under orders. The Coast Guard also uses auxiliary pilots to fly observation missions in privately owned planes. The Coast Guard often relies on information relayed from auxiliary members to augment its resources. For example, in early May, an auxiliary pilot on an observation mission off the Florida coast alerted the Coast Guard to a boat of Cuban immigrants, providing time to intercept the boat before it reached shore.

Changing roles

The Coast Guard, in the view of volunteer David Bickford of Key Largo, Fla., is the "only branch of the military that is always doing something every day rather than training for future missions." With its focus on protecting the nation's 95,000 miles of coastline and 361 ports, the Coast Guard remains responsible for its day-to-day missions, including search and rescue and promoting boating safety. That is why today, as in years past, the Coast Guard turns to the auxiliary as an essential force multiplier.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary was formed during another era when the nation's coastline seemed especially vulnerable. On June 23, 1939, Congress created the Coast Guard Reserve, with the stipulation that it would be a nonmilitary service composed of volunteer U.S. citizens. These unpaid reservists would use their own boats to take over the boating safety mission, freeing the active duty Coast Guard for more coastal patrols.

In February 1941, Congress converted the Coast Guard Reserve into a military branch of the active service but retained the volunteer corps by creating the Coast Guard Auxiliary. When the United States entered World War II, 50,000 volunteer auxiliary members had signed on to help, allowing the Coast Guard to meet all its mission demands, even during wartime.

After the war, the auxiliary focused on its boating-safety mission, with members educating recreational boaters in subjects ranging from basic boating skills to advanced navigation. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996 solidified the role of the auxiliary by authorizing members to perform any Coast Guard function, duty, role, or mission authorized by law.

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