comdtinst m16114.32c - U.S. Coast Guard

Part 2 – Operations and Missions
Chapter 2 – Mission Planning
Section H. Auxiliary
Introduction
In 1939, Congress established a U.S. Coast Guard Reserve administered
by the Commandant and composed of unpaid, volunteer U.S. citizens
who owned motorboats or yachts. In 1941, Congress created a military
Reserve and renamed the original volunteer Reserve as the Coast Guard
Auxiliary.
Today the Coast Guard Auxiliary is a force composed of approximately
31,000 volunteers, who are not contractually obligated, but eagerly
volunteer the use of their privately owned vessels, time and/or expertise
toward the completion of Coast Guard missions.
Auxiliary activities range from providing patrols using private vessels or
aircraft, manning certain watch stations, to acting as part of a cutter or
boat crew during certain missions. Indeed, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is
a robust force multiplier when mission tasking is appropriate for the
auxiliary platform capability, and mission & training support are
provided.
This section addresses only surface operations.
H.1.
Platform
Operations
Per Reference (y), Auxiliary facilities are platforms (usually privately
owned) from which the Auxiliary directly conducts authorized CG
missions using either an all Auxiliary crew or an Auxiliary crew
augmented with CG personnel.
Example: an Auxiliary facility crew may be augmented with a CG
Boarding Officer to support certain Coast Guard law enforcement
missions and activities in limited circumstances, i.e. when there is a low
chance of detecting and/or encountering criminal activities. Specific
guidance is contained in References (c) and (d).
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