We provide the leverage in a number of areas – in fact, of the 11 Congressionally-mandated tasks asked of from the USCG, USCG Auxiliarists somewhere, someplace, are executing 7 of them.
Certainly, Maritime Domain Awareness and our allied Focused Lens data collection activities are a key point of leverage for active-duty via we Auxiliarists. No one has to remind us that the world remains a dangerous place, both on- and off-shore. So, simply put, if you see something, say something. But in this era of ever-tightening budgets, we’re needed more and more, for more and more.
In this same vein, District Commodore Alex Malewski and I have been invited onto the monthly Command cadre call with all the active-duty Captains and chaired by the district admiral. This was started under Rear Admiral Fagan and has been retained by her relief as District Commander, Rear Admiral Poulin.
Further, the USCG Auxiliary is fully engaged in active-duty’s planning activities across their needs and initiatives. Given our “lasting nature”, vs the 2-3 year tours that our active-duty shipmates have to live under, our value to the Coast Guard is further enhanced.
So, if this isn’t the Golden Age of the Auxiliary, I don’t know what is – as long as “golden” is defined as “urgently needed!”
And the “High Season” is upon us – VEs, PVs, PA, Ops and/and/and – so let’s have at it. And thank you again for your service and God bless us, our families, the US Coast Guard and the United States of America.
Respectfully,
Vin Pica
Commodore Vincent T. Pica, II
District Directorate Chief – Innovation & Strategy
Immediate Past District Commodore
First District Southern Region
The Golden Age of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary Is Now – And You Are Part of It!
Many of you have heard me say that the lower the Coast Guard’s budget goes, the higher our stock goes – and our stock is higher than Google’s right now! The Federal Government continues to operate under sequestration while at the same time keeping the finest armed forces in the world ever at the ready, globally, in a world that seems to get ever more dangerous and unpredictable.
Immediate Past District Commodore's Message