United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
| United States Coast Guard Auxiliary | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Active | June 23, 1939 – present (77 years, 7 months) |
| Country |
 United States of America
|
| Branch |
 United States Coast Guard
|
| Type | Civilian auxiliary |
| Size | 32,000 Auxiliarists |
| Part of |  Department of Homeland Security |
| Motto(s) | Semper Paratus |
| Colors | White, Red, Blue |
| March | Semper Paratus |
| Engagements |
World War II |
| Decorations |
 Presidential Unit Citation Coast Guard Unit Commendation
|
| Commanders | |
| Commandant of the Coast Guard | Admiral Paul F. Zukunft |
| Chief Director of Auxiliary | Captain F. Thomas Boross, USCG |
| National Commodore | Commodore Rick Washburn |
| Insignia | |
| Racing Stripe |  |
| Flag |  |
| Flag (1940) | .svg){kind=small} |
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCG Aux) is the uniformed auxiliary component of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). Congress established the USCG Aux on June 23, 1939, as the United States Coast Guard Reserve. On February 19, 1941, it was re-designated the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Auxiliary exists to support all USCG missions except roles that require "direct" law enforcement or military engagement. As of 2015, there were approximately 32,000 members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Collectively the Auxiliary contributes over 4.5 million hours of service each year and completed nearly 500,000 missions in service to support the Coast Guard. Every year Auxiliarists help to save approximately 500 lives, assist 15,000 distressed boaters, conduct over 150,000 safety examinations of recreational vessels, and provide boater safety instruction to over 500,000 students. In total the Coast Guard Auxiliary saves taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
The development of the single-operator motorboat, and later the outboard engine, during the early 20th century increased the number of recreational boaters operating on federal waters. By 1939 there were more than 300,000 personal watercraft in operation. The previous year the Coast Guard had received 14,000 calls for assistance and had responded to 8,600 "in-peril" cases. On June 23, 1939, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation that established the Coast Guard Reserve, the volunteer civilian component of the Coast Guard, to promote boating safety and to facilitate the operations of the Coast Guard. Boat Owners organized into flotillas within Coast Guard districts around the United States. These volunteers conducted safety and security patrols and helped enforce the 1940 Federal Boating and Espionage Acts. In February 1941, congress created the United States Coast Guard Reserve and renamed the volunteer reserve as the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Beginning in 1942, in response to the growing German U-Boat threat to the United States, the U.S. Navy ordered the acquisition of the "maximum practical number of civilian craft in any way capable of going to sea in good weather for a period of at least 48 hours." A large number of vessels, owned and piloted by Auxiliarists with crews made-up of Coast Guard Reservists, made-up the bulk of the American coastal anti-submarine warfare capability during the early months of World War II. As newly constructed warships took over the load, the Coast Guard abandoned the concept. None of the two thousand civilian craft, armed with depth charges stowed awkwardly on their decks, ever sank a submarine, though they did rescue several hundred survivors of torpedoed merchant ships.
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Wikipedia