The 1950s
A national conference of Commodores and Directors in 1951 made major changes in the Auxiliary's organizational structure. The positions of National Commodore and National Vice Commodore were created. Those officials would preside over a National Board of the Auxiliary, which would also include all the District Commodores and the immediate past National Commodore. The first National Commodore, elected in 1951, was Bert C. Pouncey, Jr.
By the early 1950s the Auxiliary was offering an eight-lesson course in "Outboard Safety." During the next few years one-lesson and three-lesson basic courses were added. Individual flotillas experimented with their own education programs. In Falmouth, Massachusetts, for instance, the Auxiliary helped organize a Young Sailors' Organization for teenagers. By the mid-fifties more than thirty thousand men and women had taken part in Auxiliary education programs. A strong boost came from the insurance industry. Several major insurance firms began charging reduced premiums for boats that passed CMEs and owners who passed the courses.
In 1958, largely due to lobbying efforts by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Congress passed Public Law 85-455. The President of the United States was thereby authorized "to proclaim annually the week including July 4th as National Safe Boating Week." The event was later moved to the second week of June. It is marked each year by a stepped-up campaign to encourage boat owners to get their CMEs, along with boating safety displays at regattas, boat shows, and shopping malls. Movie and television stars, along with other national celebrities, have helped publicize National Safe Boating Week over the years.
The third cornerstone is "Operations." The Auxiliary assists the Coast Guard in several of its non-military functions, including search-and-rescue (SAR), safety, regatta, and harbor patrols, and checking aids to navigation (ATON).
The postwar Coast Guard had a Congressional mandate to cut its personnel from a wartime high of more than 175,000 to 18,000 - before all its wartime duties were completed. As late as 1947, for example, regular Coast Guardsmen were still manning several big Army transport vessels that were bringing troops home from Europe and the Far East. The Coast Guard came to rely on the Auxiliary to fill in the gaps. Postwar austerity threatened to close several Coast Guard stations on the Great Lakes; Auxiliarists manned them until the Coast Guard could find the necessary manpower. When another series of floods struck the Mississippi Valley in 1947, 9th District Auxiliarists used their boats to evacuate victims and carry supplies.
In 1952 the Commandant of the Coast Guard, ADM Merlin O'Neill (earlier the first Chief Director of the Auxiliary), authorized the creation of Auxiliary Operational Units (AUXOPS). Specially-trained groups, each consisting of fifty Auxiliarists, five boats, two aircraft, and two radio stations, would be organized to assist the Coast Guard in emergencies. A few years later the arrangement was converted to a specialized, rigorous training program for individual Auxiliarists. A member who passed seven courses (Administration, Communications, Patrols, Piloting, Seamanship, Search-and-Rescue, and Weather) would be eligible for the coveted AUXOP status, symbolized by an insignia incorporating a wreath of excellence.
Fellowship is the Coast Guard Auxiliary's fourth cornerstone. Membership in the Auxiliary is a source of pride, satisfaction, and fun. Meetings on the flotilla, district, division, and national levels give Auxiliarists the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process, exchange ideas, and share their good will - not only with each other but with members of the public. Since 1964 the culminating event of each year has been the fall National Meeting, which features an address by the Commandant of the Coast Guard.
The legislation creating the Auxiliary opened membership in it to citizens of the United States, without restriction as to gender. Just when the first woman joined the Auxiliary is unclear. At least a few women were members in the 7th District by late 1941, and by 1945 Coast Guard regulations for female Auxiliarists' uniforms were in print.
The reception accorded female Auxiliarists by their male counterparts apparently varied from place to place. When four women joined Flotilla 61 (Sacramento, California) in 1957, the minutes of the next flotilla meeting hailed their arrival: "Welcome aboard, girls! It's time we glamourized a bit." In other cases, perhaps because they felt unwelcome in the existing flotillas, women formed their own. In the late forties at least one flotilla, #525 in Boston, consisted entirely of women; it had no boats or aircraft, and its operations apparently consisted of performing clerical work for its division. By the end of the fifties all-female flotillas were operating in Detroit, Louisville, Memphis, Mobile, and Massaguan, New Jersey.
The 1950s saw the creation of the Coast Guard Bronze Plaque of Merit. Known informally as the "A" Award, it is presented by order of the Commandant of the Coast Guard to Auxiliarists who save lives at the risk of their own. A few years later the Coast Guard established the Certificate of Merit, or "B" Award, presented at the Commandant's discretion for "exceptional meritorious services in furtherance of the organization and its purposes."
In 1955 the Auxiliary inaugurated an effort to assist the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut in attracting qualified potential cadets. That concept METAmorphosed by 1966 into the Academy Introductory Mission (AIM).
Each year the Auxiliary selects about 125 academically- and physically-qualified high school juniors to spend the first full week in August at the Coast Guard Academy, getting a taste of cadet life and learning about career options for Coast Guard officers. Since 1976, when New London opened its doors to female cadets, young women have participated in the program. The Academy regards the AIM program as one of its most important and successful recruiting tools.
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