First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting Auxiliary Surface Operations Qualifications Woods Hole DCP Meeting October 2005 Edwin “Ned” Kroeker First District Northern Region Qualification Examiner Coordinator Home Office Fax Wireless

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting Background: BCQP is 21 years old The Auxiliary Boat Crew Qualification Program is intended to facilitate the qualification of members in surface operations, not to act as a “rite of passage” or an unnecessary burden The process must be professional and complete Not all Auxiliary members are suited for surface operations roles, even if motivated.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting QEs are Extensions of OTO The DIRAUX Operations and Training Officer (OTO) cannot perform evaluations of all candidates, yet the OTO is the CG individual that certifies Auxiliary members. Qualification Examiners (QEs) are the objective and subjective evaluators for the OTO. QEs must be the best and most experienced coxswains possible to be most effective. Station/Group/Sector issue orders (or not) later, but do not certify.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting QEs Evaluate a candidate as a leader in stressful situations. A coxswain holds the ultimate safety of the crew and vessel in their hands. Crew must operate safely. Evaluate seamanship, specific task/procedure skills. Evaluate future independent performance safely, under USCG policy, and as a USCG representative.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting Scheduling QE Sessions A list of QEs appears in the front section of the D1NR Directory; call or directly. QEs are district resources, but the idea is to schedule QEs who live close by. Longer distance is OK (QEs can get travel reimbursement through OTO over 50 miles). Contact QE Coordinator if there is trouble scheduling, or more than 1 or 2 QEs are needed.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting QE Questions or Problems The QE Coordinator is the ombudsman for the program; call or or write confidentially if there is a quality issue or other problem. The QE Coordinator can answer questions about specific candidates, particularly REYR questions.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting Boat Crew Currency Flow Updated in 2005 to address known major problems. Currency form is ALWAYS handled by IS. Years 1-4 coxswain signs form (self-certify or for crewmembers). Year 5 QE signs. SO-IS processes all. For 5 yr: QE also sends letter/note about 5 th year candidates to OTO, who handles ONLY the 5 year QE approval task (this is in addition to QE signing the candidate’s currency form for the IS chain) Online 7030 in POMS can have currency details supplied for electronic submission to SO-IS. Paper currency form is ultimate backup, and candidates should leave a patrol with their paper copy for their records.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting Boat Crew Currency Flow It is each individual member’s responsibility to know what they must do to maintain currency. Qualification in the program included understanding of member requirements! Leadership can help by increasing member awareness and monitoring necessary items.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting 2005 Communications DSO-IS and OTO have provided multiple currency updates to division and flotilla leadership QEC has ed directly to members at the beginning and near the end of the season to identify possible recordkeeping lapses. AUXINFO (available to all members) and AUXDATA (also available to all, but technically more complex) provide leadership and members with info; but ask IS chain or QEC and any information will be gladly provided.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting REWK Status REWK status only means that a required annual operations workshop was not recorded. Explicit OTO action is needed after rectifying workshop; REWK doesn’t go away automatically. There is no mandatory operations national workshop for Woods Hole has an annual meeting to cover Woods Hole specific items. Certification is suspended (trainee only, no hours, no tasks) while in REWK.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting REYR Status REYR status means that some prior year currency requirement was not met (TCT, 5 Year QE approval, NavRules, previous year workshop, underway hours, underway tasks) Depends upon how long in REYR what steps are required to get certification back. Certification is suspended (trainee only, no hours, no tasks) while in REYR.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting How to Get out of REYR Auxiliary Boat Crew Training Manual is the reference: M with CH-1: Chapter 5, Section B Recertification. Ask QEC about any specific candidate and you can receive the specific items the candidate must rectify and how. Process depends upon how many years the candidate has been in REYR. Explicit OTO action is needed after rectifying items; REYR doesn’t go away automatically.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting Certification and POMS POMS does not manage certification and facilities, AUXDATA does. POMS is only the gatekeeper to underway orders. AUXDATA changes take 24 hours to be imported into POMS. Problems in POMS means problems in AUXDATA that must be fixed. DON’T BLAME POMS, CHECK AUXDATA.

First District Northern Region Woods Hole October 2005 DCP Meeting Q & A