USCGA
USCGA-FLYING TO SUPPORT THE U.S. COAST GUARD – MAYBE
Have you ever had a really good idea, but when you looked around you saw a mountain between you and it? I think that fairly describes the barriers to U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA) pilot membership today. In my case, the mountain is paperwork; one application after another and security checks that may take a year to be approved – or not.
The more I looked at this process, the more it looked like a maze on a mountainside designed not to bring people in, but to keep people out. Think about it; would you wait up to a year to see if you’ve been accepted into a position – especially if you were volunteering?
USCGA
To begin with the USCGA members weren’t always quick to respond, however they were all helpful in pointing me in the right direction. It took me about two weeks to get a response from a current USCGA member and another week before a referred member contacted me. I was then encouraged to complete an application, read a 90-page New Member Guide (spelling out all the application procedures, requirements and rules).
Then it was suggested that I take an open-book test based upon those 90 pages I just read. Another week passed when a USCGA member informed me that N71RJ would not be acceptable to the USCGA because it is experimental. A day later, I was informed that this was not true. I breathed easier because we are a package deal!
Is there a better way? This seems especially absurd considering civilian agency heads, including the USCG, (which comes under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security, HS) can and are appointed at the snap of a finger.
Further,
few agency heads have any military experience. These folks are in a position to make decisions that effect our entire planet and our survival. Me, I’m only a pilot of a little airplane. I wonder if each agency applicant has to read a 90-page manual and be tested on it too. If they flunk the test are they still appointed? From what I read in the national news it sometimes looks that way today. Perhaps instead of applying at the bottom, perhaps I should take the much easier route and start at the top and work my way down?
Seriously, I do like climbing tall mountains – just not paper ones where I also have to navigate streams of black ink. For America, I’ve already climbed a few of the tallest mountains in the contiguous USA. So what’s another one? I’ll take on this challenge and succeed or fail because the way I see it, at least I’ll learn a few new things like performing a water rescue, meet great people and see what I’m able to do – especially with N71RJ.
To spare you the 90 pages, you can learn more about the USCG and USCGA at http://www.dhs.gov
Footnote:
The USCG Auxiliary recently streamlined the application process for all member applicants. Pilots still will have to wait up to a year because they undergo an extensive and long security check and training to qualify for the left seat.
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