United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

EIGHTH WESTERN RIVERS REGION

Operational Plan

“Dedicated * Proficient *Professional”

2017-2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .......................................................................................... 3

Purpose .................................................................................................3

Scope ....................................................................................................3

Authority ..............................................................................................3

Background ......................................................................................... 3

Current Environment ...........................................................................3

Challenges ........................................................................................... 5

Operational Guidance .........................................................................6

Mission ............................................................................................... 6

Vision .................................................................................................. 6

Core Values and Concepts ................................................................... 7

Goals and Objectives Overview............................................................7

Goal 1 ........................................................................................ 8

Goal 2 ........................................................................................ 8

Goal 3 ........................................................................................ 9

Goal 4 ….................................................................................... 9

Goal 5 ........................................................................................ 10

Goal 6 ………………………………………………………… 10Goal 7 ………………………………………………………... 10

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Summary ............................................................................................. 11

IntroductionPurpose The purpose of this plan is to INSPIRE every member of 8th Western Rivers Region to improve, integrate, and maximize their efforts to support the District in the execution of and mission support for the United States Coast Guard 8th District, specifically Sectors Upper and Lower Mississippi River and the heartland of America. As Shipmates working to support the Coast Guard – we are all in this together. We are a team. Remember TEAM is Together Everyone Achieves More. When one member struggles, we all struggle. When one member triumphs, we all triumph. We leave no Shipmate behind, but are committed to EVERY Shipmate’s success.

ScopeThe scope of this Operational Plan is to provide the Divisions of District 8 Western Rivers Region a plan whereby they may establish and prioritize their programs for implementing the District’s goals and objectives to better support the U.S. Coast Guard. This document is to focus the activities of the District over the next five years and to achieve both the short and long term goals of the District and the Divisions. A coordinated effort enhances the District's operational capabilities, public education efforts, vessel safety programs and fellowship activities, with the overall intent to involve and include every member of the District. This Operational Plan will provide the direction and reflect the programs that will be developed to meet the needs of both Sector Upper and Lower Mississippi as a result of the GAP Analysis conducted by the District Incident Management Team.

AuthorityThis Operational Plan has been developed under the authority of the District Commodore, 8th Western Rivers Region with the review of the District Board. The District Commodore derives his authority for this plan from the guidelines established in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Manual as well as the Coast Guard Auxiliary National Strategic Plan.

The District Commodore is responsible for the effective management and administration of all District activities in order to meet missions, department, and enterprise program goals. The District Commodore additionally is responsible to develop a workable plan of goals and

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objectives in order for the District to become more productive, efficient, and effective element in supporting the Auxiliary and the Coast Guard.

BackgroundCurrent EnvironmentIn this, its 77th year of operations, the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, the 27,000-strong, uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard, embraces its vision to be the best trained, most valued maritime volunteer organization in the world-highly effective during normal operations and ready for response to emergencies that arise.

Answering the call to duty in performance of its mission, the Auxiliary incorporates the Coast Guard Commandant’s guiding principles of Service to the Nation, Duty to People, and Commitment to Excellence.

As we strive to meet the principles established by the Commandant, we will accomplish each point by:

● Service to Nation :1. We’ll continue to place Service Above Self and give our best effort with whatever time

we have to offer.2. We’ll continue our enduring legacy of serving our Nation with the humility,

teamwork, initiative and reliable follow-through that has made us the greatest volunteer maritime organization in the world.

3. We will know our mission. We will know our role in that mission. We will ensure readiness for all missions.

4. We will maintain operational focus and training in prevention and response missions.5. We will provide for outreach and strengthen our partnership programs.6. In focusing our efforts, our priority will be to place emphasis on all three missions as

outlined in the Commandant’s Policy Statement

● Duty to People :1. We will get to know our people. We will remain dedicated to the people we serve with

and for.2. We will align members’ interests and capabilities with opportunities to serve.3. We will live the core values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty.4. We will work together to ensure a safe, professional, positive, inclusive, supportive,

and respectful workplace.5. We will proactively attract, develop, engage, and retain the most talented professionals

in the world to maximize our value to the public we serve.6. We will reflect the vast diversity of the American public we serve.7. We will strive to make each member’s experience mutually rewarding and fulfilling.

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● Commitment to Excellence :1. To fulfill our vision as the best trained, most valued maritime volunteer organization

in the world-highly effective during normal operations and ready for any emergencies-we must remain true to our motto – Semper Paratus- and be Always Ready.

2. Professional excellence will be our standard in all our endeavors.3. We will execute our missions safely with our highest level of proficiency, dedicated to

excellence, and professionally.4. We will strive to achieve the highest standards of proficiency, mission readiness, safety

and professionalism. This is our responsibility-not only to our public-but also to each other.

5. We will emphasize unity of effort, flexibility, continuous innovation, learning, evolution and growth.

6. We will provide mission support excellence to the Coast Guard, we’ll simplify and standardize our procedures and seek to match capacity and capabilities for optimal support and find ways to reduce reliance on Coast Guard financial resources.

7. With every member of the Auxiliary being a leader and the best volunteer organization that needs the best leaders in every flotilla, we will develop initiatives and provide resources that emphasizes ongoing leadership training to be just as important as job qualification training.

8. New leadership training, coaching and criteria will be established to nurture our culture via servant leaders who understand that to aspire to hold leadership positions is a noble goal.

ChallengesWe currently operate in a continually changing and complex environment. The Auxiliary will continue to be challenged to continue our support of the Coast Guard and do more with our volunteer force. This environment in which our members must operate will continue to be our greatest challenge. As we look forward we must find the ways to simplify the operations, yet meet our mission requirements with the sense of proficiency, dedicated to values of excellence and the professionalism of our Service.

New age of individuals coming up – more individualistic than in the past. Attracting, developing and retaining the underrepresented generation. By using the Auxiliary University Program throughout our District, we should cultivate, encourage and look for opportunities to bring this forward looking program to the universities and colleges in our area.

Recruiting and operating in a virtual world – in this world specialists are needed for everything and we need to find them and put them to work. We need to re-think how we accomplish our mission with teams of workers, working in an independent mode, yet maintaining unit integrity and cohesiveness. Technology must come to the forefront of our operations.

*The rapid pace of Technology Advancement - The Coast Guard Auxiliary, and therefore the District, will continue to be challenged by technological changes in boat design and

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equipment used within as well as outside the Auxiliary, and ever increasing demands on our personnel. We must train those that need assistance in the technical fields, provide for the training in specialized areas to support the Coast Guard needs requirements. Seek out subject matter experts (SME) to develop quality training for the members that will increase their skills and provide new areas for service.

* Continuing demands on a Limited Budget – This challenge affects the Coast Guard, the Auxiliary, the District, and each of our Flotillas and Divisions. With less available funding, Flotillas and Divisions will have less to use for such things as fuel to respond for meetings, training, and possible activation to supplement the Active Duty. Sequestration has had a major impact on all our operations and capabilities. A limited budget will continue to be a challenge for the foreseeable future of the Auxiliary. Finding better ways to conduct our operations on and off the water will continue to be a challenge to the District. By using smart venues for training and with staying reasonable with our travel requirements we can manage to stay within our limited budget.

* Interoperability – This has become one of the greatest challenges following September 11, 2001. The Coast Guard Auxiliary District 8 Western Rivers Region has taken the lead to address this problem by investing in updated equipment and additional resources for our facilities. This new equipment has expanded our capability allowing Auxiliary facilities the ability to better communicate when working with other First Responding units to a critical Incident. While we have taken great strides forward we need to continue to review our status in this arena and expand our abilities to work with and communicate to our partners in the marine environment.

* Review and fill the GAPS from the GAP Analysis – During the recent GAP Analysis conducted with both Sector Upper Mississippi River and Sector Lower Mississippi determined areas where the Sector needed Auxiliary support. Many of these areas are new and have left the District needing to conduct extensive recruitment of new members with skills that have not been identified before for the membership to fulfill.

Additionally, we will need to work with the Sectors to obtain the necessary training and other proficiency requirements so we can become a valuable and integral part of the Sector team.

These are only a few of the challenges faced by the Auxiliary as a whole and the District specifically. This Operational plan will help to address these issues as well as others in an attempt to move toward a more ready and capable force.

Operational Guidance By understanding and aligning the goals of the District with those of the United States Coast Guard and the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, we can enhance our mission execution. The Goals and Objectives that are identified in this plan will allow the Divisions to focus their efforts, as a group, on items that will incrementally improve the District and advance us, as a unit, toward those goals and objectives.

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MissionThe mission of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, as well as 8th Western Rivers Region, is the promotion of Recreational Boating Safety and supporting the Goals and Missions of the United States Coast Guard. This mission has, as a focus, the safety and security of the boating public and the citizens of the United States. To provide a diverse array of specialized skills, trained crews, and capable facilities to augment the Coast Guard and enhance the safety and security of our ports and waterways. To provide support for Coast Guard operational, administrative and logistical requirements to help meet mission readiness.

Vision8th Western Rivers Region as a part of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary stands ready with education, public service, and an overall enthusiasm to safeguard and serve the citizens of the United States and the Nation's maritime domain. Using our four cornerstones, member services, recreational boating safety, operations and marine safety and fellowship, as our guides to accomplish our missions with proficiency, dedication and professionally. Core Values and ConceptsInterrelated core values and concepts guide the way we do business. These values are summarized as:

*Dedicated – Dedication comes from the heart! We’ll continue to place Service Above Self and give our best efforts with whatever time we have to offer. We will remain dedicated to the core values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty. Dedication also requires one to be totally responsible for our actions and committed to our word. What we say, we will do! Being dedicated means we will strive to achieve the highest standards of proficiency, mission readiness, safety and professionalism. This is our responsibility-not only to our public-but also to each other.

* Proficient –We will know our mission. We will know our role in that mission. We will ensure readiness for all missions. Being proficient in all our Auxiliary programs is our “stock in trade”. Our District’s reputation, as well as our safety and the safety of those we come in contact with, depends upon our proficiency. Our Response, Prevention and Logistics programs all demand proficiency. From the saving of lives, to the quality instruction provided to our members and the public, to the correct and orderly flow of necessary paperwork… proficiency should be the order of the day. We should take Pride in our Proficiency and remain highly effective during normal operations and ready for any emergency-we must remain true to our motto – Semper Paratus- and be Always Ready.

* Professional – Being professional in all that we do and say sets us apart from others. That is something in which all of us and our families can be proud of. If we are professional, we can take pride in the Auxiliary and everything that we do to support and represent the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary. As a professional, we will wear the uniform correctly, stand a little taller and walk with more purpose as we lead the way for the organization we represent. Professionalism is taking pride in all that our

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organization stands for and will allow us to become the stalwart members of the Coast Guard and Auxiliary that will lead us into the next decade of service.

Goals and Objectives Overview of 8th Western Rivers RegionGoals and Objectives are the “Roadmap to the Future”. As a District we will use the Goals and Objectives to outline the direction that the District will take for the next five years to be and maintain as the BEST in all the Auxiliary. The Goals and Objectives addressed in this document are not intended to indicate that any one program is any more important than any other activities we are involved in as a District. This is simply a starting point from where we can focus our attention, as a District, for a final outcome. Each Division and Flotilla should adopt these goals as an organizational goal and dedicate themselves to help those qualified members and in doing so they may find that there is an interest that they were not aware of.

Goal 1 – Inspire and Encourage each member to understand and move forward with the Commandant’s Auxiliary Policy Statement Priorities.

Strategy to Accomplish:

1. The leadership team will be servant leaders, getting to know our members, their wants and desires for serving. As servant leaders, we will work as a team to inspire and lead our members to fulfill their utmost potential to become proficient, dedicated and professional members of the Auxiliary.

2. The leadership team will align members’ interests and capabilities with opportunities to serve. This will be accomplished by aligning members with missions and positions to fill the gaps.

3. As Auxiliarists we will live the core values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty.4. All our efforts will work to ensure a safe, professional, positive, inclusive, supportive,

and respectful workplace.5. The leadership team will work proactively to attract, develop, engage, and retain the

most talented professionals in the world to maximize our value to the public and the Coast Guard we serve.

6. The leadership team will strive to make each member’s experience mutually rewarding and fulfilling.

Goal 2 – Recruit new members and Retain existing members.

Strategy to Accomplish:

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1. Working with the Leadership Team, strive to bring the District membership level to pre-sequestration levels.

2. Using the results of the GAP Analysis as a guide, we will work to recruit new members.

3. Reach out to inactive or marginal members by offering encouragement and opportunities for inclusion by investigating Auxiliary programs that may be of more interest to that particular member.

4. We will look to the places where we serve and utilize the local demographics to recruit all diversities to become members of our District.

5. We will attract, develop and retain the underrepresented generation by increasing the Auxiliary University Program throughout our District. This will better harness the energy, education and enthusiasm of the youngest diverse and capable prospective members and translate that into well-trained future leaders ready to meet the Coast Guard needs. To accomplish this, we will actively work with the National AUP program representatives and the representatives of our many Universities and College to start and support the programs.

6. Using the GAP Analysis results, we will work to organize and develop new detachments and flotillas throughout our AOR.

7. Fellowship. Emphasis on regular activities designed to bring members, family, prospective members, community leaders, and recreational industry guests together. Publicize Auxiliary activities and fellowship gatherings. Fellowship is the strongest way to get new members involved immediately.

Goal 3 – Improve open and proper communications at all levels.

Strategy to Accomplish:

1. As a District we will use all available means to keep members informed and to allow both elected and staff officers to become more involved. (WEBEX, Go-to-Meeting, email, publications, Everbridge messages, etc.)

2. Emphasis will be put upon the Chain of Leadership and Management (COLM) at all levels…Elected and Appointed to communicate up and down the chain and with the membership as a whole. The more our members know, the more they can improve their individual proficiency and professionalism.

3. The leadership team will openly communicate to the membership by being transparent about successes and challenges.

4. Communications is a two-way street-the leadership team from the flotilla through the District will work to listen first and speak later. By listening to our members we can better serve those that elected us.

5. Encourage and educate members that when they bring a problem forward they should also offer a solution.

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Goal 4 – Proficiency and Professionalism

Strategy to Accomplish:

1. The key to Proficiency is ongoing training and involvement. We will encourage all our members to become more involved in our programs and support to the Coast Guard. We will look to developing training teams that will help support and increase the proficiency of our members.

2. Select Instructors that know their subjects and are motivational. Training is a mainstay of our ability to be ever ready to meet the needs of the Coast Guard Sectors we serve. In that respect, every opportunity will be taken to work with, train with and support the Coast Guard Units in our respective AOR’s.

3. The leadership team will continually maintain contact and communications with the Coast Guard units in their area and search for ways for the Auxiliary to provide quality training and tactical support to the units.

4. We will continue to search for the best Subject Matter Expert to conduct all types of training for our members.

5. We will understand that to be Professional and Proficient in our craft, we must practice, practice, practice. Knowing this we will take every opportunity to practice, work and train.

Goal 5 – Recognition of Quality work and activities.

Strategy to Accomplish:

1. The leadership team will be encouraged to recognize members at all levels for their accomplishments on a regular basis. Looking daily for the opportunity to recognize our members and awarding those that excel with Auxiliary and Coast Guard Awards.

2. Recognize completion or progress of the member in programs and activities by giving immediate and meaningful recognition when our members excel.

3. Encourage our leadership team to have regular reporting from the Unit Awards Committee.

4. Recognition that is given timely and professionally, with public recognition of the accomplishments of each individual helps with retention and recruitment.

Goal 6 – Increase the District’s presence in the paddlecraft community.

Strategy to Accomplish:10

1. Review and train members in the conduct of paddlecraft Vessel Safety Checks (VSCs) prior to the start of the 2017 boating season.

2. Expand recruiting efforts in the paddlecraft community by the DSO-HR and staff.3. Conduct public education courses to improve the safety level of paddlecraft

operations on the water.4. Working with the OTO, put together a team and develop a program to get ACA-

qualified paddlecraft instructors for the District.5. Have the paddlecraft team develop a plan for a Train-the-Trainer program for the

paddlecraft program that can work to further manage the District’s paddlecraft program.

6. Have the paddlecraft team develop a program to expand the AUXPAD program throughout the District.

Goal 7 – Provide quality support to the Active Duty.

Strategy to Accomplish:

1. To promote and improve the recreational boating safety for our respective boating communities.

2. To provide a diverse array of specialized skills, trained crews, and capable facilities to augment the Coast Guard and enhance safety and security of our ports, our lakes and rivers.

3. To support Sector Upper and Lower Mississippi River mission operations, administration and logistical support activities to assist in meeting their needs and requirements by filling the GAP Analysis positions to make the team a stronger and well trained organization ready to meet mission requirements.

4. To support and fill the gaps identified in the GAP Analysis by recruitment and training of our members to meet Sector operational needs.

As an organization, if we strive with enthusiasm to achieve Goal 1 through 7, we will be taking continued steps toward our established goal of meeting both the Commandant and the National Commodore’s objectives for the Auxiliary. The District, as it now exists, has Divisions with amazing knowledge and talents. It should be our combined goal to take our individual talents and share them with others, thereby making the District and the Auxiliary even more excellent.

SummaryThis Operational plan establishes the goals and objectives for 8th Western Rivers Region, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. It identifies specific initiatives and performance indicators to track our progress toward achieving these goals and objectives. This plan should ensure that we

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can complete, in a specific and measurable time frame, these achievable goals.

The Operational Plan will provide our leaders and our communities with clear direction in which we are moving as well as a snapshot of our progress toward achieving these goals. Providing a copy of this plan to the Chain of Leadership will put us on notice that we must work toward completing each of these achievable goals and in doing so support the mission of the Coast Guard, specifically Sectors Upper and Lower Mississippi River.

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