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Volume 114, Issue 2
Page 8
Member Training
I believe that most individuals, who join the Coast Guard Auxiliary, do so to receive
the education, training and individual development that we offer. I believe also, that
units with an active training program generate enthusiasm and naturally attract new
members. With that philosophy, we have tried to foster the idea that we must de-
velop all our members with not only the training to qualify in our cornerstone pro-
grams but also to develop their leadership skills to confidently and successfully hold
the appointed and elected offices necessary for our organization to function.
As DSO-MT, one of the responsibilities is to insure members have the opportuni-
ties to take the courses to achieve the AUXOP designation. Several years ago, the
program was modified so members had some flexibility in picking the courses that
interested them from a set menu. Units that were looking for skilled instructors to
present some of these courses have contacted Member Training and we’ve been
able to provide assistance. Currently we plan to offer the Auxiliary Seamanship
Course (AUXSEA) by means of our District Go-to-Training software. This will give
our interested members a method of receiving excellent instruction in the comfort
of their own home. If all works well with this first course, we will be in a position to
provide a really mixed offering of material by the best instructors in the District
without the expense and scheduling difficulties normally encountered. Stay tuned for
further developments.
The schedule of training and workshops offered at our Spring and Fall D-TRAIN
events is also the responsibility of Member Training. There are some workshops
that presentations that are best suited for this kind of situation. From those required
courses, we look for others to round out the offerings. We have been very fortunate
to be able to hold National “C” School courses in Leadership in conjunction with D
-TRAIN for the last several years. This course is extremely popular and fills up quite
rapidly. Being it is controlled by National, we must follow their guidelines and class
size limits. Obviously we want to offer programs of interest to our members, so if
you have a subject area you would like covered, please feel free to contact me or one
of the ADSO’s.
Steve Marthouse
DSO-MT