At my flotilla meeting, I was told by the former National Legal Officer that CG
auxiliarists are no longer civilian volunteers.
I was kind of taken aback by this so I asked "what are we then?" His answer to
me was "employees." I was kind of shocked!

I then went home to review the Auxiliary's web site, and although it still
claims in its history section that the Auxiliary is made up of volunteer
civilians, the new Homeland Security background form that must be completed
clearly asks for your CGAuxiliary employee number:

This is what the form reads:
"You will be asked for several peices of information in order to activate your
account:

Your seven (7) digit Auxiliary Employee ID.

This is not your old member number (which are now obsolete), and does not
contain any unit number. Your Employee ID can be found on your new member card.
Your Employee ID will act as your login username for the eDirectory, so it is a
good idea to have it memorized."

"If you are unsure what your Employee ID or Zip Code is in AUXDATA, consult
your FSO-IS. We can not give out this information for security purposes."

Furthermore I found the following langauge in the latest CGAuxiliary Manual:

"A member of the Auxiliary while assigned to duty shall be deemed to be a
Federal employee for the purposes of the following:

(1) Chapter 26 of title 28 (popularly known as the Federal Tort Claims Act).
(2) Section 2733 of title 10 (popularly known as the Military Claims Act).
(3) The Act of March 3, 1925 (46 App. U.S.C. 781-790; popularly known as the
Public Vessels Act).
(4) The Act of March 9, 1920 (46 App.U.S.C. 741-752; popularly known as the
Suits in Admiralty Act).
(5) The Act of June 19, 1948 (46 App. U.S.C. 740; popularly known as the
Admiralty Extension Act).
(6) Other matters related to noncontractual civil liability.
(7) Compensation for work injuries under chapter 81 of title 5.
(8) The resolution of claims relating to damage to or loss of personal property
of the member incident to service under the
Military Personnel and Civilian Employees' Claims Act of 1964 (31U.S.C. 3721).
(c) A member of the Auxiliary, while assigned to duty, shall be deemed to be a
person acting under an officer of the United States or an agency thereof for
purposes of section 1442(a)(1) of title 28.

Now what do you think?

"Listen to the live broadcast of 'Nautical Talk Radio' with Captain Lou every
Sunday afternoon from 4 - 5 (Eastern Standard Time) on the web at
www.959watd.com or if you are in Boston or Cape Cod set your radio dial to
95.9FM.