FAQs

Yes, if you have received a ANSC-7020A: U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and Boy Scouts of America Joint Photography / Video / Audio Consent Form / Release form. The form must be signed by the Sea Scout’s parent or legal guardian.

No. Send it to Coast Guard Auxiliary Association, 1301 West 1st Street Suite E1, Granite City, IL 62040. Do not retain the form locally.

No, provided that the original form did not limit the permission period to a single event or time period.

The best two places are the Sea Scouts BSA website and Sea Scouts BSA YouTube channel. You can also request information on the Sea Scouts website.

Yes. Two places: The Language or Scouting and BSA All Terms and Style Items.

Go to Find Scouting Near You. Be sure to select Sea Scouts in the left-hand box before plugging in your zip code.

Go to Local council locator

Yes. Participants in the AUXSCOUT program, whether Scouts or Scout Leaders, who are members of the Auxiliary enjoy the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as any other Auxiliarist and are subject to the same protections and obligations of federal law and regulation as any other Auxiliarist who is assigned to duty.

Yes. Nothing in 14 U.S.C. § 3904(b) addresses the age of an Auxiliary member deemed to be a federal employee in accordance with that statute. There is no bar elsewhere to the application of that statute to Sea Scouts who are 14 years of age or older who choose to become members of the Auxiliary.

1. AUXDATA will not allow member enrollment with a date of birth that is less than 17yoa.
2. To enable AUXDATA entry for Sea Scouts younger than 17yoa, DIRAUX shall enter in AUXDATA the following date of birth for every such member: January 1, 2002
3. Every Sea Scout younger than 17yoa should therefore reflect a birthdate of January 1, 2002 in AUXDATA (until the system can be programmed to accept any type of birthdate).

 If a Sea Scout under the 17 years old joins the Auxiliary and then discontinues their Sea Scout membership prior to their 17th birthday, they will be disenrolled from the Auxiliary and will be ineligible for Auxiliary membership until their 17th birthday. The Sea Scout-Auxiliarist’s flotilla should re-confirm their current Sea Scout registration each year at the time that annual Auxiliary membership dues are collected. If the flotilla becomes aware at any other time that the Sea Scout-Auxiliarist has discontinued his Sea Scout registration prior to his/her 17th birthday, the Change of Membership status, ANSC form 7035 should be completed to disenroll the former Sea Scout.

They should wear Sea Scout uniforms at Sea Scout functions when not assigned to Auxiliary duty and Auxiliary uniforms when they are assigned to duty and at all Auxiliary functions.

No. YPT is available to anyone working with Scouts.

No. There is no need for Auxiliarists to take Youth Protection Training for Sea Scouts to attend flotilla meetings.

See this guidance.

YPT must be completed every 24 months. YPT certification information can not be entered into AUXDATA if the certificate is older than 24 months.

BSA has changed how their online training site shows course completions. There are 2 different ways to get a completion certificate. We recommend that you use the following procedure once you have completed the course:

1. Log into my.scouting.org. This will take you to training.scouting.org/home
2. Click the My Learning menu tab just right of center towards the top of the page. This takes you to your My Learning page.
3. In the searchbox next to My Learning type YPT and press the Enter button on your computer’s keyboard.
4. This will show your YPT completion. Click on its title.
5. This will show your YPT completion certificate including when you completed the training. You can either print the page or do a screen capture to save a copy of your YPT completion certificate.
6. Give a copy of your YPT completion certificate to your Flotilla Commander so that s/he can send it in to your Director of Auxiliary (DIRAUX) for entry into your AUXDATA II training record. NOTE: Some districts handle YPT completion entry into AUXDATA differently. Check with your DSO-AS or DSO-IS to confirm how your district handles this.

See Sea Scout Leader Training & Education

Yes. There is a schedule of upcoming Seabadge courses at seascout.org.

See Providing Shoreside and Underway Training Opportunities to Sea Scouts

The intent of the SOP is to assure that when a request for orders is submitted the OIA is aware that the facility will be carrying Sea Scouts and/or Sea Scout leaders. It is always within the prerogative of the OIA to issue or decline to issue orders for the operation of a facility and guests may not come aboard an OPFAC under orders unless OIA has granted permission for that guest to be aboard, and all guests’ names and other information has been recorded as required by the Operations Policy Manual, COMDTINST M16798.3E, Chapter 4, paragraph E.18. If the Sea Scouts do not have life jackets, they should be lent appropriate PPE for the duration of the patrol.

See Chapter 1 of the Auxiliary Operations Policy Manual.

Yes. See Safety Afloat and Safe Swim Defense training

Yes. Performance standards are not age-specific. Everyone has to meet the same standards.

The specifics of insurance coverage offered by the BSA to its members and adult leaders should be obtained directly from the BSA. BSA provides a brief summary of insurance coverage on its website. A more complete discussion of BSA insurance is found in BSA’s Guide to Safe Scouting manual.

Pursuant to 14 U.S.C. § 3904 Auxiliarists assigned to duty who are participating in the AUXSCOUT program are entitled to the same protection of the Federal Tort Claims Act under the same conditions as an Auxiliarist assigned to duty and participating in any other authorized Coast Guard Auxiliary activity or program. The Coast Guard Auxiliary does not maintain private insurance coverage of any kind.

The Auxiliary does not own any liability or workers’ compensation insurance. The United States of America (USA) may be liable for personal injuries to guests or for damage to personal property belonging to guests while on board vessels of the USA, including Auxiliary operational facilities (OPF ACS) operating under orders, depending upon the facts of the occurrence. Pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), the USA may be liable to third parties for property damage or personal injuries proximately caused by guests on board vessels of the USA, including OPF ACS operating under orders, depending upon the facts of the occurrence. Guests on board vessels of the USA, including OPF ACS operating under orders, are not entitled to benefits under the Federal Employment Compensation Act (FECA) solely by virtue of their presence on board that vessel.

BSA requires them to carry BSA liability and accident insurance as a condition of BSA membership. BSA provides a brief summary of insurance coverage on their website. A fuller discussion of BSA insurance is found in BSA’s Guide to Safe Scouting.

For Auxiliarist-Sea Scouts under the age of 17 they are certainly allowed to qualify as Food Service workers and serve in that capacity at active duty site. The person(s) responsible for their training would have to complete the BSA Youth Protection Training (YPT) and have that completion recorded in their Auxdata record. (Once they’re completed the YPT training, they should provide a copy of their completion certificate to their FSO-IS or SO-IS for insertion in their Auxdata record.)

The individual(s) responsible for administering their work (e.g., SO-FS and VFC) are required to complete YPT. Additionally, the Auxiliarist-Sea Scout should be accompanied by at least 2 adults, at least one of whom is the same gender as the Auxiliarist-Sea Scout. The 2 adults need not be Auxiliarists (can be Sea Scout leaders or parents), and at least one must have completed YPT. This is to satisfy both BSA’s and the CG’s requirement that there never be a one-on-one situation with Auxiliarst-Sea Scouts under the age of 17.

See Sea Scouts

See Sponsor a Sea Scout Ship

Yes.

Yes, but the focus would need to be on Sea Scouting, not aviation.

No. The Auxiliary will not charter single-gender Sea Scout Ships. This Coast Guard Auxiliary policy was articulated by the Auxiliary National Executive Committee on 1 MAR 2023. Chartering a single-gender Sea Scout Ship would also violate Commandant Linda Fagan’s 11 JUL 2022 Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy Statement. Although the AUXSCOUT SOP allows the Auxiliary to provide training and other support to all Sea Scout Ships, local Auxiliary units are not permitted to charter single-gender Ships.

No. Many Sea Scout Ships borrow vessels from private individuals or organizations. Many newer Ships are choosing to focus on Canoeing and Kayaking, which fits in well with the Auxiliary’s AUXPAD program. Finally, many Ships receive offers of donated boats. Check with the local Sea Scout organization or BSA council service center to ensure that you are handling this correctly.

Yes. Safety at Sea Weekends are hosted annually by Coast Guard or Auxiliary units in a variety of locations. These events are popular with both the Sea Scouts and the Team Coast Guard personnel. Some areas also hold winter training weekends with the assistance of the Auxiliary. These events deliver Sea Scouts great training at times of the year when it may be too cold to get underway.

No. Many Ships borrow boats from private individuals, such as OPFACs used by flotilla members. Alternatively, vessels are often available from Scout camps, yacht clubs, and outside groups. Experience tells us that focusing on owning boats by new Sea Scout Ships often makes it difficult to run other aspects of the Ship program.

Follow Auxiliary Manual instructions for requesting permission for this. This can be handled either through the Auxiliary Association (CGAuxA, Inc.) using AUXMAN section M.1.b, or through the district’s Coast Guard Auxiliary corporation using AUXMAN section M.2.b. Check with the District Commodore to confirm how they want this handled. The point of contact with the CGAuxA is CDR Suzanne Herman, USCG (Ret.), Chief Development Officer.

The Fiscal Policies and Procedures for BSA Units FAQs is available online.

Yes. Unit funds should be deposited in a checking account that requires two signatures on every check unless the chartered organization requires other procedures.

Most units obtain their own tax ID number by completing IRS Form SS-4. The current form and instructions are available on the IRS website. The chartered organization should be the “responsible party.” Contact your chartered organization for written permission. Contact your local council for more information. The Ship is not tax-exempt, and should not indicate tax-exempt on the SS-4. It should indicate that the EIN is for banking purposes only.

No. We’re only recording hours for Auxiliarists. We are not trying to capture names or hours of non-Auxiliarists on any forms.

Your hours would be recorded on the 7030 form using a 10B mission code. Add AUXSCO1 to the Operations Code box if you are NOT BSA-registered, and AUXSCO2 to the Operations Code box if you ARE BSA-registered. Auxiliarists in the audience should record their hours on their respective 7029 form, using AUXSCO1 in the Operations Code box if you are not BSA-registered, and AUXSCO2 in the Operations Code box for those hours if you are BSA-registered.

For the purposes of this discussion, we are only interested in capturing Auxiliarists’ hours related to working with Sea Scouts or administering the AUXSCOUT program. So, if an Auxiliarist is not a Sea Scout or Sea Scout leader, s/he will use the AUXSCO1 code ONLY when teaching Sea Scouts who are not Auxiliarists, or when administering the AUXSCOUT program. An example could be teaching a group of Sea Scouts man overboard drill.

Yes. You will add AUXSCO2 to the Operations Code box for all Auxiliary missions.