In response to the MYCG Long Blue Line blog series February 7th article, World War II’s “Home Guard”, I argue that the Coast Guard should consider exploring the revival of the Coast Guard Temporary Reserve to meet current personnel needs, support surge operations to the borders and to plan for homeland defense. Just as thousands of Coast Guard Auxiliarists stepped up 80 years ago to become temporary reservists (TRs) in World War II, many members with critical Auxiliary qualifications and real Coast Guard experience could answer the call today to become TRs if asked by the Commandant.1
Need for TRs
While the Coast Guard met its 2024 recruiting goals after a tremendous effort by the Coast Guard Recruiting Command, there could be a workforce shortage for some time. The recent Force Alignment plan for AY25 reassigned cutter and station capabilities to prioritize operations due to these work shortages, but AY 25’s changes were more limited than the prior year. Meanwhile, the demand for Coast Guard operations only continues to increase and the geopolitical climate has shown us that conflict could ignite anywhere across the world without notice. In fact, the U.S. Navy (which absorbs the Coast Guard in wartime) has taken measures to prepare for Pacific Conflict by 2027. More recently, the Coast Guard announced on January 22 that it was immediately surging assets – cutters, aircraft, boats and deployable forces – to the borders of the United States and its territories around the world. President Trump also recently announced plans to order 40 new icebreakers for the Coast Guard and the Navy League recently recommended the continued investment in transforming the Coast Guard’s workforce and funding its largest recapitalization effort since World War II (with a focus on cutters and MH-60 helicopters). If more active duty personnel and assets continue to be utilized in forward operations and major maritime disasters, how can the Coast Guard better leverage its existing personnel to fill these rising needs? Even if the nearly 8,000 members of the Coast Guard Reserve could be shifted to an active duty augmentation force rather than contingency response, gaps could still remain with the increased demand. Why not look to temporary members of the Reserve until the demand for personnel has been met?
A passage from past Commandant’s Intent is relevant today – “[w]e will prioritize innovative ways to use our … people for maximum effect”.
Existing Statutes
As noted in Captain Desh’s article, the Temporary Reserve is currently authorized in federal statute (14 U.S.C. 3706).
A citizen of the United States, its territories, or possessions who is a member of the Auxiliary … may be enrolled by the Commandant as a temporary member of the Reserve, for duty under conditions the Commandant may prescribe, including part-time and intermittent active duty with or without pay, without regard to age. The Commandant is authorized to define the powers and duties of temporary members of the Reserve, and to confer upon them, appropriate to their qualifications and experience, the same grades and ratings as provided for members of the Reserve. When performing active duty with pay as authorized by this section, temporary members of the Reserve are entitled to receive the pay and allowances of their rank, grade, or rating.
The Commandant has the ability to enroll certain Auxiliarists and make them temporary members of the Reserve to immediately fill workforce needs. Small units could be created with members serving in their roles with or without pay for specific timeframes and there is precedent for bespoke arrangements from World War II. The Commandant would have full discretion, but could set ranks and ratings of temporary members commiserate to their educational background, work experience and Coast Guard training. The Commandant could look to past and present Coast Guard Auxiliary and Coast Guard Reserve leadership to lead these new units. These members could immediately be added to the current organizational framework of the Reserve without having to go through months to years of the accessions process. Several Auxiliarists have recently made the transition to the Coast Guard Reserve, while some well qualified candidates have been disqualified for medical reasons or age limits. Such roadblocks could be eliminated for enrollment as a temporary member of the Reserve.
Critics of this idea may point to the Coast Guard Auxiliary Authorization Act of 1996 saying that Auxiliarists can already backfill many critical Coast Guard missions. However, Auxiliarists are prohibited from participating in military and direct law enforcement operations. This bright line has gotten murkier since then (especially after 9/11) as Auxiliary members work more closely with their shipmates. In the past few years alone, Auxiliarists have served on aircraft carriers close to conflict zones in the Middle East, supported boarding teams in the Pacific Oceans, cooked aboard heavy icebreakers on route to Antarctica, provided public affairs support at the North Pole, and strapped into helicopters to cover flight operations in Miami and Lake Michigan. The risk of Auxiliarists being in harms way will only increase as more members continue to engage in augmentation missions outside of the territorial waters of the United States. Missiles, drones and proxy forces do not distinguish between military and civilian personnel.
TR Pilot Program
A revival of the Temporary Reserve would not eliminate the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Just like in World War II, not all Auxiliarists would be enrolled to meet the current workforce needs of the Coast Guard. Moreover, given the multi-decade gap since its inception and inevitable administrative burden of creating the necessary policy changes, it may make sense to start a TR pilot program that focuses on enrolling members of certain augmentation programs where members are already serving in advanced roles. Just like Reserve members receive Active Duty Operational Support (ADOS) orders to fill positions for specified periods, members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary could be enrolled into the temporary reserve and receive Temporary Reserve Operational Support (TROS) orders to fill certain positions for a specified time.
The following five programs are worth exploring to see how many TR officers and petty officers could be enrolled to fill critical needs. For examples of the recent successes of these programs, see the Auxiliary’s national publications. Other programs could be explored as well, including the Auxiliary’s Cybersecurity and legal augmentation programs.
(The author is responsible for the content of this article. The views expressed do not reflect the official policy or position of his employer, the Coast Guard Reserve or the Coast Guard Auxiliary)
Endnotes
1 As Captain Desh’s article points out, the TRs consisted of Auxiliarists and others from the maritime industry. Any pilot program could also include exploring the enrollment of other experienced members of the maritime industry and state and local authorities.
