Interested in Joining - DFW, TX Area

Hello, all! I’m posting the contents of a reply I made to an older post someone made here in the hopes it gets some comments and I can get some insight.

I’m currently in North Texas, around the Dallas area, and am extremely interested in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. I am also a licensed commercial pilot and I would love to get involved in AUXAIR.

Reading some of the comments on another post, I see that it is probably going to be difficult getting involved in AUXAIR being local to the Dallas area. That, however, does not dissuade me from the Coast Guard Auxiliary as the general service aspect is what interests me the most.

Admittedly, I have almost no boating experience aside from taking trips on ferries growing up in New York City and down on vacation every year in Puerto Rico/Panama. I do, however, have volunteer service experience as a former auxiliary police officer and serving with a volunteer ambulance service in college. My last career endeavor before aviation was law enforcement, where I served as a police officer in a major city for almost five years, so I have an understanding of how a paramilitary organization works in that respect. I am very much aware that there is no law enforcement element to Cost Guard Auxiliary service.

I’m interested in what I think the Coast Guard Auxiliary has to offer and am specifically interested, along with the aforementioned aviation part, with getting actual boat time. I’m looking to make an eventual move to the (American-owned) Caribbean and I’m hoping to make boating an everyday aspect of my own, and my eventual family’s, lives. Aside from flying, I was also considering charter boat services as an eventual career down the line and am only now coming to learn about USCG Six-Pack and Master licensing. Would boat time with the Coast Guard Auxiliary count towards the 360-Day Sea Time requirement towards licensing?

I would love to hear anything about what anyone has to say — especially regarding the DFW/North Texas area, and what to expect starting out.

I completed the “Find a Flotilla Near You!” Interest Form a few hours ago, but have not yet been contacted nor have I gotten to take another step, so this is all still very new to me.

Thank you all.

I apologize for the long-ish post, and apologize for still being naive on the subject.