2010 ATON C-School

June 18-20, 2010 - Coast Guard Training Center
Yorktown, Virginia

Quick Links

National C-School Website and forms

ATON C-School Information

ATON C-School Notes

ATON C-School - Schedule / Outline

ATON C-School - Instructors

ATON C-School - FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

C- School Travel Reimbursement Link

Travel reimbursement by Direct Deposit

On-line Travel reimbursement by Direct Deposit

Travel Claim Example

Stand watch at Boston Light;  America's First Light Station
Open to all Auxiliarists nationwide
 

About the Course

This school is designed to provide training in all five Auxiliary Navigation Systems Programs - ATON - Federal Aids, PATON - Private Aids, BAP - the Bridge Administration Program, CU - Chart Updating Program and SCF - Small Craft Facility Program.  The new Web-based Private Aids to Navigation System that is being introduced into the First District, NR will also be presented. PowerPoint training aids for most NS programs will also be introduced.  The aim of the NS –C School is to train a cadre of Auxiliary leaders who will promote the NS programs in their District and develop new and lasting programs and relationships with the Coast Guard in support of the goals and objectives of the Auxiliary Aid to Navigation / Chart Updating Program.

Who May Attend

Candidates must be recently assigned as a FSO-NS (Flotilla Staff Officer - Navigation Systems),  or a SO-NS (Division Staff Officer Navigation Systems), or a DSO- or ADSO-NS (District Staff Officer – Navigation Systems). This training is not refresher training. Alternative training is available through District ATON program managers. COMDT (CG-5421) must approve all waivers. Only one class convening is scheduled per year. Applicants MUST have an internet e-mail account capable of receiving and downloading attachments to order to benefit most from this training. Therefore, the candidate’s e-mail address must be included in Block #22 of the Short-Term Resident Training Request prior to approval. No civilian contractors are authorized to attend.

Dates, Location, and Codes for Course

          Dates - 18-20 June 2010.

          Location - Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia

          Times - 0800 Friday to 1200 Sunday  (30 Students).

          Course Code is 501065.

          Course Title is "C-School - Aux ATON & Chart Updating - Private Aids.”

How to apply for this C-School

           Complete  a “School Short Term Training Request Form CG-5223”  Click here to get Form CG-5223

           Send your completed CG-5223 form to your District DIRAUX (Director of Auxiliary) via your Flotilla Commander (your FC is required to sign the form).

           E-mail Mike Quinn, BC-MNI michaelsquinn(at)gmail.com to advise that you have applied

           Keep a copy of the Form CG-5223.  Expect to receive travel and information about orders.  See Travel Requirements notice below.

           To see a "tour" (pictures taken) at an earlier class click here  

           To get Directions to The USCG Training Center, Yorktown  click here

ATON C School – Notes

 The National Navigation Systems (NS) Staff has been working very hard to make the NS C-School a meaningful experience for you.  You will be introduced to a lot of new NS Program material during the three days of instruction.  The NS Program Study Guides have been updated along with their associated forms and worksheets. The focus of the NS Program is on accuracy, quality, and professionalism. You will be introduced to many new techniques that support these program’s goals at this school.

Orders:

Your orders are cut and are sent to your DIRAUX during May for preparation and forwarding to you.  The DVC-MN receives a copy of each person’s orders.  If you are looking for status on your orders, do not contact the DVC-MN.  Your DIRAUX--Director of Auxiliary’s office staff prepares the actual orders that you will receive.  If your Director needs a copy, the DVC-MN is able to forward a copy.  However, each DIRAUX is listed on the same e-mail that the DVC-MN receives.

 Travel:

As your orders will state, you should use SATO for making reservations for your travel to Yorktown.  SATO will need a copy of your orders in order to schedule travel arrangements.  You will have to fax a copy of your orders to SATO. The NS C School starts off briskly at 0800 on Friday, June 18, 2010, so you should plan your travel to arrive at Yorktown on Thursday afternoon.  The NS C-school will be completed on Sunday at 1200. Schedule your departure accordingly. Schedule your flight to Newport News, VA, it is the closet airport to the base then take a cab to Cain Hall. If you fly into Norfolk, VA airport take a shuttle to TRACEN Yorktown as a cab would be incredibly expensive.

 Uniform of the Day

The uniform for all classes (0800 thru 1630 daily) is Tropical Blue Long.  For the sake of uniformity, the garrison cap is required.  The uniform must be worn in a military manner at all times.  Bring extra shirts. It will be hot in Yorktown at this time of year.  Yorktown is a Coast Guard training base and there will be many recruits on base all weekend.  Shirts must be tucked in at all times and walking around in uniform with your hands in your pockets is highly discouraged.  If you are saluted you must return the salute.  While in uniform you cannot walk and talk on a cell phone, this is a rule from the base commander. If you must answer a call, stop and step off to the side and speak on your cell.

 Casual attire is allowed after 1630 and for the evening workshops on Friday and Saturday.  It is not necessary to salute in civilian attire.

 AN Class Syllabus

The program syllabus is attached to this communication for your information.  You will receive over eighteen hours of instruction over the weekend.  All five of the AN Programs will be presented during the weekend.

 You are required to download some forms and study guides from this site as part of this class. See the attached NS C School Syllabus for instructions. This web site is currently being updated.  Wait until May 30 to download these documents.  The latest revisions will be available on this web site on this date.  Most of the documents are currently residing on this web site, but are not to the latest revision.  Familiarize yourself with this data before arriving at the school.  These are the Guides and forms you should copy:

  ATON - Federal Short Range Aid to Navigation Program:

       “USCGAUX Federal Short Range Aid to Navigation Study Guide"

   PATON - Private Aids to Navigation:

Program is being finalized.  You will be advised when the material is available.

“AV Qualification Check Off List”

“AV Qualification Study Guide”

   BAP – Bridge Administration Program:

         “Background Information on Bridge Regulations” (11 pages WORD)

            “What to Look for when Checking a Bridge” (1 page WORD)

            “Bridge Lighting Manual – USCG Manual.

   CU – Chart Updating Program:

       “USCGAUX Chart Updating Study Guide.”

            “Chart Updating Worksheet.”

            “Coast Pilot Text Correction Worksheet.”

            “USCGAUX/NOAA 77-5 Cooperative Charting Form.”

            “Vertical and Horizontal Error Calculator.”

   SCF – Small Craft Facility Program:

            “USCGAUX Small Craft Facility Study Guide.”

            “USCGAUX Small Craft Facility Worksheet.”

 There will be minimal paper handouts at the C School.  It is important that you print out copies of the documents described in the C School syllabus.  Use of laptops is encouraged at the C-School.  However, there are limited wall plugs in the classroom.  Each student will receive a CD that contains all of the new Navigation Systems Program documents, forms and study guides that are presented at the school.

 Expectations

As a graduate of the NS C School, you are expected to become a leader in the NS Program in your District.  You are encouraged to hold higher NS Staff positions in the future.  Upon completion of this course, you will have been exposed to the latest information on each of the five NS Programs.  It is important to the overall success of the National NS Program that you pass this information on to the members in your District and that you take the lead in the implementation of the new program forms and features.  You are the future of the Aid to Navigation Program.

 If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact me at: 

Mike Quinn
18 Bowman Dr
Warwick, RI  02889
401-737-5078
michaelsquinn@gmail.com

AUXILIARY NS C-SCHOOL COURSE SCHEDULE/OUTLINE

 Course Title:  Aid to Navigation Auxiliary “C” School

Short Title:  ATON “C” School

Course Code:  501065

Course ID: AUX 06

 Length of Course (hours):  25

C- SCHOOL INSTRUCTORS

Comments:  5 Instructors, Internet Access with projection facilities.

Lead Instructor Name:  Mike Quinn, BC-MNI

Lead Instructor Telephone: 401-737-5078

Lead Instructor e-mail: michaelsquinn@gmail.com

Assisting Instructors:

Aids to Navigation –  BC-MNP

Chart Updating, Coast Pilot, and Small Craft Facility – Ed Martin, BC-MNC / NOAA

Bridge Checking – Kevin Redden, BC-MNB

AN Program Information – Mike Quinn, BC-MNI

C - SCHOOL FAQ's

Very Important!
Please read this entire section carefully

Training Center Yorktown is the training center for new CG recruits.   They are held to a high standard and are compelled to follow the rules, as such so must the Auxiliary.  BEFORE you attend the C School PLEASE know the rules listed below.  If there is any deviation from the rules on the base, Coast Guard personnel will correct you on the spot.  Please abide by and follow the base rules without negotiation so the Auxiliary can continue to be welcome to use the facilities.

• Wear the insignia for the highest Auxiliary office that you have held.
• Your Quarters are in Cain Hall
• The class is held in Hamilton Hall Room 309
• Dining is the CG Dining Facility Hours are:
• Monday thru Friday 0630-0730/1100-1230/1630-1800
  Saturday-Sunday & Holidays 0700-0900/1100-1230/1630-1800
• Main Exchange
  Monday-Friday 1000-1730/ Saturday-Sunday 1000-1600
• Berthing - We will be staying in Cain Hall.  There are two people to a room.  When you arrive you can choose your roommate otherwise someone will be assigned (See sentence below on co-habitating). Every room has a small refrigerator, two work desks and a clothing locker. Bring a lock for your clothing locker.
• All Coast Guard uniforms that have an open collar (e.g. the Tropical Blue Long uniform worn at the C-School) require a V-neck tee shirt. Crew neck tee shirts that leave the tee shirt visible are not acceptable, and if you show up wearing one, you will be asked to take it off.
• When in uniform, hair must not touch the collar.
• Women – long hair is fine, but it must be put up to keep it above the collar when in uniform.
• Men – if you hair touches your collar, please get a haircut before arriving at the C-School. If you show up with long hair touching your collar, you will be asked to leave class and go to the base barber shop to get it trimmed. Save yourself from this  embarrassment by taking care of this issue before arriving.
• While Auxiliarists do not salute each other, we are required to return salutes received from enlisted members. Training Center Yorktown is a major Coast Guard training base with a heavy concentration of active duty enlisted personnel. During your time at the C-School, you will be saluted by some of these C.G. members, and military courtesy requires that you return their salute. If you fail to do this, you will hear about it!
• If you are not familiar with how to return a salute, please talk to your flotilla leadership or member training officer before arriving at the C-School, and become comfortable with how and when salutes are rendered and returned. Proper saluting procedures can be found in Chapter 12 of the Auxiliary Manual.
• For POV mileage claims- For folks who are authorized commercial transportation but choose to drive instead, (this also applies to anyone renting a car on their own - NO rental car reimbursement authorized) they can claim POV mileage IF:
  1. They have a POV authorization from either TQC or their DIRAUX AND
  2. A GTR spreadsheet is done so all concerned parties (DIRAUX, PSC, etc.) are cognizant of how much they will get reimbursed - up to the cost of a GTR for mileage only.
  Both 1 & 2 above must be met in order for them to be in compliance with JFTRs for POV mileage claims. If either part is not in place, they are not entitled to POV mileage.
• Co-habitating on base.  CG bases do not allow unmarried persons to lodge together on base - period.  This request should not even be made when checking in on any of our bases no matter what the situation is back home. Deciding to move into the same room on base when unmarried is rather blatant disrespect for the CG as a whole. Married persons should always ask their DIRAUX for guidance if they are attending a class on base together and wish to lodge together.
• Following the JFTRs.  Everyone - no matter who they are, which Aux department they are in, what they do in the Auxiliary - must abide by the JFTRs - no exceptions.  Also, anyone renting a car then stating they used POV on a travel claim so they are reimbursed partially for the rental car is submitting a falsified claim.  Also, pro-rating a rental car's costs as local travel each day to partially or fully recover the cost is submitting a falsified claim.  This is all unethical and violates the JFTRs. We should ask if it really is worth the extra few dollars to submit a falsified claim and risk losing honor, Aux membership, integrity, whatever punishment applies under JFTRs.
• For those who travel on TONO:  Numerous commercial airlines are assessing a fee for checked baggage. Some airlines may exempt government travelers from paying the fee, however, they may require the traveler to present a government ID and/or copy of official travel orders at time of check in. Coast Guard travelers should be prepared to present a military or government ID and copy of official travel orders at the time bags are checked in. Regulations classify any baggage that is not transported free by the carrier as part of the transportation ticket cost as excess baggage. Therefore travel orders must specifically authorize excess baggage in order to be authorized reimbursement for a checked baggage fee. Checked baggage fees cannot be charged to the coast guard centrally billed account (CBA), aka charged to order, TONO, or GTA. Travelers who have their airline ticket charged to a Coast Guard CBA must be prepared to pay any assessed baggage fee at the time the bags are checked in with the airline. Checked baggage fees can be charged to the travelers individually billed government travel charge card. Due to the volatility in fuel costs many airlines are assessing a fuel surcharge to government and public airfares. The surcharge is assessed at the time the ticket is purchased and is in addition to the base airfare price. The amount of the fuel surcharge could substantially increase the overall cost of a ticket. The surcharge appears on a transportation itinerary invoice as a tax and shall be included as part of the overall transportation cost for reimbursement purposes. For questions contact Mr. Scott Arndt at e-mail scott.r.arndt@uscg.mil or Mr. Les Weisbeck at e-mail  les.r.weisbeck@uscg.mil
• CG-13 has issued guidance on use of AFC-56 funds in FY10 (and beyond) which our program must follow.  As everyone is aware, flights are becoming very expensive due to the increasing cost of fuel so that the average TONO cost is increasing with no end in sight. Right now, we're anticipating the same budget in FY10 as FY09 but that could change - we'll know more in early 1st quarter of FY10.
      1. Extra Travel Days.
  If an earlier flight is available and would preclude a traveler from needing an extra day on either end, utilizing the earlier flight is mandatory unless the traveler wishes to personally incur an extra day's expenses (this applies to OCONUS travel as well as CONUS).  TQC has already begun to enforce this (as we discovered yesterday). 
      2. Rental Vehicles.
  The rental vehicle situation on orders is a suggestion; however, additional rental vehicles will likely be denied.  CG policy has always been that the minimum group per vehicle is 3 people.  Since we have to assign the drivers and suggested PAX, we try to do so by regions.  Sometimes there are onsies & twosies from a region so they are lumped into a group to attempt a total of 3 or more.  If a student must cancel orders and they are an assigned driver, their substitute will be given the rental authorization. 
  Those who are assigned drivers should be reminded to rent appropriately-sized vehicles for all PAX + luggage which frequently means an SUV, van, or full-sized vehicle. Also as a reminder, students are not authorized to have the vehicle for their own use. Unfortunately, situations have arisen recently when assigned drivers tried to preclude fellow students from riding in "their" rental cars.  If such a situation arises in the future, authorization for the rental car will be rescinded immediately.  Instructors are asked to watch out for this and contact DIRAUX so they can handle it ASAP.  Generally, the assigned driver is obligated to chauffer all PAX either assigned or agreed upon in the grouping unless another student drives the vehicle for some reason.  (Anyone who is assigned as a driver but does not wish to be designated as such can opt out by contacting DIRAUX or the class POC). 
  Renting a vehicle without written authorization from TQC will result in the traveler personally incurring all expenses associated with the unauthorized rental. Rental vehicles are a privilege and those driving the vehicle are responsible for it (whether assigned driver or not).  Due to recent events, I cannot emphasize strongly enough that if any driver behaves irresponsibly they will be personally liable for their actions, i.e. losing keys, leaving the keys in a public area unattended, causing a vehicle to need towing, causing extra keys to be made, all expenses incurred with getting a rental vehicle back to the rental company.
  If you are aware of a reason someone should not be assigned a rental vehicle when registering them in DA for a class, please let DIRAUX know ASAP.  There may be mitigating circumstances (medications, physical limitations) which we will not know about.
  3. POV & GTRs. - Anyone may choose to drive their POV to a class.  However, the authorization must come from the DIRAUX office in writing (e-mail is fine) and the GTR form for driving must be completed. This form clearly indicates how much someone will be reimbursed if they choose to drive.  All tolls are reimbursable but lodging and additional per diem are specifically prohibited for reimbursement per the JTR.  For example, recently we were told someone planned to drive from coast to coast for a class even though they were authorized RT air.  They can choose to make that drive...but need to be informed that they would not be reimbursed any lodging or more then the 1 day partial per diem for travel on both ends.  Also, depending upon their vehicle's gas mileage, the mileage reimbursement may or may not be a full reimbursement, which the GTR form will show. 
  Please keep in mind DIRAUX  cannot authorize anything for a student's travel/class that causes the Govt to incur additional expense- only TQC can make the authorization.  If any situation will cause the traveler to incur more expenses, then they should contact their DIRAUX with their extenuating circumstances, who should in turn e-mail DIRAUX the request.  DIRAUX will either endorse it or not (and why if not) then e-mail it on to TQC if endorsed. TQC has final approval or denial.
  4. The 50-mile No-Lodging Rule.
  The general rule-of-thumb is that lodging will not be authorized for anyone attending a class if they live 50 miles or less from the class.  If, for example, someone must travel on a ferry daily to get from home to the class and it's more than an hour's trip, then that is an extenuating circumstance and generally lodging will be authorized if requested. 
  If a class gets out late (after 2100 hrs) and driving back home would be considered dangerous for the student, then DIRAUX would endorse a request for overnight accommodations to TQC if requested.  Unacceptable (but tried!) requests for a waiver to this rule include someone with easy interstate driving who lives less than 50 miles from the course, with the course recessing early afternoon (Aux rank does not rate a waiver to this rule).  Additionally, if a student who resides less than 50 miles from the course chooses to drink alcohol with their classmates so that driving becomes dangerous, they will not be reimbursed for lodging.  Requests such as these should not be sent to us - only extenuating circumstances that a DIRAUX office endorses.
  Please remember that all travel claims, all amendments, all uses of AFC-56 funds can be audited at any time by those authorized to do so - including GAO, DHSIG, CG-13.  CG-13 also has the right to withdraw any or all of our AFC-56 funds at any time if they deem it necessary.  We don't want things to get out of control and for this to be a consideration.  Believe it or not, all of the above situations have happened or were requests that came into this office.  Several situations caused days of effort and time expended by me as well as the involved DIRAUX, instructors, and several CG commands. 
  5. One last thing
  Despite who may think otherwise, only CG military and civil servants are authorized to obligate Govt funds or approve the use of them.  The responsibility and accountability are within the CG.