The three-star office of National Commodore (NACO) is the highest position in the organizational chart of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, but it has not always been a part of the administration and management of the service: ten years elapsed between the redesignation of the Coast Guard Reserve to the Coast Guard Auxiliary and the swearing in of the first NACO, Bert C. Pouncey, Jr., in 1941. National Commodores serve for a period of two years along with District Commodores, District Chiefs of Staff, Vice National Commodores, and Deputy National Commodores.
When worn as a pin-on, metal collar device, the three stars of the NACO insignia are aligned in a point-to-point configuration and oriented so that a single ray from each star is pointing toward the top collar ege. The device is then placed so that the distance between the center of the leading star and the inner collar edge is one inch, with a similar distance between that star’s center and the top edge of the collar. Stars are to be arranged parallel to the top collar edge.
National Commodores wear collar devices with the Winter Dress Blue, Undress Blue—Winter, and Undress short-sleeve shirts. Regulations also call for them to wear embroidered versions of this insignia on the Operational Duty Uniform and the Jump Suit; wear of collar devices with the Working Blue Uniform was suspended in December 2012 with the discontinuation of that outfit.