Boating safety is one of the most critical of the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s missions, and at the operational level one of Auxiliary’s most effective tools in promoting it is vessel inspection. Although the concept and practice of vessel inspections has not changed over the years, the nomenclature and awards associated with it have.
For decades, the Auxiliary helped recreational and some commercial boaters ensure their vessels met minimum safety standards by performing Courtesy Marine/Motorboat (CME) Examinations, or CMEs. Flotillas who conducted a requisite number of these examinations each year were awarded the Auxiliary Flotilla CME Achievement Award under the Goal Achievement Program, or GAP.
But the GAP had a drawback in that offered little incentive for every member of the flotilla to contribute to the best of their abilities. While the flotilla was required to meet certain goals to earn a ribbon—in this case it would be a specific number of courtesy examinations per year—there was no mechanism to ensure that all members who could take part in reaching those numbers actually did so. Consequently, some members who wound up with the honor of wearing the decoration had actually done little or nothing in the way of helping the flotilla earn it.
The GAP system was replaced by the Auxiliary Management by Objective (AMOS), which combined flotilla and individual goals, but for various reasons it too was shelved and replaced by the Annual Service Performance Awards. The current equivalent of the former CME Achievement Award is the
Auxiliary Vessel Examination and Recreational Boating Safety Visitation Program (VE/RBSVP) Service Performance Award. In the most recent edition of the Auxiliary Manual (COMDTINST M16790.1G), the Coast Guard Auxiliary revised its stance on obsolete awards, and it now allows wear of discontinued decorations provided they are in good conditon.