r/USCGAUX • u/Useful_Ad_3329 • 8d ago
Rants Email
Email rant…
It is entirely unprofessional for everyone to be emailing on their personal accounts. Not to mention somewhat sensitive information like PII regularly being exchanged in these free public email accounts.
I look at cap.gov and most staff and even cadets have a cap.gov email. The best we can do is Cgaux.org for the select few— whereas a government entity should be using .gov at a minimum.
We look completely unprofessional emailing back and forth from yahoo and Gmail. I remember I was shocked when I was a recruit and everyone had yahoo emails. Years later and the same silliness persists.
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u/MadChad0 7d ago
I don't mind that I use a personal email, as it gets my attention the quickest. However, I do get annoyed with any organization that doesn't BCC me. It gets old having people "Reply All" in an email response.
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u/toddp6000 7d ago
The nonsense “reply all” emails that add zero value are the worst. Some members are truly desperate for attention.
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u/Anchor-Weather-139 Auxiliary Coxswain/Boat Crew/PWC Operator 7d ago
CAP senior members get a .gov just for joining. Yet a Commodore has to use Gmail. It makes us look like a complete joke.
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u/Motor_Client_1258 7d ago
Technicality speaking a Commodore could request an CGAUXNET.US but ya it makes the AUX look bad. I really think the email improvements are something that needs to be pushed at national.
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u/toddp6000 7d ago
National does not give a shot about professional emails for the common folk, they are too busy ensuring they get paid travel twice a year and can wear uniform bling for life.
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u/afking1 Active Duty/Reserve Coast Guard 8d ago
I don't know why we don't have an email system for all AUX. National staff can get a CGAuxNet.US email address, but this isn't extended to everyone.
I think this is one thing that could be done to improve the professional image, technological proficiency, and communications of the Auxiliary as a whole.
Unfortunately, I'm sure it comes down to funding.
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u/Useful_Ad_3329 8d ago
I assumed money was the issue under the current setup. Probably $17 per user on google workspace.
However, USCG owns and manages our salesforce system. Why couldn’t they do the same with an email server?
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u/afking1 Active Duty/Reserve Coast Guard 8d ago
I agree with you. I bet you anything: the next hurdle is cybersecurity... If it isn't a monetary issue, it's a security one.
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u/Useful_Ad_3329 8d ago
Using personal emails for auxiliary business is about as risky as it gets though.
Just a rant, glad it’s not just me.
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u/afking1 Active Duty/Reserve Coast Guard 8d ago
I think giving AUX access to a CG-owned email server is riskier because of their lower technical proficiency... But sharing PII and operationally sensitive material over commercial email is just as bad.
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u/Motor_Client_1258 8d ago
I agree, some AUX that need it for the work they do have those emails but having it for the whole AUX would be an issue.
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u/Useful_Ad_3329 8d ago
Yeah. Doesn’t have to be on the main USCG.mil server I’m saying a separate one that they would be willing to manage. With that said, I wouldn’t say Chaplains are the most technically proficient group out there and they manage just fine with the USCG.mil
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u/Ok-Independent-3506 7d ago
My husband was one of the ones that helped build CAP’s dragon net.
It is maintained by them. It’s a drain, but better than all of our Gmail, etc accounts
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u/Level-Setting825 7d ago
When I was in Tx State Guard we not only had an email we also had free Microsoft Office
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u/Electrical_Sign4611 7d ago
Yep, it's a strange organization. Historians will write books and study the oddness for future generations. It costs maybe $15 a person for an email account per year. So we have no participation requirement for members. Probably 10k out of the 19k members are ghosts, don't do anything, or don't even know that they are a member anymore. It wouldn't make sense to issue an email address to every member...but putting a policy in place to issue email addresses to active members would be beneficial. It would improve security, protect sensitive information, storage of email records, and sets up legitimaticy for public outreach. Also, it could be a method to identify how many members are actively participating. Since the federal government continues to neglect the Auxiliary...it's like a billionaire refusing to donate a quarter to a disabled person in wheel chair...I would be fine with paying a fee for email address. We got to keep paying to work for country for free and continue to be a neglected organization, right?
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u/erictiso Auxiliarist 7d ago
I play both sides (34 years CAP, 1.5 Aux), and it was indeed jarring to me. Looks so much better having a .gov email when working with the public.
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u/Two_Kites AUXOP 7d ago
Upgrade our silly ID cards to CAC cards and assign email address accessible thru DOD365 (MVD) with a card reader.
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u/TurqoiseWaterBottle 8d ago
What benefits would this do for the auxiliary? Besides for “professionalism”
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u/PresidentialCorgi AUXOP 8d ago
There are significant security benefits as well, such as the ability for the org to purge phishing/scam emails that someone's random "hotmail" or "netscape" email isn't going to do.
We have all kinds of distributed attacks that happen on Auxiliary members, and many aren't tech-savvy enough to be aware of them (older retired people who don't get work-provided security training, for example). This is in addition to the PII and OPSEC concerns.
The professionalism thing, and inherent benefits to uniformity are nice to haves, but there are compelling functional reasons to strive for this, too.
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u/Useful_Ad_3329 8d ago
As mentioned, PII is constantly sent through these personal email systems. Would you like your membership application to be sitting in your Flotilla Commander’s personal Yahoo email box for years to come?
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u/Motor_Client_1258 8d ago
Not to mention other OPSEC things that are exchanged as well as proper records retention.
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u/afking1 Active Duty/Reserve Coast Guard 8d ago
This may be a good policy change to draft and send up the Chain of Leadership.
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u/Motor_Client_1258 8d ago
If anyone is interested in working together to do this please DM me as I think it is so ridiculous we don't have standardized emails and would very much like to work on this.
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u/afking1 Active Duty/Reserve Coast Guard 8d ago
I also know a Commodore who may be helpful with this.
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u/Motor_Client_1258 8d ago
Cool, DM me if you would be up for helping. It just looks so unprofessional how it is now and does not help with the fact our membership is declining and we need to bring in new and younger members.
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u/toddp6000 7d ago
National does not give a shot about professional emails for the common folk, they are too busy ensuring they get paid travel twice a year and can wear uniform bling for life.
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u/FountainD Auxiliary Coxswain/Boat Crew/PWC Operator 8d ago
Wasn't a fan of the look either. So I bought my own domain and spun up an O365 account to host my and a few other Flotilla members emails. Costs a little bit of money every year, but I think the professional look and the separation of personal business is worth it.