Welcome to the Flotilla 8-39, District 11NR Web Site

Located in the Northern California Central Valley is Flotilla 08-39 of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. Some of our areas of responsibility (AOR) are Black Butte Lake, Lake Oroville, Lake Shasta, Lewiston Lake, Trinity Lake, and Whiskeytown Lake. We participate in a wide range of activities in support of the U.S. Coast Guard and its missions. Flotilla 08-39 routinely presents public safety classes, performs courtesy vessel safety checks (VSCs), visits marine dealerships, performs safety patrols afloat, augments active duty personnel where needed, supporting marine and environmental safety, supports other missions as directed by the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, and much more.

Our members come from many diverse backgrounds. We share a commitment to boating safety, a passion for the Auxiliary, and a desire to give back to our communities.

The flotilla is always happy to welcome new members. The officers of 08-39 are committed to ensuring each member has every opportunity to participate in the activities of their choosing and to provide all available resources, so that each member may obtain their full potential. 

Established in 1939 by an act of Congress as the United States Coast Guard Reserve and later designated as the Auxiliary in 1941, the Auxiliary is an incorporated, all-volunteer civilian component of the United States Coast Guard. The Auxiliary has grown to over 32,000 members who daily support the Coast Guard in all its non-military, and non-law-enforcement missions. We have members and units in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam.

Auxiliary members conduct safety patrols on local waterways, assist in Search and Rescue, teach boating safety classes, conduct free vessel safety checks for the public, provide boating safety literature to dealers, as well as many other activities related to recreational boating safety.

The Coast Guard considers the Auxiliary its primary resource for recreational boating safety outreach and prevention, and each Coast Guard district around the nation has established a senior officer and staff to provide tight liaison and coordination between the active-duty Coast Guard and the various Auxiliary units in that district.

And in many inland portions of the country, where the majority of U.S. recreational boating occurs on lakes and rivers, the Auxiliary is the sole Coast Guard presence!

But the Auxiliary is more than recreational boating safety; we regularly serve alongside our active-duty shipmates serving as communications watchstanders, uninspected passenger vessel inspectors, training resources for air and sea operations, numerous duties related to environmental protection and homeland security, and even as chefs! In fact, there are nearly two dozen "qualifications" open to Auxiliarists willing to put in the time and training. Collectively, Auxiliarists volunteer over 4.5 million hours per year and complete nearly 500,000 missions – a true force multiplier for the Coast Guard!

Membership in the Auxiliary is open to persons 17 years of age and older. We are organized into 16 districts nationwide, comprised of 171 divisions with approximately 980 flotillas. No matter where you live, there is a flotilla near you. Find the unit nearest your Zip Code by clicking on "Units" at the top of this page. And for dozens of reasons why you should join, visit "Recruiting". You will not be sorry!

The Coast Guard is an armed maritime service with military, law enforcement, marine environmental protection, preventative safety and search-and-rescue (SAR) missions. In an average day, the Coast Guard conducts 109 SAR cases, saves 10 lives, assists 192 people in distress, protects $2.8 million in property, conducts 396 small boat patrols and 164 aircraft flights, boards 144 vessels and seizes 169 pounds of marijuana and 306 pounds of cocaine worth $9.6 million, interdict 14 illegal immigrants, process 238 merchant mariner licenses and documents, board 100 large vessels for port safety checks, responds to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 gallons, services 135 buoys and other aids to navigation, safely conducts 2,509 vessels in and out of major ports, and its icebreakers assist 197,000 tons of shipping. Yet, interestingly enough, the Coast Guard maintains the same personnel levels as it did in 1967 and is smaller the New York City police department.

Formed as the Revenue Cutter Service in 1790 by Alexander Hamilton to collect taxes and deter piracy, the Coast Guard is the oldest armed, uniformed service in continual operation since 1790. (The Army, Navy and Marines were disbanded after the War for Independence and only later formed again; the Air Force was created in 1947.) In 1915, the federal lighthouse and lifesaving services were merged with the Revenue Cutter Service and renamed the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard was nominally under the administration of the Department of the Treasury (except during times of war, when it was under the Navy Department) until the 1960s, when it was transferred to the authority of the Department of Transportation. In March, 2003, the Coast Guard was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security.

Lowell Fletcher

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Flotilla Commander
Flotilla 39
Division 08
District 11-North