By Robin Nelson '22, Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets
The new unit creates expanded opportunities for Aggies to serve in the United States Coast Guard after graduation.
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Sept. 18, 2024 — Texas A&M University’s flagship campus in College Station will join the United States Coast Guard’s Auxiliary University Program (AUP) with a unit activation ceremony on Sept. 20. Texas A&M’s unit will join over 30 other collegiate units across the country to include the Texas A&M Maritime Academy, based at the Galveston campus, expanding Texas A&M’s history of service to the nation. The ceremony, which is open to the public, will take place at 11 a.m. on Texas A&M’s Simpson Drill Field.
Through membership in the unit, students will have the opportunity to work alongside active military and civilian Coast Guard personnel across the branch’s operational units, to include public policy, maritime strategy and geographic information systems (GIS). Historically, over 70% of the Auxiliary Unit Program’s alumni members go on to serve in the Coast Guard after graduation.
“This new partnership between the Coast Guard and Texas A&M University is significant as it formalizes an avenue for Aggies to pursue careers as Coast Guard officers. While Texas A&M has produced officers for the Coast Guard for decades, this represents the first formal agreement to train and prepare Aggies for Coast Guard service. This partnership represents the perfect blend of two organizations whose values are so closely aligned,” USCG Capt. (Ret.) Scott Jackson, staff advisor to the unit, said.
At its start, Texas A&M’s auxiliary unit will have 21 members. Though membership is open to all students at Texas A&M, all of these initial members are also in the university’s Corps of Cadets. Two junior cadets, Alec Rehagen and Savion Santor, along with several Office of the Commandant staff members, have been instrumental in the establishment of the unit.
“We couldn’t have done it without the support of members of the larger Coast Guard AUP and others at Texas A&M that have supported the unit,” Rehagen said.
Santor said being in the Corps of Cadets gives students an advantage when it comes to pursuing opportunities with the Coast Guard.
“I’ve developed my confidence and discipline as a cadet. The traditions of the Corps have given me the opportunity to develop my own leadership style and prepare for my future career,” he said.
“Being a part of the Corps definitely put me at an advantage when it came to applying for the Coast Guard’s College Student Pre-commissioning Initiative and making it through Coast Guard boot camp in Cape May, New Jersey this summer. During boot camp, Alec and I were prepared when it came to physical ability and military tradition. Now, I’m looking forward to finishing up college and tackling Officer Candidate School after graduation,” Santor said.
Those currently in the unit look forward to growing the AUP’s presence at Texas A&M, with significant expectations and goals already set for the future.
“My hopes are to create a healthy and thriving unit that will prepare students to commission into the United States Coast Guard,” Rehagen said “My personal goal is to make Texas A&M the largest source of Coast Guard officers outside of the Coast Guard Academy, and I believe that we are going to make that happen.”