FAQ's

There are no prohibitions with the use of morale funds to purchase alcohol as long as the type of alcohol purchased is IAW CG Regs, which is currently beer, wine, or ale; no hard liquor (i.e., rum, scotch, vodka, and the like). Only CSC can grant authorization to purchase "any" type of alcoholic beverage using NAF/morale funds. This authorization is typically granted to Clubs, Snack Bars, and/or Restaurants.

CIM 1710.13D does require "contracted services/individuals," providing recreational services to children under the age of 18, undergo a Tier I background check. The background investigation will be the same as conducted for CDC employees. Further, employees or contractors may be allowed to begin employment or contract execution before the documentation of a successful background investigation as long as they stay in a continuous, direct line of sight of an employee with a documented successful background check. This said, this guidance only applies to kids under the age of 18 not accompanied by their parents or guardians to a "staged/targeted (group)" event or activity. To minimize risk and investigative background check requirements, we typically recommend that all kids under 18 attending recreational staged/targeted events or activities "must" be accompanied by their parent or guardian. Question go to app settings and press the "Manage Questions" button.

Yes, you can stage Bingo as planned if ref (a) is followed as it applies to conducting a Bingo event. In addition and IAW ref (b), you must first get CSC authorization to establish this Category C MWR activity, regardless of the frequency of Bingo events. This said, before you spend a lot of admin time to set this up and if you have not done so already, I’d recommend first running this idea pass your command for concurrence and your Serving Legal Office for a legal opinion on conducting bingo games, for prizes, onboard your unit and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. After which, we can look at the possibility of allowing your command to “test the interest of patrons” before formally standing Bingo up at your unit as a Cat C MWR activity. Ref: CIM 1710.13D, (a) Chap 5.C.6, and (b) 6.G.4

Units operating temporary lodging facilities or recreational cottages shall be guided by the health and safety requirements of the Coast Guard Housing Manual, COMDTINST M11101.13 (series). Therefore as MWR Program Manager, we cannot supersede current Housing policies, especially as it applies to safety. You should consult HSWL to get their take on this since the CG's Safety and Environmental Health Manual, COMDTINST M5100.47 (series), is in HSWL's lane, not MWR. Ref: CIM 1710.13D, Chap 1.F.18

CIM 1710.13D, Encl (5).13.e guides the authorization to use APF or NAF for janitorial services. Yes to Cat A and B; no to Cat C (only NAF funds); there is a process to reimburse the APF contract account with NAF.

Section 9.e.(3) states - Use of Coast Guard appropriated or non-appropriated funds are not authorized to support spouses' clubs. Per Reference (e), the morale fund, when available, may help fund activities that are for the benefit of all unit members. The "morale funds" are unit morale funds given to each unit based on the number of AD on their PAL. NAF should not be provided to PAs to purchase goods/services that will assist in their fundraising, even if it is for an event that may benefit the whole community.

Since this is a NAF expense associated with your Cat C MWR food and beverage activity, APF funding support is not authorized to pay insurance premiums. Ref: CIM 7010.5C, Chap 6.A.2

IAW ref (a), farewell/departing gifts are not authorized with the use of morale funds. IAW ref (b), units may use APF to support "informal recognition'' initiatives for departing members to receive such items as medals, plaques, certificates, and the like as long as procedures are followed. Ref: (a)CIM 1710.13D, Chap 6.C.3.d, and (b) CIM 7100.4A, Chap 5.0, 5.2

Since the LDAC is not an MWR program or activity, funding support for cultural days and events is prohibited. That said, the LDAC and the unit's morale committee may stage a joint "all hands" event for this purpose. Ref: CIM 1710.13D, Chap 6.C.5

While there are no prohibitions against the purchase of gift cards for the crew or other eligible patrons, we encourage using CGX to re-invest into our morale fund distributions.

Ref: (a) CIM 1710.13D, Chap 6.A.2 With the potential closure of Cat B & C MWR activities with NAF employees in mind, the pandemic situation is another perfect example of why ref (a) was implemented, which "requires commands to maintain at least 3 pay periods of cash reserves to cover NAF personnel expenses." This is only a benchmark. Based upon weekly unemployment benefits by State, 3 pay periods of cash reserves for any program may be inadequate, especially if unemployment is long term. Recommend you verify with your State's unemployment services office or your CSC NAF payroll assistant to determine and budget accordingly for these costs, in addition to asking, "what is your command's liability if unable to pay unemployment claims?"

As a general rule, the CG Auxiliary are eligible MWR patrons for the CG. However, they are NOT eligible for the Disney Military Salute Ticket. The Disney Salute Ticket is mandated by the following requirements of which the CG AUX are not part of: Eligible Service Members: active or retired members of the U.S. Military, including the National Guard, Reservists, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service (PHS), and the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Spouses of Military Service Members also qualify if they are able to present valid and active U.S. Military IDs in the absence of active or retired Military Personnel or Commissioned Corps Members. They are eligible to buy other Disney ticket offerings sold from MWR, just not that particular one.