Coast Guard Auxiliary Undergoes National Realignment

RADM Sally Brice-O’Hara, the Deputy Commandant for Operations, recently distributed ALCOAST 673/09 about the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s national realignment as part of Modernization. These changes, which have been planned and implemented over the last two year, are the most sweeping reorganizational changes in the organization’s 70-year history of volunteer service.

At the conclusion of this effort, the Auxiliary will have a new structure which will be in lockstep with the tenets of Coast Guard Modernization:

· The National Commodore will report to the Vice Commandant and remain responsible for the strategic direction and overall operations of the Auxiliary.
· The three current Area Commodores are now titled Deputy National Commodore for Operations, Operations Policy and Force Readiness. Until completion of Modernization, their titles will include their ARCO LANT-EAST, LANT-WEST and PAC designators.

These changes, along with a detailed organizational chart, are reflected in the news release posted on the Auxiliary website.

Commodore Victor Connell is the Deputy National Commodore, Force Readiness and Pacific Area, having assumed the position in August 2009. Previously he served as Pacific Area Commodore (2008-09) and District Commodore for Auxiliary District Eleven North (2007-08).

LTJG Augustin Earns Leon Y. McGaughey Adult Military Learner of the Year

Lieutenant Junior Grade Miguel K. Augustin was recently selected the 2009 Leon Y. McGaughey Adult Military Learner of the Year by the Commission on Military Education and Training. This is the first time a U.S. Coast Guard members has received this award.

Following his enlistment in 1998, LTJG Augustin earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Nova Southeastern University in Florida. He completed his coursework while on active duty. He attended Officer Candidate School (OCS) in New London, Connecticut where he earned a commission in 2007.

Upon completing OCS, LTJG Augustin was assigned to the pre-commissioning crew of the CGC BERTHOLF as a Student Engineer in Alameda, California.

Mr. Augustin has had a significant impact on many levels and has applied his academic knowledge to the workplace by consistently finding ways to improve processes, and by not allowing perceived obstacles to inhibit progress towards task completion.

Perhaps more noteworthy than his accomplishments is LTJG Augustin’s ability to inspire all those whom he interacts with. As BERTHOLF’s Educational Service Officer, Mr. Augustin was instrumental in establishing an afloat education program which allowed undergraduate classes to be taught by an adjunct professor during BERTHOLF’s first operational deployment. This initiative resulted in 22 crewmembers (almost a quarter of the crew) attaining college level credit in America History and World Civilization.

Among many deserving candidates, LTJG Augustin was recently nominated and received an honorable mention as the 2009 Coast Guard Collateral Duty Education Service Officer of the Year.

Correction: Coast Guard Unmanned Aerial Surveillance Pilots

iFORCECOM posted an item on ATC Mobile’s LT Thomas “Tank” Shuler becoming the first operational Coast Guard UAS (Unmanned Aerial Surveillance) pilot on 26 Oct. and we have received some clarification.

After being notified by a reader that the information we first posted may not be complete, we went on a fact-finding mission. That inquiry revealed that CDR Tony Saliceti is the first pilot to qualify in a UAS Predator B for the Coast Guard, accomplishing this feat in January 2008. He was hand selected to assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the starting point of the working relationship between CG and CBP. This relationship set the groundwork for a formalized CG and CBP partnership and for future CG UAS pilots.

LT Shuler is the Coast Guard’s first operational UAS pilot under our Joint UAS Program with CBP. He is being assigned to fly operational missions involving the Maritime Variant Predator (MVP), as part of a partnership that is the starting point for One-DHS Air Force.

In addition, it has been brought to iFORCECOM’s attention that CWO Dave McPahul (Ret.) was the first Coast Guard Sensor Operator on the Predator B.

FORCECOM Innovation Expo Materials Available

FORCECOM had a booth at last week's Coast Guard Innovation Expo in Virginia Beach, VA. Now all of the collateral materials from the booth and the slide show which ran on the monitors are available in the section marked "FORCECOM Innovation Expo Materials" in the column to the right.

If you would like hard copies of the materials, please send a request to askforcecom@uscg.mil.

Steps to Reach the FORCECOM Cutter Readiness Dashboard

Earlier this month, iFORCECOM ran a post that the cutter section of the Readiness Dashboard is available for a two-week test in CGBI. After receiving feedback from the field via askforcecom@uscg.mil, we want to share some easy steps on how to reach the Readiness Dashboard:

1. Open CG Central
2. Click on the "CG Analytics" tab just left of the middle, down from the top of the display
3. Click on ANY of the boxes that say "Launch CGBI 2.0"
4. When the window opens, click on the "All Cubes & Reports" drop-down in the lower right corner of the display
5. When the list of cubes & reports comes up, scroll down to & click on the one title "FORCECOM Readiness Scorecard"

Please continue to share your feedback on the cutter dashboard, by sending your comments to askforcecom@uscg.mil.

Training Center Petaluma Volunteers Help Petaluma’s City Hall

iFORCECOM received the following post from LCDR Jason Beatty:

In continuing stewardship to their community, a group of 35 permanent party members and students from Training Center Petaluma joined 200 other volunteers from the community to re-landscape Petaluma's City Hall recently.

The project, organized by “Rebuilding Together Petaluma,” “Daily Acts” and “Petaluma Bounty,” resulted in transforming 25,000 square feet of grass to water conserving landscape with native plants and sheet mulch, saving 3.5 million gallons of water annually, and saving the City of Petaluma $25K per year in water and maintenance costs. The raised garden beds installed in the new landscape will produce food and community activity in a space that was previously unused.

This activity accounted for 280 of the 862 community service hours performed during the month of October by TRACEN personnel and students to local organizations, such as Rebuilding Together Petaluma, the Cub Scouts, the Committee of the Shelterless, Petaluma HS Band Boosters, and the Give to the Troops program.

ATG Mayport Members Assist Fort Caroline National Park Rangers

iFORCECOM received the following post from LCDR Steven Tucker of the Afloat Training Group Mayport:

A group of Guardians from ATG Mayport teamed up with ATG Mayport's Navy-80 division in assisting the rangers at Fort Caroline National Park in Jacksonville, FL with site preservations recently.

Throughout the day, members from both the Coast Guard and Navy participated in cleaning the picnic areas and painting the pavilions, pylons and picnic tables. As a parent command, ATG Mayport has always been extremely supportive in all our missions and this is just another chapter in the joint service relationship.

FC-17 Representatives Participate In Finance and Administration Assessment Visits

Reservists representing the FORCECOM Reserve Capability, Standardization and Analysis Branch (FC-17) are joining FC-75 inspectors visiting units with large reserve contingents during upcoming Finance and Administration Assessments. In addition to supporting FC-75 with Reserve expertise, the FC-17 representatives are evaluating the utilization of Reserve Appropriation-funded Full Time Support (FTS) positions.

Under the guidance and oversight of the FC-1 Division Deputy, CAPT Jeff Saine, reservists have already participated in the assessments of PSU 305, STA Little Creek, and Sector Tampa-St. Petersburg, with the following assessments tentatively scheduled for the remainder of FY10:

– DEC 09: Sector Miami & STA Miami Beach
– JAN 10: MSST Galveston
– FEB 10: Sector Corpus Christi
– MAR 10: PSU 313
– MAR 10: Sector Mobile
– MAR 10: Sector Houston-Galveston
– APR 10: Sector San Diego & STA San Diego
– MAY 10: Sector Sault Ste Marie
– JUN 10: Sector Upper Miss & STA Milford Haven
– JUN 10: Sector San Francisco
– JUN 10: MSST LA/LB
– JUL 10: Sector Lake Michigan & STA Milwaukee
– JUL 10: Sector Hampton Roads

FC-17’s goals are to adopt best practices for ensuring standardization; develop Reserve specific checklists and standards that are consistent with FC-75; examine the use of Reserve-Funded Full Time Support positions; and to evaluate the implementation of the Senior Enlisted Reserve Advisor Program.

New Modernization Scenario Video Debuts at the Innovation Expo

An eight-minute video that addresses the Coast Guard’s Modernization effort was debuted by RADM Tim Sullivan, Commander, Force Readiness Command, today at the 2009 CG Innovation Expo at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, VA.

This video examines how the envisioned four co-equal organizational elements – DCO, DCMS, FORCECOM and OPCOM – will work together to complete a Coast Guard mission. The Self Propelled Semi Submersible (SPSS) threat was the scenario used to examine the “Big 4’s” command relationship and how they will work together to successfully complete the mission.

There is a closed caption option on the video for the hearing impaired and can be accessed by clicking here.

The video was produced by Effective Digital Presentation. Copies of the video are also available at the FORCECOM Booth at the Innovation Expo (Booth #1520).

Readiness Dashboard Demonstration at 1400 Today

FORCECOM will host a demonstrations of the Readiness Dashboard at 1400 EST on Wednesday at the Coast Guard Innovation Expo in Virginia Beach, VA. The presentation will be held at the Idea Factory Booth, which is located at space 1408.

The Readiness Dashboard is a visual status board that summarizes all the factors affecting unit readiness into an easy to read, intuitive display that FORCECOM will use to manage readiness.

The dasbhoard:

• Provides an overview of unit readiness across the four key areas of personnel, equipment, supply and training.


• Allow users to drill-down to the actual metrics affecting unit readiness, assess trouble areas and compare to peers.


• Is easily accessible via CGBI at http://cgbi.osc.uscg.mil/

Modernization Scenario Video to Debut Tomorrow at Innovation Expo

A new video which examines the Coast Guard's Modernization effort will be debuted tomorrow as part of the Modernization Panel at 1030 EST at the Innovation Expo in Virginia Beach, VA.

This video will examine how the envisioned four co-equal organizational elements – DCO, DCMS, FORCECOM and OPCOM – will work together to complete a Coast Guard mission. The Self Propelled Semi Submersible (SPSS) threat was the scenario used to examine the “Big 4’s” command relationship and how they will work together to successfully complete the mission.

The video will be made available on iFORCECOM following tomorrow's Modernization Panel.

ALCOAST 658/09 MANDATED TRAINING (MT) REQUIREMENTS FOR CY09 AND CY10

ALCOAST 658/09 outlines a significant reduction in General Mandatory Training (GMT) across the Coast Guard from 17 hours per individual to just six hours on average. This is a huge success story for FORCECOM. Reducing GMT (now known as MT) burden on field units was an important FORCECOM first-year goal (one of six). With this ALCOAST, that goal is now largely complete. This burden reduction should help Coast Guard leaders better manage their respective workforce.

Below is ALCOAST 658/09

R 170049Z NOV 09 ZUI ASN-PC1321000002

FM COMCOGARD FORCECOM ALAMEDA CA//FC-00//

TO ALCOAST

BT UNCLAS //N01550//

ALCOAST 658/09 COMDTNOTE 1550

SUBJ: MANDATED TRAINING (MT) REQUIREMENTS FOR CY09 AND CY10

A. MANDATORY USE OF TRAINING MANAGEMENT TOOL (TMT), COMDTINST 5270.2 (SERIES)

1. THIS ALCOAST UPDATES REF (A) WHEREAS GENERAL MANDATED TRAINING (GMT) IS NOW REFERRED TO AS MANDATED TRAINING (MT). THIS MESSAGE PUBLISHES A REVISED LIST OF RECURRING MT REQUIREMENTS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF MT ON THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBER RECOGNIZING THAT EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL HAVE COMPLETED MULTIPLE ITERATIONS OF THE SAME TRAINING THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREER.

2. THE PURPOSE OF MT IS TO BUILD AWARENESS AND ENHANCE THE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND ATTITUDES OF OUR WORKFORCE REQUIRED TO PERFORM CG MISSIONS. MT MAY ONLY BE ESTABLISHED WHEN EXPLICITLY REQUIRED BY AN OFFICIAL MANDATE SUCH AS PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE, OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT POLICY, PUBLIC LAW, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) OR COAST GUARD POLICY REQUIREMENTS, OR WHEN MT IS DETERMINED BY THE FORCE READINESS COMMAND (FORCECOM) AS THE MOST EFFICIENT MEANS OF DELIVERY FOR A VALID TRAINING REQUIREMENT.

3. RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF ALL MT HAS BEEN PLACED UNDER THE SINGULAR AUTHORITY OF FORCECOM. FORCECOM HAS TAKEN SEVERAL STEPS TO MINIMIZE THE TRAINING BURDEN ON UNITS AND INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT COMPROMISING MT REQUIREMENTS, SUCH AS THE ELIMINATION OF ALL UNVALIDATED LEGACY GMT AND THE CREATION OF POLICY AND CONTROLS TO STANDARDIZE DELIVERY AND MANAGEMENT OF MT. THESE STEPS INCLUDE THE USE OF E-LEARNING WHENEVER FEASIBLE, TARGETING MT TO THE REQUIRED AUDIENCE, AND ALLOWING MEMBERS TO TAKE A PRE-TEST TO TEST OUT OF THE COURSE IF ALL TRAINING OBJECTIVES ARE MET. MT CONTENT WILL BE TAILORED TO THE USER BASED ON PRE-TEST RESULTS, DEVLIVERING CUSTOMIZABLE CONTENT BASED ON OBJECTIVES NOT MET, SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING DELIVERY TIME. DIRECTIONS ON TEST OUT CAN BE FOUND AT https://cgwebmail.uscg.mil/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=HTTPS://LEARNING.USCG.MIL. USERS WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT OUT ALL COURSES. MT COURSES WILL BE LIMITED TO 45 MINUTES IN LENGTH, UNLESS APPROVED BY FORCECOM (FC-5). THE AVERAGE TOTAL TIME TO COMPLETE THE ENTIRE SERIES OF MT COURSES IN 2008 WAS OVER 17 HOURS PER PERSON. THE NEW DESIGN FEATURES DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE EXPECTED TO REDUCE THE AVERAGE TOTAL TIME TO COMPLETE THE MT SERIES TO FEWER THAN 6 HOURS. WHEN THE REDESIGN IS COMPLETE OOA JULY 2010, THE AVERAGE TOTAL TIME FOR EACH MEMBER TO TAKE MT WILL BE LESS THAN 4 HOURS. FOR EXAMPLE, RECENTLY A MEMBER WITH 15 YEARS IN THE CG COMPLETED THE ENTIRE SET OF MT IN LESS THAN 2 HOURS. THE INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCE WITH SOME OF THE REOCURRING MT COURSES ALLOWED HIM TO TEST OUT OF A MAJORITY OF THE COURSES BECAUSE HE WAS ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT MATERIAL THROUGH THE PRE-TEST OPTION.

4. THE APPROVED TRAINING TOPICS ARE SUMMARIZED IN THIS MESSAGE TO ASSIST COMMANDING OFFICERS AND UNIT TRAINING OFFICERS WITH ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING AN EFFECTIVE TRAINING EXECUTION PLAN. THIS LIST ADDRESSES ONLY WORKFORCE WIDE MT REQUIREMENTS, NOW KNOWN AS CATEGORY (A) MANDATED TRAINING. TRAINING REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE PARTICIPATION BY THE FOLLOWING COMPONENTS: ACTIVE DUTY, RESERVE, CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES AND AUXILIARISTS AND CONTRACTORS. FUTURE LISTS AND STATUS OF MT WILL BE AVAILABLE AT https://cgwebmail.uscg.mil/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=HTTPS://LEARNING.USCG.MIL. IN THE NEAR FUTURE THE LIST OF MANDATED TRAINING, FORMERLY REFERED TO AS GMT (B), WILL BE PUBLISHED. THIS LIST NOW CALLED MT CATEGORY (B) WORKFORCE TRAINING APPLIES TO REQUIREMENTS MANDATED FOR A SPECIFIC DUTY POSITION/RESPONSIBILITY OR FUNCTION IDENTIFIED IN AUTHORITATIVE DOCUMANTATION. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS TYPE OF TRAINING IS THE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED GOVERNTMENT TRAVEL CREDIT CARD (GTCC) TRAINING OR HEARING CONSERVATION TRAINING.

5. COAST GUARD MEMBERS WILL HAVE ACCESS TO ALTERNATE MEANS OF DELIVERY FOR MT PRODUCTS. COURSE INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED AT https://cgwebmail.uscg.mil/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=HTTPS://LEARNING.USCG.MIL AS CONTENT AND OTHER MEDIA BECOME AVAILABLE.

6. TO PROVIDE UNITS WITH FLEXIBILITY IN MANAGING THEIR WORKFORCE, COURSE DUE DATES WILL CONTINUE TO BE ON A CALENDAR YEAR SCHEDULE. SIXTY DAYS PRIOR TO THE CURRENCY EXPIRATION DATE THE CGBI INDICATOR WILL TURN YELLOW AND ONCE CURRENCY EXPIRES THE CGBI INDICATOR WILL TURN RED.

7. THE CURRENT REQUIRED MANDATED TRAINING LIST IS AS FOLLOWS: COURSE TITLE INTERVAL AUDIENCE

A. SEXUAL HARASS (AND) ASSAULT ANNUAL ACT/RES/CIV/NAF/AUX(A) PREVENTION/RESPONSE (SHAPR)

B. NO FEAR ACT BIENNIAL CIV/MIL SUPERVISOR

C. INFORMATION SYSTEMS ANNUAL ALL(A)/CONTR(B) SECURITY (ISS)

D. PRIVACY AWARENESS ANNUAL ALL(A)/CONTR(B)

E. SUICIDE PREVENTION(C) ANNUAL ACT/CIV/RES/CONTR(B)

F. SUBSTANCE ABUSE FREE TRIENNIAL ACT/RES ENVIRONMENT (SAFE)

G. SECURITY EDUCATION ANNUAL ALL(A)/CONTR(B) TRAINING AWARENESS (SETA) (A) SEE PARA 9. NOTE, ALL(A) INC. ACT/RES/CIV/AUX. (B) CONTRACTOR TRAINING REQUIREMENT NEEDS TO BE INCORPORATED IN CONTRACTUAL STATEMENT OF WORK. (C) COURSE NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE.

8. CURRENT REQUIREMENTS FOR TAKING THE INFLUENZA COURSE HAVE BEEN MODIFIED TO ONCE IN A CAREER. SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS CAN BE ADDED AS NATIONAL HEALTH CONCERNS DICTATE AND WILL BE ANNOUNCED VIA SEPARATE ALCOAST. COURSE TITLE INTERVAL AUDIENCE A. INFLUENZA TRAINING ONCE ACT/RES/CIV/AUX (A)

9. AUXILARIST CLARIFICATION FOR MANDATED COURSES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

A. ALL AUXILARISTS:

1. SEXUAL HARASS (AND) ASSAULT PREVENTION/RESPONSE (SHAPR)

2. PRIVACY AWARENESS

3. SECURITY EDUCATION (AND) TRAINING AWARENESS (SETA)

4. INFLUENZA TRAINING (ONCE PER CAREER)

B. ALL AUXILARISTS WITH CGDN ACCESS

1. ALL IN SUB PARA (A)

2. INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY 10. THE MAJORITY OF MT CONTENT IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE LEARNING PORTAL AT https://cgwebmail.uscg.mil/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=HTTPS://LEARNING.USCG.MIL. THE SUICIDE PREVENTION COURSE WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE BY DEC 09. UNITS MAY PRESENT MT IN A CLASSROOM, MESS DECK OR HANGAR DECK ENVIRONMENT. IN THOSE OFFLINE INSTANCES, UNIT TRAINING OFFICERS SHALL RECORD COMPLETION FOR INDIVIDUALS INTO THE TRAINING MANAGEMENT TOOL (TMT) LOCATED AT https://cgwebmail.uscg.mil/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=HTTP://AOPS.OSC.USCG.MIL. FOR THOSE COURSES TAKEN AND ASSESSED ONLINE, COMPLETION WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE RECORDED INTO TMT AND THEN TO CGBI.

11. CG PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO A NON-CG FACILITY MUST SATISFY MT TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR BOTH THE COAST GUARD AND THE HOST AGENCY. MEMBERS DESIRING TO TRACK HOST AGENCY MT COURSE WORK SHOULD PROVIDE COMPLETION CERTIFICATES OR OTHER PROOF OF ACCOMPLISHMENT TO THEIR CG SERVICING PERSONNEL OFFICE (SPO) FOR RECORD KEEPING PURPOSES.

12. COMMANDING OFFICERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THE UNIT TRAINING PROGRAM INCLUDES ALL APPLICABLE TOPICS OUTLINED IN THE CONTENTS OF THIS MESSAGE. COMMANDING OFFICERS AND UNIT TRAINING OFFICERS ARE NOW ABLE TO IDENTIFY INDIVIDUAL/UNIT STATUS IN CGBI REPORTS AVAILABLE AT https://cgwebmail.uscg.mil/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=HTTP://CGBI.OSC.USCG.MIL/. ALL USERS SHOULD VALIDATE THEIR MT COURSE COMPLETION STATUS USING CGBI TO DETERMINE THEIR MT COMPLETION STATUS FOR CY09 AND CY10.

13. QUESTIONS/CONCERNS REGARDING MT RELATED COURSE CONTENT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE SUBJECT MATTER PROGRAM MANAGER. GENERAL QUESTIONS RELATED TO MT, AND CONCERNS OR IDEAS FOR IMPROVING THE LEARNING PORTAL SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO DR. CHRISTOPHER SLATER FORCECOM (FC-51 STAFF) AT (202) 475-5502. FUTURE MT EXPECTATIONS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN JANUARY OF EACH CALENDAR YEAR VIA https://cgwebmail.uscg.mil/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=HTTPS://LEARNING.USCG.MIL AND ALCOAST. THIS EFFORT REPRESENTS SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON THE IMPORTANT FIRST YEAR GOAL OF FORCECOM TO REDUCE THE GMT BURDEN ON FIELD UNITS.

14. RELEASED BY RADM T. S. SULLIVAN, COMMANDER, FORCE READINESS COMMAND.

15. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.

BT NNNN