[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ENHANCING PERSONNEL RESOURCES TO SUPPORT A STRONGER, MORE RESILIENT
COAST GUARD
=======================================================================
(117-56)
REMOTE HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
COAST GUARD AND MARITIME TRANSPORTATION
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JULY 27, 2022
__________
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-
transportation?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/
transportation
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
49-394PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon, Chair
SAM GRAVES, Missouri ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas District of Columbia
BOB GIBBS, Ohio EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida RICK LARSEN, Washington
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOHN KATKO, New York JOHN GARAMENDI, California
BRIAN BABIN, Texas HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana Georgia
DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
MIKE BOST, Illinois DINA TITUS, Nevada
RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
DOUG LaMALFA, California JARED HUFFMAN, California
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas JULIA BROWNLEY, California
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, MARK DeSAULNIER, California
Puerto Rico STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey
DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota GREG STANTON, Arizona
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas, Vice Chair
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
NANCY MACE, South Carolina CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts
MICHELLE STEEL, California CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
Vacancy KAIALI`I KAHELE, Hawaii
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
TROY A. CARTER, Louisiana
SHEILA CHERFILUS-McCORMICK,
Florida
------ 7
Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California, Chair
RICK LARSEN, Washington BOB GIBBS, Ohio
JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts, RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas
Vice Chair MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey
ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York
ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland Vacancy
CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire SAM GRAVES, Missouri (Ex Officio)
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon (Ex
Officio)
CONTENTS
Page
Summary of Subject Matter........................................ v
STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
Hon. Salud O. Carbajal, a Representative in Congress from the
State of California, and Chair, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation, opening statement..................... 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Hon. Bob Gibbs, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Ohio, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation, opening statement..................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 5
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, opening statement.............................. 6
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, prepared statement............................. 27
WITNESSES
Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, oral
statement...................................................... 8
Prepared statement........................................... 9
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
``Coast Guard: Increasing Mission Demands Highlight Importance of
Assessing Its Workforce Needs,'' Statement of Heather MacLeod,
Acting Director, Homeland Security and Justice, U.S. Government
Accountability Office, Submitted for the Record by Hon. Salud
O. Carbajal.................................................... 5
APPENDIX
Questions to Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant, U.S. Coast
Guard, from:
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio on behalf of Hon. John Garamendi....... 29
Hon. Salud O. Carbajal....................................... 30
Hon. Sam Graves.............................................. 35
Hon. Mike Gallagher.......................................... 41
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
July 22, 2022
SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER
TO: LMembers, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation
FROM: LStaff, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation
RE: LHearing on ``Enhancing Personnel Resources to
Support a Stronger, More Resilient Coast Guard''
_______________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE
The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
will hold a hearing on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
EDT in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom to
examine the current state of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG or
Coast Guard) workforce and highlight the investments and
resources needed to support the servicemembers and civilian
personnel executing the Coast Guard's diverse array of
missions. The Subcommittee will hear testimony from the U.S.
Coast Guard.
BACKGROUND
The Coast Guard operates as the nation's premier maritime
law enforcement agency, charged with primary responsibility to
enforce or assist in the enforcement of all applicable federal
laws in, under, and over the high seas and waters subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States to ensure safety of life
and property at sea; protect the marine environment; carry out
icebreaking activities; and ensure the safety and security of
vessels, ports, waterways, and related facilities.\1\ As one of
the six Armed Forces, the Coast Guard also maintains defense
readiness and may be called upon to operate as a specialized
service in the Navy upon the declaration of war or at the
direction of the president.\2\
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\1\ 14 U.S.C. Sec. 102.
\2\ 14 U.S.C. Sec. 103.
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In fiscal year 2021, the Coast Guard responded to over
16,400 search and rescue cases, saving 4,747 lives.\3\
Additionally, the Coast Guard conducted over 7,656 boardings of
fishing vessels, issued 229,274 Certificates of Documentation
to commercial and recreational vessels, maintained over 46,529
aids to navigation, investigated 11,062 pollution incident
reports, performed 4,555 hours of icebreaking, and detained 635
suspected smugglers carrying over 380,000 pounds of cocaine.\4\
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\3\ U.S. Coast Guard. Posture Statement: 2023 Budget Overview
available at https://
www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/budget/2023/
FY%202023%20Posture%20Statement.pdf?
ver=nSIvAr6imO5IsOC3m0PMsg%3D%3D×tamp=1648484300591.
\4\ Id.
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As the second smallest branch in the military, the Coast
Guard achieved these mission objectives on a modest budget with
just about 40,456 active-duty military members, 8,034
reservists, and 9,012 civilian employees.\5\ For fiscal year
2022, the Coast Guard received an overall appropriation of
$13.2 billion, of which $9.16 billion was dedicated to
Operations and Support, a portion of which covers military pay
and allowances for its servicemembers.\6\
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\5\ Id. at 8.
\6\ Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117-103),
available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/
2471.
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In 2004, the Coast Guard began its largest recapitalization
effort since World War II, investing billions of dollars in
updating its legacy assets to enhance its capability to respond
to an unprecedented demand for Coast Guard services.\7\ By
2038, the Coast Guard will have invested well over $26.8
billion in its acquisition program.\8\ Alongside these
extraordinary investments in Coast Guard assets, it's
imperative that the concerns and needs of its servicemembers
are equally addressed and resources are targeted toward
enhancing their quality of life.
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\7\ Congressional Research Service. Coast Guard Cutter Procurement:
Background and Issues for Congress. https://www.crs.gov/reports/pdf/
R42567 Updated April 13, 2022.
\8\ U.S. Coast Guard FY2022-2026 Capital Investment Plan, Fiscal
Year 2021 Report to Congress, December 9, 2021.
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HOUSING
Housing poses a unique challenge for members of the Coast
Guard stationed in high-cost areas. Due to the nature of Coast
Guard missions, Coast Guard installations are based near
desirable coastal cities, which have higher than average living
costs as illustrated in Figure 1.\9\ To offset the cost of
housing, the Coast Guard provides a basic allowance for housing
(BAH) to all active-duty servicemembers stationed in the United
States. It helps cover a majority of monthly rent and utility
costs for servicemembers.\10\ The amount of BAH a servicemember
is entitled to depends on that member's pay grade, dependency
status, and the geographic location the member is assigned
to.\11\ The Secretary of the Department of Defense (DOD) sets
the BAH rates for all uniformed services, including the Coast
Guard, for the various military housing areas in the United
States.\12\ The rates are based on ``the costs of adequate
housing for civilians with comparable income levels in the same
area'' and are designed to cover approximately 95 percent of a
member's housing costs.\13\
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\9\ Trulia, ``Stationed in the Nation: Best Rental Markets for U.S.
Military and Their Families,'' Trulia.com May 11, 2016, https://
www.trulia.com/research/military-rentals/.
\10\ GAO, ``Military Housing: Actions Needed to Improve the Process
for Setting Allowances for Servicemembers and Calculating Payments for
Privatized Housing Projects,'' p. 17 GAO-21-137. https://www.gao.gov/
assets/gao-21-137.pdf January 2021.
\11\ 37 U.S.C. Sec. 403.
\12\ Id.
\13\ Id.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 1_Location of Coast Guard's nine Districts and 37 Sectors (GAO-
20-223)
BAH is calculated by a concerted effort of military
representatives and contractors who gather data on rental rates
of various housing types (e.g. one-bedroom apartment, two-
bedroom townhouse, four-bedroom single-family home) in the
private sector housing market one year in advance of each
fiscal year for each of the 301 military housing areas in the
U.S.\14\ The Military Compensation Policy directorate within
the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Military Personnel Policy reviews the data and makes
adjustments where appropriate to calculate BAH rates for each
of the 27 pay grades by dependency status.\15\ The directorate
then briefs each of the services on the rates, and the services
approve the final rates after review.\16\ During the process,
each service is afforded the opportunity to provide ancillary
information to be used in the BAH calculus, such as rental
housing referral lists, apartment complex lists, and real
estate contacts.\17\
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\14\ GAO, ``Military Housing: Actions Needed to Improve the Process
for Setting Allowances for Servicemembers and Calculating Payments for
Privatized Housing Projects,'' p. 18 GAO-21-137. https://www.gao.gov/
assets/gao-21-137.pdf January 2021.
\15\ Id. at 17.
\16\ Id. at 18.
\17\ U.S. Coast Guard. Coast Guard Housing Manual. p. 2-1 Available
at https://media.defense.gov/2017/Mar/29/2001723590/-1/-1/0/
CIM_11101_13G.PDF.
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During its 2021 review of DOD's process for setting housing
allowances, the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
identified a few discrepancies in DOD's methodology for
determining BAH rates. It found that for certain locations DOD
did not collect enough data to adequately meet its sample size
targets and it did not always rely on current-year rental
housing data.\18\ Accordingly, there are concerns that these
shortcomings could result in an insufficient housing allowance
provided to members of the Coast Guard. For instance, an E-5
rated servicemember with dependents stationed at USCG Station
Golden Gate in Sausalito, California receives a housing
allowance of $3,126 per month,\19\ but a two-bedroom apartment
in this vicinity has an average monthly rental rate of $4,500,
or $1,374 more than the housing allowance, and this does not
include utilities which BAH is intended to cover.\20\ In
contrast, the nearest DOD installation to USCG Station Golden
Gate is Travis Air Force Base (Travis AFB) in Fairfield, CA,
where an E-5 with dependents is entitled to $2,811 per month
for BAH.\21\ The housing allowance provides that airman an
excess of $421 over the average rental rate of $2,390 for a
two-bedroom apartment in this area.\22\
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\18\ GAO, ``Military Housing: Actions Needed to Improve the Process
for Setting Allowances for Servicemembers and Calculating Payments for
Privatized Housing Projects,'' p. 12 GAO-21-137. https://www.gao.gov/
assets/gao-21-137.pdf January 2021.
\19\ Defense Travel Management Office. BAH Calculator. https://
www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm Accessed June 28, 2022.
\20\ Rent.com Rental market trends in Sausalito, CA. https://
www.rent.com/california/sausalito-apartments/rent-trends Accessed July
4, 2022.
\21\ Defense Travel Management Office. BAH Calculator. https://
www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm Accessed June 28, 2022.
\22\ Rent.com Rental market trends in Fairfield, CA. https://
www.rent.com/california/fairfield-apartments/rent-trends Accessed July
4, 2022.
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Coast Guard policy states that the housing program strives
to ensure access to adequate housing that is within two hours
or less round-trip travel distance of a member's permanent duty
station during peak commute times.\23\ However, there are
concerns that in order to obtain housing within the BAH
allotment, junior members must endure longer commutes. For
example, the drive from Fairfield, CA, to Sausalito, CA, is 90
minutes.
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\23\ U.S. Coast Guard. Coast Guard Housing Manual. p. 4-2 Available
at https://media.defense.gov/2017/Mar/29/2001723590/-1/-1/0/
CIM_11101_13G.PDF.
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Service members are provided alternative housing options so
that they do not have to obtain private sector housing, such as
military housing or leased housing, but housing on base is
awarded based on rank and dependency status, driving more
junior members to join a lengthy waiting list and endure
housing expenses above the BAH allotment until a home becomes
available.\24\ Moreover, many Coast Guard housing units are
deteriorating and in dire need of recapitalization. According
to GAO, the Coast Guard has 2,901 housing assets, 28 percent of
which are past their service life and received a B- rating from
the American Society of Civil Engineers.\25\
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\24\ Id. at 7-3.
\25\ GAO, ``Coast Guard Actions Needed to Better Manage Shore
Infrastructure,'' p. 3 GAO-22-105513. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-
22-105513.pdf November 2021.
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HEALTHCARE
In the area of healthcare, the Coast Guard faces several
challenges to meet the needs of its servicemembers. The Coast
Guard has 43 clinics, 65 shore-based sickbays, and 57 vessel-
based sickbays which it staffs with enlisted members (health
service technicians) and officers (physician assistants), as
well as contractors, and physicians and dentists serving in the
U.S. Public Health Service.\26\ In a recent study, GAO
discovered that Coast Guard's current staffing approach is
inadequate, as it fails to account for surge deployments of
medical staff for disaster missions, which quadrupled from
4,111 days in 2018 to more than 16,000 days in 2021.\27\
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\26\ GAO, ``Coast Guard Health Care: Improvements Needed for
Determining Staffing Needs and Monitoring Access to Care,'' p. 5 GAO-
22-105152. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105152.pdf February 2022.
\27\ Id. at 13.
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When healthcare staff are deployed to support surge
operations, this exacerbates already strained staffing levels
at Coast Guard clinics and sickbays. Clinics are forced to
redistribute remaining staff to cover services, defer services,
or reduce the number of patients they treat.\28\ In a report on
Coast Guard healthcare released February 2022, GAO determined
that the Coast Guard lacked the necessary health care staffing
standards relied upon by other health care organizations to
determine staffing levels and staffing types needed to provide
adequate medical care to servicemembers.\29\ GAO assessed that
the Coast Guard health services program's overall vacancy rate
is seven percent as of July 2021.\30\ The paper health record
system used by the Coast Guard handicaps its ability to track
the necessary information that would inform health care
staffing standards and needs.\31\ The Coast Guard is now
transitioning to Military Health System (MHS) Genesis, an
electronic health care record system used by the DOD, and aims
to complete the initial rollout of the system by September
2022.\32\ The Coast Guard hopes that the new system will enable
it to determine appropriate medical staffing levels.\33\
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\28\ Id. at 14.
\29\ Id.
\30\ Id. at 12.
\31\ Id. at 15.
\32\ Id.
\33\ Id.
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Equally concerning is the Coast Guard's inability to assess
whether it is meeting its access-to-care standards as its
current system wholly relies on manual estimates of wait times
for available appointments.\34\ Coast Guard medical standards
dictate that members needing specialty medical care, such as
behavioral health care, should receive an appointment for such
care within 28 days.\35\ However, the Coast Guard cannot
accurately determine whether it meets this medical standard
because its current process for collecting access-to-care data
does not reliably track appointment timelines and wait
times.\36\
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\34\ Id. at 16.
\35\ U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Medical Manual, COMDTINST
M6000.1F.
\36\ GAO, ``Coast Guard Health Care: Improvements Needed for
Determining Staffing Needs and Monitoring Access to Care,'' p. 16 GAO-
22-105152. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105152.pdf February 2022.
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This is particularly concerning given the Coast Guard's
role as a first responder and the impact that role has on
mental health. The most common mental health conditions
diagnosed in military servicemembers are posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) and depression.\37\ As mentioned previously, in
2021 the Coast Guard responded to over 16,020 search and rescue
cases.\38\ The search and rescue mission in particular levies a
heavy burden on the mental wellness of Coast Guard personnel
who not only save lives, but also face traumatic experiences of
recovering lifeless bodies or witnessing firsthand the death of
an attempted rescue. The Coast Guard has just 20 mental health
providers servicing over 40,000 active duty members.\39\ In
2021, RAND Corporation identified psychological distress
(depression and PTSD) as having a ``strong association'' with
military separation among all the services; servicemembers with
depression or PTSD are 22.5 percent and 23.1 percent more
likely to separate from service, respectively, than
servicemembers who do not report having depression or PTSD.\40\
RAND opined that improved care for employees experiencing
psychological distress could increase retention in the
military.\41\
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\37\ RAND corporation, ``Military Mental Health Care,'' August 14,
2017 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/infographics/IG131.html.
\38\ U.S. Coast Guard. Posture Statement: 2023 Budget Overview
available at https://
www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/budget/2023/
FY%202023%20Posture%20Statement.pdf?
ver=nSIvAr6imO5IsOC3m0PMsg%3D%3D×tamp=1648484300591.
\39\ GAO, ``Coast Guard Health Care: Improvements Needed for
Determining Staffing Needs and Monitoring Access to Care,'' p. 10 GAO-
22-105152. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105152.pdf February 2022.
\40\ RAND corporation, ``Symptoms of Depression and Posttraumatic
Stress Disorder as Predictors of Separation from the U.S. Military,''
p. 4 October 26, 2021 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/
research_reports/RRA1520-1.html.
\41\ Id. at 5.
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RECRUITING AND RETENTION
Although the Coast Guard has the highest retention rate of
all the services, it struggles with recruiting and retaining
members in a tight job market as all military services are
struggling to reach fiscal year 2022 recruiting numbers.\42\ In
2020, the COVID-19 pandemic created significant obstacles to
traditional recruiting mechanisms that all services had to
navigate.\43\ Each military branch restructured its recruiting
policies and procedures to acclimate to a virtual setting.\44\
DOD military branches actually achieved end-strength goals in
fiscal year 2020 due to creative retention policy adjustments
and recruiting strategies.\45\ For instance, the Army offered
short-term extension contracts to its enlisted soldiers ranging
from three to 23 months to retain its members who would have
likely separated during the pandemic.\46\ End-strength is the
number of individuals a service aims to have in its ranks at
the end of the fiscal year and is approved by Congress.\47\ The
Coast Guard is authorized an active-duty end-of-year strength
of 44,500 for fiscal year 2021,\48\ but currently has a deficit
of over 4,000 active-duty personnel.\49\ In April 2018, the
Coast Guard reported to Congress that it did not have enough
personnel to meet its mission needs.\50\
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\42\ Boigon, Molly and Kube, Courtney, ``Every branch of the
military is struggling to make its 2022 recruiting goals, officials
say,'' nbcnews.com, June 27, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/
news/military/every-branch-us-military-struggling-meet-2022-recruiting-
goals-officia-rcna35078.
\43\ RAND, ``What Happened to Military Recruiting and Retention of
Enlisted Personnel in 2020 During the COVID-19 Pandemic?'' January 18
2022 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1092-
1.html.
\44\ Id. at 4.
\45\ Id.
\46\ Id. at 6.
\47\ Id. at 4.
\48\ 14 U.S.C. Sec. 4904.
\49\ U.S. Coast Guard. Posture Statement: 2023 Budget Overview
available at https://
www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/documents/budget/2023/
FY%202023%20Posture%20Statement.pdf?
ver=nSIvAr6imO5IsOC3m0PMsg%3D%3D×tamp=1648484300591.
\50\ GAO, ``Actions Needed to Evaluate the Effectiveness of
Organizational Changes and Determine Workforce Needs,'' p. 1 GAO-20-
223. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-223.pdf February 2020.
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A shortage of personnel not only leaves gaps in mission
capability but also strains the physical and mental capacities
of the workforce. When members go on surge deployments for a
humanitarian mission, take parental leave, or go on extended
medical leave, the workers left behind must absorb the duties
of those on temporary leave.\51\ If that unit is already
understaffed, this only exacerbates the stretched capacities of
the workforce. In the major cutter community, the effects are
especially onerous as RAND highlighted in its 2019 report,
``Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements.'' \52\ A
major cutter is a large ocean-going vessel that spends
significant amounts of time away from home port and includes
the Coast Guard's high-endurance cutters (378 feet in length),
medium-endurance cutters (270 feet or 210 feet in length), the
polar ice breakers, and the 282-foot medium-endurance cutter
known as the Alex Haley.\53\ These cutters are normally
deployed out to sea for 60 to 90 days at a time under
physically strenuous conditions.\54\ Every summer, these
cutters lose approximately one-third to one-half of its crew
during transfer season, and when the new crew reports to the
vessel they have to get qualified, meaning they have to meet a
set of professional qualification standards before they can be
considered certified to perform their job.\55\ When there's a
shortage of personnel or a shortage of qualified crew members
aboard the cutter, the remaining workforce is required to stand
watch more frequently and take on additional duties beyond
their primary jobs. This can lead to severe sleep deprivation
and overexertion, which in turn can adversely impact the Coast
Guard's retention numbers.\56\ More manning for major cutters
and other specialties and units is necessary to relieve members
of the hefty workload, but the process the Coast Guard uses to
assess manning needs is also understaffed, making it nearly
impossible for the Coast Guard to develop a clear understanding
of its manning requirements.\57\ As of February 2020, the Coast
Guard had completed manpower requirements determinations for
just two percent of its workforce.\58\
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\51\ RAND, ``Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements,''
July 29, 2019 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/
RR2731.html.
\52\ Id.
\53\ RAND, ``Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements,''
p. 1 July 29, 2019 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/
research_reports/RR2731.html.
\54\ Id.
\55\ Id. at 60.
\56\ Id. at 62.
\57\ GAO, ``Actions Needed to Evaluate the Effectiveness of
Organizational Changes and Determine Workforce Needs,'' p. 32 GAO-20-
223. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-223.pdf February 2020.
\58\ Id. at 24.
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All the services, including the Coast Guard, offer
enlistment bonuses of up to $50,000 for qualified active-duty
recruits; the amounts and disbursement timeframes depend on the
type of rating or specialty and service commitment length.\59\
However, it's clear that DOD is better resourced to offer these
sizable incentives. In fiscal year 2022, DOD received $4.7
billion allocated for Special and Incentive (S&I) pays, or
bonuses, to aid with recruiting and retention.\60\ Earlier this
year, the Navy offered a $25,000 signing bonus to any recruit,
regardless of rating, who enlisted active duty in the Navy
between April and June 2022; the highest offer of all the
services.\61\ The Army provides a selective reenlistment bonus
(SRB) in the form of a lump sum cash payment to soldiers who
reenlist for approximately 120 military occupational
specialties (MOS) (out of over 150 MOSs).\62\ SRB has been
proven to increase the likelihood of reenlistment.\63\
Moreover, the Army alone boasts a robust recruiting program
comprised of approximately 10,900 soldiers and civilians
stationed at more than 1,400 recruiting offices not just in the
United States, but overseas as well.\64\ Comparatively, just 58
offices divided into four regions across America make up the
Coast Guard's recruiting program as depicted in Figure 2. Due
to its budget constraints, the Coast Guard judiciously offers
SRB bonuses to only three of its 24 ratings identified as in
critical need.\65\ To further aid it's recruiting efforts, the
Coast Guard is currently offering $500 cash bonuses for the
first time in its history to personnel, both military and
civilian, who help recruit qualified members to the
Service.\66\
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\59\ Toropin, Konstantin, ``Navy offers $25,000 to All Recruits to
Ship Out Quickly,'' Military.com, April 8, 2022, https://
www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/08/navy-offers-25000-all-recruits-
ship-out-quickly.html.
\60\ Department of Defense Budget Fiscal Year 2023 Available at
https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2023/
FY2023_m1.pdf.
\61\ Toropin, Konstantin, ``Navy offers $25,000 to All Recruits to
Ship Out Quickly,'' Military.com, April 8, 2022, https://
www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/08/navy-offers-25000-all-recruits-
ship-out-quickly.html.
\62\ U.S. Army, MILPER Message Number: 22-237 Selective Retention
Bonus (SRB), June 23, 2022 Available at https://
armyreup.s3.amazonaws.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/23222247/
SRB_22_237_20220623.pdf.
\63\ RAND, ``Increasing Efficiency and Incentives for Performance
in the Army's Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB) Program'' p. v October
5, 2021 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA803-
1.html.
\64\ U.S. Army Recruiting Command. Recruiting. https://
recruiting.army.mil/about
USAREC/
#: :text=There%20are%20approximately%2010%2C900%20Soldier,stations%20acr
oss
%20America%20and%20overseas Accessed June 30, 2022.
\65\ U.S. Coast Guard, ACN 104/21--OCT 2021 FY22 Military Workforce
Planning Team Results--Enlisted Monetary Interventions, Oct 19, 2021
Available at https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/
bulletins/2f8314d.
\66\ U.S. Coast Guard, Here's your chance to grow the Coast Guard's
workforce, May 11, 2022 Available at https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/
Article/3028003/heres-your-chance-to-grow-the-
coast-guards-workforce/
#: :text=The%20program%20called%20for%20all,%2C%20reserve%2C
%20and%20civilian%20employees.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 2_Coast Guard Recruiting Offices (provided by the U.S Coast
Guard)
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
In spite of the Coast Guard's efforts to improve
representation of women and minorities within its workforce,
the Service still struggles to reflect the demographics of the
nation.\67\ This underrepresentation becomes more salient as
members climb the upper echelons of military ranks.\68\ For
instance, a RAND report published in 2021 examined the
demographics of the officer ranks in the Coast Guard and found
that representation of racial and ethnic minority groups is 32
percent at the O-2 level, but drops to 11 percent at the flag
officer level.\69\ For enlisted personnel, 35 percent of E-5s
are of racial or ethnic minority groups, but only 18 percent
are E-9s (master chief petty officer).\70\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\67\ RAND corporation, ``Improving the Representation of Women and
Racial/Ethnic Minorities Among U.S. Coast Guard Active-Duty members,''
p. 1 August 11, 2021 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/
research_reports/RRA362-2.html.
\68\ Id.
\69\ Id.
\70\ Id.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Figure 3_Coast Guard racial and ethnic demographics among officers and
enlisted personnel.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA362-2.html
Female representation in the officer ranks is equally low--
women comprise 33 percent of O-1s but just 11 percent of O-6s
and 14 percent of flag officers.\71\ ``This representation
problem is not only critical but also potentially growing,
given that half the Coast Guard's future recruiting pool
(Americans younger than 15) are members of racial or ethnic
minority groups.'' \72\ As the U.S. population is expected to
be ``minority white'' by year 2045, the Coast Guard's diversity
problem will exist in perpetuity if it's not able to adjust to
the country's changing demographics.\73\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\71\ Id. at 2.
\72\ RAND corporation, ``Shaping Coast Guard Culture to Enhance the
Future Workforce,'' November 1, 2021 Available at https://www.rand.org/
pubs/perspectives/PEA872-1.html.
\73\ Frey, William, ``The US will become `minority white' in 2045,
Census projects,'' Brookings, March 14, 2018 https://www.brookings.edu/
blog/the-avenue/2018/03/14/the-us-will-become-minority-white-in-2045-
census-projects/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2019, RAND published a report on ways that the Coast
Guard can improve gender diversity in its workforce. The report
notes female retention in the Coast Guard is 12.6 percent lower
than males for officers and 12.3 percent lower for enlisted
members at the tenth year of service mark.\74\ Female retention
rates are highest in service or support ratings while
operational ratings have the lowest retention rates for
women.\75\ Female attrition in the Coast Guard may be
attributed to several factors, but none more consequential than
the impact having children has on a woman's career.\76\
Pregnancy and maternity leave can cause women to submit
``sparse or noncompetitive'' performance evaluations compared
to their peers making promotion acutely challenging because
performance evaluations cannot indicate that a member was out
due to pregnancy or parental leave.\77\ Furthermore, pregnancy
can affect the opportunities for women to attain the necessary
qualifications and experiences for certain specialties and
ratings. For example, once a pilot becomes pregnant, she is
grounded and can no longer achieve needed flight hours or a
female in an afloat billet can no longer go underway while
pregnant, sacrificing the requisite sea time needed to rise in
rank.\78\ Not surprising, ``the most common family status for
active-duty women is to be unmarried without children.'' \79\
Conversely, male active-duty members have the polar opposite
status.\80\ In general, women in the afloat community face
limited options for going underway due to berthing
requirements.\81\ The conversion of the 210s (Reliance-class
medium-endurance cutters) has made it difficult for women to
serve on these vessels due to limited berthing spaces and Coast
Guard requirements for female sleeping quarters to be separate
``with privacy provided by rigid bulkheads.'' \82\ Some
specific ratings require sea time, but if women are unable to
acquire the necessary time underway to advance, they remain in
lower ranks. In the study, RAND also identified lack of
childcare availability and costs as major concerns for
women.\83\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\74\ RAND, ``Improving Gender Diversity in the Coast Guard,'' p. 1
March 29, 2019 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/
RR2770.html.
\75\ Id. at xviii.
\76\ Id. at 49.
\77\ Id. at 50.
\78\ U.S. Coast Guard, Military Assignments and Authorized
Absences, COMDTINST M1000.8A, June 2019.
\79\ RAND, ``Improving Gender Diversity in the Coast Guard,'' p. 61
March 29, 2019 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/
RR2770.html.
\80\ Id.
\81\ RAND corporation, ``Improving the Representation of Women and
Racial/Ethnic Minorities Among U.S. Coast Guard Active-Duty members,''
p. 32 August 11, 2021 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/
research_reports/RRA362-2.html.
\82\ U.S. Coast Guard, Military Assignments and Authorized
Absences, COMDTINST M1000.8A, June 2019.
\83\ RAND, ``Improving Gender Diversity in the Coast Guard,'' March
29, 2019 Available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/
RR2770.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHILD CARE
Coast Guard families experience unique hardships when it
comes to finding quality care for their children. Depending on
their duties, military personnel may work duty shifts at odd
hours, including overnight, and on weekends. Additionally, when
changing duty stations, they may be challenged to find a child
care provider, especially in remote or high-cost areas.\84\ The
Coast Guard has a total of nine Child Development Centers (CDC)
with a capacity to serve up to 704 children.\85\ As of March
2022, the Coast Guard had 361 children on its waitlists for
enrollment in a CDC, most of whom were infants and
toddlers.\86\ By comparison, DOD has 761 CDCs with a capacity
to serve approximately 104,000 children.\87\ The Coast Guard
also provides a Fee Assistance program called ``Military Child
Care in Your Neighborhood'' to help personnel pay for care by
community-based providers and has a Family Child Care program
whereby individuals certified by the Coast Guard residing in
Coast Guard-controlled housing provide child care in their
homes.\88\ The fee assistance program provides subsidies of up
to $900 per month for full-time care and $450 per month for
part-time care; in high-cost areas the subsidies are capped at
$1,200 for full-time care and $600 for part-time care per
month.\89\ The Fee Assistance program provides care for 82
percent of the children enrolled in Coast Guard's child care
programs; it is the ``most effective way'' for the Coast Guard
to provide affordable child care for its members.\90\ Coast
Guard personnel are also able to access DOD CDCs and vice versa
through a memorandum of agreement formed in 2003.\91\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\84\ GAO, ``Military Child Care: Coast Guard is Taking Steps to
Increase Access for Families,'' GAO-22-105262. https://www.gao.gov/
assets/gao-22-105262.pdf June 2022.
\85\ Id. at 9.
\86\ Id. at 10.
\87\ Id. at 9.
\88\ Id. at 4.
\89\ Id. at 5.
\90\ Id. at 12.
\91\ Id. at 17.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Families receiving care from community-based providers
encounter space limitations, especially in the nine locations
the Coast Guard has dubbed ``child care deserts'': Alameda,
California; Astoria, Oregon; Elizabeth City, North Carolina;
Honolulu, Hawaii; Ketchikan, Alaska; Los Angeles, California;
New London, Connecticut; Petaluma, California; and Valdez,
Alaska.\92\ These are areas where only 33 percent or less of
the total number of children from birth to age five were able
to receive care in that community mostly due to lack of
availability.\93\ As for the Family Child Care program, the
number of certified families qualified to provide care in their
homes dropped from 19 in 2019 to five in 2022 due to the
pandemic.\94\ Normally, these are providers capable of
providing care during non-traditional hours and are more
heavily relied upon by personnel stationed in remote or
geographically isolated areas.\95\ The Coast Guard plans to use
$120 million authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act to build three new CDCs at bases that do not have
them--Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama; Astoria,
Oregon; and Base Elizabeth City, North Carolina--and renovate
existing ones.\96\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\92\ Id. at 13.
\93\ Id.
\94\ Id. at 14.
\95\ Id.
\96\ Id. at 16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCLUSION
The newly appointed Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral
Linda Fagan, indicates in the 2022 Commandant's Intent that the
Coast Guard workforce is her highest priority and promises to
deliver innovative tools, inclusive policies, and reliable
technology to support Coast Guard personnel in their mission
objectives.\97\ In this era of ``the Great Resignation,'' it is
critical that the Coast Guard adapts to changing workforce
dynamics to make it an employer of choice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\97\ U.S. Coast Guard, Commandant's Intent 2022, June 1, 2022
Available at https://www.uscg.mil/Portals/0/seniorleadership/
alwaysready/2022-Commandant-Intent-Hi%20Res.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
WITNESS LIST
LAdmiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant, United States
Coast Guard
ENHANCING PERSONNEL RESOURCES TO SUPPORT A STRONGER, MORE RESILIENT
COAST GUARD
----------
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2022
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:01 a.m. in
room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom, Hon.
Salud O. Carbajal (Chair of the subcommittee) presiding.
Members present in person: Mr. Carbajal, Mr. DeFazio, Mr.
Larsen of Washington, Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. Gibbs, and Dr. Van
Drew.
Members present remotely: Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. Weber
of Texas, and Ms. Malliotakis.
Mr. Carbajal. The subcommittee will come to order.
I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized to
declare a recess at any time during today's hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
I also ask unanimous consent that Members not on the
subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at
today's hearing, and ask questions.
Without objection, so ordered.
As a reminder, please keep your microphones muted unless
speaking. Should I hear any inadvertent background noise, I
will request that the Member please mute their microphone.
And to insert a document into the record, please have your
staff email it to [email protected].
Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing on enhancing
personnel resources to support a stronger and more resilient
Coast Guard. Today, we are joined by Admiral Linda Fagan, the
Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, who will provide
insight on the state of the Coast Guard workforce, areas where
more resources should be targeted for the benefit of its
personnel, and challenges that exist in a time of shifting
workforce dynamics.
First, Admiral Fagan, congratulations on your new role as
Commandant of the Coast Guard. I know you are going to do an
amazing job. You have already been doing an amazing job. So,
welcome and congratulations. I am confident that your wealth of
knowledge and experience will make you an excellent leader, and
I trust that the future of the Coast Guard is in good hands--
better than good hands--excellent hands.
The Coast Guard is our country's primary maritime law
enforcement agency. It oversees a diverse array of
responsibilities including search and rescue; protecting the
marine environment; securing vessels, ports, and waterways; and
supporting the free flow of $5.4 trillion of goods through the
maritime transportation system.
Despite the critical role the Coast Guard plays in our
national security, economy, and ensuring the safety of lives at
sea, the Coast Guard is the second smallest branch in the
military, and chronic divestment in the Coast Guard has forced
them to do more with less. Unfortunately, this has resulted in
deficiencies in the support and benefits offered to
servicemembers and their families, including in housing,
healthcare, and childcare. We must do more to improve the lives
of these hard-working individuals by providing the quality care
they deserve.
Due to the nature of Coast Guard missions, Coast Guard
stations are often based in coastal cities with higher-than-
average coastal costs. For some, the basic allowance for
housing is insufficient, and servicemembers are forced to
either make up the difference of costly rent prices with their
personal funds or commute unacceptable distances.
I have heard from many of my constituents that the basic
allowance for housing has been insufficient to meet the high
housing costs in the Central Coast of California. As a result,
many have had to move to areas that can be over an hour
commute. Most of the members stationed at United States Coast
Guard Station Morro Bay are living outside the emergency 20-
minute recall area because housing costs are too expensive for
their basic allowance for housing. I am looking forward to
learning more about how the Coast Guard can address the lack of
affordable housing for Coasties and their families.
It also has come to my attention that much of the military-
provided housing is in dire need of renovation. I would like to
hear more about the Coast Guard's plans to address these
shortcomings.
Additionally, I am very interested in how to improve
healthcare access for Coast Guard personnel. Some Coast Guard
stations are located in remote areas, some of which I have
visited, with extremely limited access to basic healthcare
services like dental or general practitioners. The Coast
Guard's role in law enforcement and first response requires
considerable mental and physical resilience. I am concerned
that the Service only has 20 mental health professionals and is
understaffed in its medical clinics and sickbays.
The search-and-rescue mission places a heavy toll on the
mental health of servicemembers, who often face traumatic
experiences. One study showed that servicemembers with
depression or PTSD were nearly 25 percent more likely to leave
the Service. In order to sufficiently fulfill their duties in
the Coast Guard, servicemembers must be able to access medical
services to care for their own physical and mental health.
Similarly, access to childcare is crucial for long-term
retention of personnel and quality of life for both
servicemembers and their families. Providing adequate childcare
is especially important in retaining female personnel, who face
unique barriers to promotional opportunities.
Recruiting and retaining personnel is imperative for the
success of the Coast Guard, as it is in all branches of the
military. I am interested to hear about the Coast Guard's plans
to recruit and retain personnel, with a particular focus on
diversity and inclusion, in the coming years.
Despite the Coast Guard's efforts to improve representation
of women and minorities within its workforce, the Service still
struggles to reflect the demographics of the Nation, and it is
the least diverse branch of the military. We must build on the
efforts being made to recruit and retain diverse personnel, as
well as ensure that these demographics are representative in
leadership roles.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coast Guard adapted by
offering increased flexibility and remote work options. Many
employees continue to want this flexibility moving forward, and
it will be important to carefully consider how to recruit and
retain diverse personnel in a modern work environment.
Lastly, I want to highlight the great strides the Service
has made in sexual assault and sexual harassment response,
partly due to the insistence of Congress. However, this
continues to be a pervasive problem. The annual sexual assault
report from the Coast Guard was due over 6 months ago. We must
hold the Coast Guard accountable, and I look forward to
receiving this report in the near future.
Servicemembers have always been at the core of the Service,
and without them, mission success would not be possible. I look
forward to hearing from Admiral Fagan about how we can best
support personnel to strengthen our Coast Guard.
[Mr. Carbajal's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Salud O. Carbajal, a Representative in
Congress from the State of California, and Chair, Subcommittee on Coast
Guard and Maritime Transportation
Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing on ``Enhancing
Personnel Resources to Support a Stronger, More Resilient Coast
Guard''. Today, we are joined by Admiral Linda Fagan, the Commandant of
the U.S. Coast Guard, who will provide insight on the state of the
Coast Guard workforce, areas where more resources should be targeted
for the benefit of its personnel, and challenges that exist in a time
of shifting workforce dynamics.
First, Admiral Fagan, congratulations on your new role as
Commandant of the Coast Guard. I am confident that your wealth of
knowledge and experience will make you an excellent leader and I trust
that the future of the Coast Guard is in good hands.
The Coast Guard is our country's primary maritime law enforcement
agency. It oversees a diverse array of responsibilities including
search and rescue, protecting the marine environment, securing vessels,
ports, and waterways, and supporting the free flow of $5.4 trillion of
goods through the Maritime Transportation System.
Despite the critical role the Coast Guard plays in our national
security, economy, and ensuring the safety of lives at sea, the Coast
Guard is the second smallest branch in the military and chronic
disinvestment in the Coast Guard has forced them to do more with less.
Unfortunately, this has resulted in deficiencies in the support and
benefits offered to servicemembers and their families, including in
housing, healthcare, and child care. We must do more to improve the
lives of these hardworking individuals by providing the quality care
they deserve.
Due to the nature of Coast Guard missions, Coast Guard stations are
often based in coastal cities with higher-than-average housing costs.
For some, the basic allowance for housing is insufficient, and
servicemembers are forced to either make up the difference of costly
rent prices with personal funds or commute unacceptable distances.
I have heard from many of my constituents that the Basic Allowance
for Housing has been insufficient to meet the high housing costs in the
Central Coast of California. As a result, many have had to move to
areas that can be over an hour commute.
Most of the members stationed at USCG Station Morro Bay are living
outside the emergency 20-minute recall area because housing costs are
too expensive for their Basic Allowance for Housing.
I'm looking forward to learning more about how the Coast Guard can
address the lack of affordable housing for Coasties and their families.
It has also come to my attention that much of the military-provided
housing is in dire need of renovation. I'd like to hear more about the
Coast Guard's plans to address these shortcomings.
Additionally, I'm very interested in how to improve health care
access for Coast Guard personnel. Some Coast Guard stations are located
in remote areas, with extremely limited access to basic healthcare
services, like dental or general practitioners.
The Coast Guard's role in law enforcement and first response
requires considerable mental and physical resilience. I'm concerned
that the Service has only 20 mental health professionals and is
understaffed in its medical clinics and sickbays.
The search and rescue mission places a heavy toll on the mental
health of servicemembers, who often face traumatic experiences. One
study showed that servicemembers with depression or PTSD were nearly 25
percent more likely to leave the Service.
In order to sufficiently fulfill their duties in the Coast Guard,
servicemembers must first be able to access medical services to care
for their own physical and mental health.
Similarly, access to child care is crucial for long-term retention
of personnel and quality of life for both servicemembers and their
families. Providing adequate child care services is especially
important in retaining female personnel, who face unique barriers to
promotional opportunities.
Recruiting and retaining personnel is imperative for the success of
the Coast Guard, as it is in all branches of the military. I'm
interested to hear about the Coast Guard's plans to recruit and retain
personnel, with a particular focus on diversity and inclusion, in the
coming years.
Despite the Coast Guard's efforts to improve representation of
women and minorities within its workforce, the Service still struggles
to reflect the demographics of the nation, and it is the least diverse
branch of the military. We must build on the efforts being made to
recruit and retain diverse personnel, as well as ensure that these
demographics are represented in leadership roles.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coast Guard adapted by offering
increased flexibility and remote work options. Many employees continue
to want this flexibility moving forward, and it will be important to
carefully consider how to recruit and retain diverse personnel in a
modern work environment.
Lastly, I want to highlight the great strides the Service has made
in sexual assault and sexual harassment response, partly due to the
insistence of Congress. However, this continues to be a pervasive
problem. The annual sexual assault report from the Coast Guard was due
over 6 months ago. We must hold the Coast Guard accountable and I look
forward to receiving this report in the near future.
Servicemembers have always been at the core of the Service and
without them mission success would not be possible. I look forward to
hearing from Admiral Fagan about how we can best support personnel to
strengthen our Coast Guard.
Mr. Carbajal. I ask unanimous consent to insert a statement
from the Government Accountability Office into the hearing
record.
Without objection.
[The information follows:]
``Coast Guard: Increasing Mission Demands Highlight Importance of
Assessing Its Workforce Needs,'' Statement of Heather MacLeod, Acting
Director, Homeland Security and Justice, U.S. Government Accountability
Office, Submitted for the Record by Hon. Salud O. Carbajal
The 23-page statement is retained in committee files and is
available online at https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-106135.pdf.
Mr. Carbajal. And now I will call on the ranking member of
the subcommittee, Ranking Member Gibbs, for an opening
statement.
Mr. Gibbs. Thank you, Chairman Carbajal.
Admiral Fagan, it is a pleasure to have you here today for
your first testimony before the subcommittee as Commandant.
Congratulations. I know you earned it, for sure.
Much progress has been made, as you are first female
Service Chief. However, I believe you are also the first
Commandant with primarily a marine safety background, or at
least the first such Commandant in a long time. I look forward
to working with you to bring more attention to the Coast
Guard's marine safety programs, which have gotten less
attention over the last 15 years as attention has been focused
on the crucially important recapitalization of the Service's
oceangoing and air assets.
In 2008, the Coast Guard undertook a structural
reorganization called modernization. It established the Deputy
Commandant positions for mission support and operations;
logistics centers for ships, IT, and personnel; and sectors and
bases. Unfortunately, the follow-on Coast Guard-wide manpower
requirement analyses and determinations that were to complete
the modernization process have lagged substantially behind the
structural changes. I hope to hear today what actions, as the
new Commandant, you plan to take to complete these analyses and
determinations.
I am also interested in what progress is being made on
assuring that members of the Coast Guard with ship operating
experience are able to convert that experience to receive Coast
Guard-issued mariner licenses as part of the Military to
Mariner initiative. Given our current shortage of mariners for
national defense sealift, we should encourage Coast Guard and
Navy mariners to get licenses if they wish to do so.
Finally, I look forward to hearing whether the Coast Guard
is having the same issues finding recruits that the other armed
services are facing, and if the low unemployment rate is making
it more difficult to retain servicemembers.
[Mr. Gibbs' prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Bob Gibbs, a Representative in Congress from
the State of Ohio, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and
Maritime Transportation
Admiral Fagan, it is a pleasure to have you here for your first
testimony before the Subcommittee as Commandant. Much progress has been
made, as you are the first female Service chief. However, I believe you
are also the first Commandant with primarily a marine safety
background, or at least the first such Commandant in a long time. I
look forward to working with you to bring more attention to the Coast
Guard's marine safety programs, which have gotten less attention over
the last fifteen years as attention has been focused on the crucially
important recapitalization of the Service's ocean-going and air assets.
In 2008, the Coast Guard undertook a structural reorganization
called modernization. It established the Deputy Commandant positions
for Mission Support and Operations; logistics centers for ships, IT,
and personnel; and sectors and bases.
Unfortunately, the follow-on Coast Guard-wide manpower requirement
analyses and determinations that were to complete the modernization
process have lagged substantially behind the structural changes. I hope
to hear today what actions the new Commandant plans to take to complete
these analyses and determinations.
I am also interested in what progress is being made on assuring
that members of the Coast Guard with ship operating experience are able
to convert that experience to receiving Coast Guard-issued mariner
licenses as part of the `Military to Mariner' initiative. Given our
current shortage of mariners for national defense sealift, we should
encourage Coast Guard and Navy mariners to get licenses, if they wish
to do so.
Finally, I look forward to hearing whether the Coast Guard is
having the same issues finding recruits that the other armed services
are facing, and if the low unemployment rate is making it more
difficult to retain service members.
Mr. Gibbs. Thank you, Chairman Carbajal. I look forward to
the Commandant's testimony, and I yield back.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Representative Gibbs. Now I would
like to recognize the chairman of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, Mr. DeFazio.
Mr. DeFazio. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for this.
And Admiral Fagan, welcome to your first formal
presentation. Congratulations, again. And I am really pleased
to see that your intention is to make the workforce your
highest priority.
And as the ranking member just mentioned, we have finally
begun to invest in capitalization of assets that the Coast
Guard needs. That has been quite a struggle, getting to the
icebreakers and the other things. But we are still, obviously,
in terms of our shoreside facilities, which impact your
workforce dramatically, way, way, way behind. And that is
something that Congress needs to do better in terms of finding
funds for you.
I mean, it is great when I go visit stations and I see, oh,
yes, the crew here just renovated the station themselves. I
mean, I don't think, if you go on to a Marine--I was in the Air
Force--or Army base that you find that the troops are doing
that kind of work. They bring in contractors. So, I mean, I
love the attitude of the Coast Guard, but we have really got to
do better by that.
So, housing, issues about childcare, I am really going to
be interested to hear how you are hoping to meet the recruiting
challenges in this very difficult environment.
According to what staff wrote here, in a survey, only 9
percent of eligible young people in America are interested in
service at this point in time, although I think the Coast Guard
might be able to offer something different, if we can educate
the young people about the opportunities for the Coast Guard. I
am going to be very interested to hear about that.
And then there is the 2020 GAO report about manpower
requirements determinations, and only a small portion of the
workforce has been assessed. And that is problematic, because
that means that we are really not quite sure what some of the
needs are in some of the disciplines and elsewhere. It could
lead to overloading people, which might push them toward
deciding not to re-up, or early retirement if they are
eligible, and other things.
So, I am really looking forward to your testimony. And in
particular, I hope you will highlight what Congress could do
better to help you deal with these issues. Thank you.
[Mr. DeFazio's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chairman Carbajal, for calling this very important
hearing. First, I want to welcome Admiral Fagan for testifying today in
her first formal appearance before this subcommittee in her new role as
the Commandant of the Coast Guard. I was pleased to learn that the
Coast Guard workforce is your highest priority as Commandant, and I'm
looking forward to the discussion today on how we can best support
those talented men and women.
The Coast Guard is essential to protecting our marine environment,
supporting the free flow of goods in our economy, keeping illegal drugs
off our streets, and investigating maritime pollution incidents. The
American people are able to set sail on a leisure boat trip, purchase
goods at a shopping mall or online, and swim in clean, unpolluted
coastal waters because of the noble men and women in the Coast Guard
who go to work every day sacrificing for our country. It's imperative
that we support these military servicemembers who courageously serve
the needs of the nation.
For such a small service, the Coast Guard produces incredible
results. Last year, the Coast Guard confiscated nearly 453,000 pounds
of illegal drugs having an approximate wholesale value of $7.2 billion.
That's more than half of the $13.2 billion Congress appropriated to the
Service for fiscal year 2022. Yet, those same Coast Guard
servicemembers have a hard time finding affordable housing and quality
care for their children.
While at sea conducting icebreaking missions, maintaining aids to
maritime navigation, and boarding vessels for safety compliance checks,
Coasties are separated from their loved ones ashore for long stretches
of time. It does not help that the Service is stuck in the 1990s with
limited internet access and an inability to effectively communicate
with family and friends back home. They live, work, and receive child
care services in deteriorating facilities far past their service life
and are expected to achieve mission goals nonetheless. They face
frequent, sometimes unwelcomed, assignment relocations which can
disrupt family stability, their children's educational environments,
and work routines, and inflict the chaos of a household move. We can do
more to support our Coasties and Congress must ensure that the Coast
Guard is receiving the resources needed to support a thriving
workforce.
I am concerned with the agency's ability to recruit and retain
diverse candidates in this fiercely competitive labor market. Interest
in military service is at an all-time low; of all young Americans
eligible to serve in the military, just nine percent indicated an
interest in doing so according to a Defense Department survey. The
COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a change in workforce dynamics,
altering regular work patterns and habits, and inducing demands from
the labor force for more flexibility. It is against this backdrop the
Coast Guard aspires to recruit 4,200 enlisted personnel by the end of
this fiscal year, now just a little over two months away. I'm curious
to learn more about how the Coast Guard aims to compete for talented
candidates in this difficult market and ways Congress can support those
efforts.
The agency is currently operating with fewer workers than it needs
which impacts its ability to meet mission demands. According to a 2020
GAO report, the Coast Guard had completed Manpower Requirements
Determinations--its preferred workforce assessment method--for only two
percent of its workforce. I find this very disturbing as without full
consideration of workforce needs, the service cannot appropriately
assign its resources to complete its missions. Moreover, units
operating below necessary staffing levels will stress the physical and
mental capacities of available staff. This problem becomes worse
anytime someone in an already understaffed unit has to take extended
medical leave or paternity leave. Coasties should be able to take their
well-earned leave without feeling that they're overly burdening their
shipmates.
Lastly, I want to highlight that first response is a core mission
of the Coast Guard. As a life-saving service, its members witness
first-hand unfortunate traumatic events sure to have an impact on their
mental health. In order to bolster the resiliency of servicemembers,
Congress must ensure that appropriate mental health care, and health
care in general, is available and accessible for each Coastie. I look
forward to learning more about how the Coast Guard intends to provide
the mental health support needed for its workforce.
Thank you, Admiral Fagan, for appearing today and I look forward to
your testimony.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to now
welcome the witness, Admiral Linda Fagan, the 27th Commandant
of the United States Coast Guard.
Thank you for being here today, and I look forward to your
testimony.
Without objection, our witness' full statement will be
included in the record.
Since your written testimony has been made a part of the
record, the subcommittee requests that you limit your oral
testimony to 5 minutes.
Admiral Fagan, you may proceed.
TESTIMONY OF ADMIRAL LINDA L. FAGAN, COMMANDANT, U.S. COAST
GUARD
Admiral Fagan. Good morning, Chairman Carbajal, Ranking
Member Gibbs, distinguished members of the subcommittee, and
thank you for accepting my written testimony into the record.
Thank you for the opportunity to describe my vision for the
Coast Guard. And I would like to thank Congress for your
enduring support of the United States Coast Guard workforce.
For nearly 232 years, the Coast Guard has provided safety,
security, and economic prosperity for the American people. Our
workforce lives and serves in communities along the Atlantic,
gulf, Pacific, and Arctic coast, on the Great Lakes, and along
our inland rivers. And we are trusted to perform essential
missions. Our workforce is the heartbeat of the Coast Guard,
and without them we cannot execute missions.
My highest priority as Commandant is to transform our
talent management system, which has not significantly changed
in 75 years, to better serve our people in the 21st century. We
will deploy innovative practices to recruit people from across
our great Nation who are service-oriented, have a high sense of
purpose, and best represent every facet of our Nation's
diversity.
And like the other armed services, the Coast Guard is
facing a recruiting challenge as we compete for talent in a
shrinking population of young people with a propensity for
military service. We will overcome that challenge by
highlighting the opportunity to do meaningful work every day in
service to the American public.
Once a person has joined the Coast Guard, we will retain
them by providing greater career flexibility and opportunities
for geographic stability, eliminating policy barriers that make
it difficult for some to continue to serve. Even more
importantly, we will provide them and their family access to
high-quality housing, healthcare, and childcare that they
deserve.
Thank you to the support of Congress, we have tripled the
number of Coast Guard children enrolled in our childcare
subsidy programs. That allows our workforce to arrange
childcare that works for their individual family needs, where
that means care either near their workplace or near their
homes.
We have invested in the physical and mental wellness of our
people. To address the unique medical needs of our crews at
remote units, we have deployed mobile medical readiness teams
that bring doctors and technicians directly to them. Our
workforce at these remote units have benefited from significant
increases in medical readiness without taking time away from
duty to travel to distant medical providers.
We have also increased training for our independent duty
corpsmen to enable them to better recognize and respond to
patients' mental health needs. We are pursuing new agreements
with Navy's Medical Education and Training Campus to include
Coast Guard students in the Professional Behavioral Health
Technician School, further enhancing our medical staff's
ability to care for our workforce's mental health needs.
We continue to focus on diversity inclusion. Our leaders
will provide our entire workforce a strong sense of belonging,
so every individual is valued, safe, and able to deliver their
best service to the Nation. The variable and unpredictable
operational challenge our units and people encounter every day
demand new thinking. An inclusive workforce with diverse
experiences, perspectives, and ideas is better equipped to
succeed.
Taking advantage of new technologies, we will improve our
personnel data systems so we can make well-informed human
resource decisions. Data and a modern ready learning system
will enable our field leaders to provide the right training and
professional development opportunities to every individual as
they progress through their careers.
I am committed to pursuing transformational change in the
way we recruit, retain, and support our workforce. It is our
people who execute Coast Guard missions. As Commandant, I am
humbled to have the responsibility for operating and advocating
for the Service. I am committed to our workforce. I look
forward to working with Congress as we navigate the Coast Guard
into the future.
Chairman Carbajal, Ranking Member Gibbs, distinguished
Members, it is truly a privilege to appear before you today. I
thank you for the opportunity, and I look forward to your
questions. Thank you.
[Admiral Fagan's prepared statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant, U.S. Coast
Guard
Introduction
Chairman Carbajal, Ranking Member Gibbs, and distinguished members
of the subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify today and
thank you for your enduring support of the United States Coast Guard. I
am humbled and grateful for the confidence and trust of President
Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, and Congress.
I welcome this opportunity to share with you my vision for the
Service, which is responsive to the changing world and includes three
tenets: Transform our Total Workforce, Sharpen Our Competitive Edge,
and Advance Our Mission Excellence.
The Coast Guard workforce is my highest priority. Without our
workforce, we cannot operate or maintain our cutters, boats, and
aircraft, or uphold standards for commercial vessel safety and
pollution prevention. I am committed to providing our people innovative
tools, inclusive policies, trustworthy technology, modernized training,
and exceptional support to meet the demands of today and tomorrow.
Challenges
Talent management is critically important for the Coast Guard
today, as it is for all organizations. Our current personnel system has
not changed significantly in 75 years. People serving in the military
today have different expectations for their professional lives, and we
must adjust the way we recruit, train, and retain our people to
continue to be an employer of choice.
The Coast Guard, like the other armed services, is facing a
recruiting challenge. Today, fewer young people are qualified and
interested in military service than in the past. Additionally, COVID-19
affected the Coast Guard's ability to conduct in-person recruiting,
weakening historical community partnerships. Our Service is now
competing for talent in a post-pandemic job market with historically
low unemployment rates, where even entry-level jobs offer benefits
similar to the military, including signing bonuses, referral bonuses,
401K retirement plans, and medical benefits.
In response, we must transform our personnel processes, policies,
and practices to recruit and retain the Coast Guard workforce that our
Nation requires. Our Ready Workforce 2030 (RW30) strategic outlook
focuses on creating a system with the ability to generate the force we
need, when and where we need it. The RW30 initiatives are more than
aspirational; we are taking action.
Transform Talent Management
The world's most capable and talented Coast Guard has over 57,000
active duty, reserve, and civilian personnel, supported by 21,000
Auxiliary volunteers. To grow and retain our workforce, we are
transforming our talent management to create opportunities for flexible
assignments, advancements, workplaces, and careers. These policy
changes will enable our people to serve our Nation to their best
potential.
The Coast Guard is committed to representing the best of our
Nation's diverse talent, and providing an inclusive environment for all
who serve. The Coast Guard's Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan
(DIAP), published in June 2020, is a call to action for our entire
workforce. It helps our people identify and mitigate biases, work
together to nurture a sense of shared belonging, and continue to
improve the culture of our Service. Since the release of the DIAP, the
Coast Guard developed a cadre of trained Change Agents; formed the
Commandant's Inclusive Leadership, Excellence, and Diversity Council
(ILEAD); created a senior leader position for a Strategic Advisor for
Diversity and Inclusion; and strengthened our ties to affinity groups
to bring employees together and foster cohesion in the workplace.
We have enlisted the assistance of experts from outside our
organization to look at the challenges faced by women and other
minority groups and develop strong solutions. Acting on those
recommendations, we have implemented several workforce initiatives to
improve equitable outcomes for women and underrepresented minorities,
including revised uniform, tattoo, and grooming standards; flexible
assignment policies to better facilitate co-location of dual military
families; and a revised body composition program.
Those improvements are already paying dividends for our workforce
and mission execution. More women are remaining in our Service. Today
there are 28% more women serving at the critically important mid-grade
leadership ranks than there were in 2017. Furthermore, I am proud to
share that the Coast Guard Academy class of 2026 is 43% female and 37%
underrepresented minorities.
We are working to improve outcomes for all who serve. To help our
enlisted workforce best plan and navigate their career paths, we
recently launched an Enlisted Career Management Branch to provide
personalized support as they develop their assignment, training, and
education plans. Service members who can clearly see how their careers
will progress to positions of greater responsibility are more engaged
in their work and more likely to continue to serve. A similar team of
advisors for our civilian workforce is also up and running, as we
continue to imbue our civilian employees with broad and diverse
skillsets to achieve mission success.
Our diverse workforce is the heartbeat of our Service, and we must
ensure they are valued, respected, and rewarded for their hard work.
Our people and their diverse talents, skills, and interests facilitate
success across all missions.
Human Resource Analytics and Modernized Training Systems
A robust and flexible talent management system requires improved
human resource analytics. In today's data-driven world, the Coast Guard
requires better personnel data to support decisions at all levels. We
are working to deploy well-governed systems and processes that
integrate data to enable senior leaders to make well-informed strategic
human resources decisions.
We will soon stand up the Office of Data and Analytics (OD&A) to
provide secure and timely data integration to leverage data's full
potential as a strategic asset. We are deploying platforms to enable
easier access to data, including the new Coast Guard Official Military
Personnel File, which will contain health records and pay documents for
all Coast Guard military personnel. This work will provide us a better
understanding of our workforce, and allow us to better plan for the
future, efficiently deploy resources, and optimize mission management.
Coast Guard mission excellence depends on a technically skilled
workforce and experienced leadership. Our system of performance-based
training is effective, but to maintain our competitive edge, the Coast
Guard must modernize our training delivery to be more agile. Rapid
changes in technology and new mission demands require even experienced
operators to receive regular skill upgrades. We are deploying training
programs tailored to the skills, experience, and needs of each
individual to enable our workforce to rapidly reskill and keep pace
with a fast-changing operational landscape.
We have already revised initial technical training for our enlisted
workforce to offer each student a customized curriculum based on skills
and experience they already have. We also implemented a mentoring
program that utilizes state of the art software to match mentors and
mentees, providing our entire workforce the ability to connect with
more experienced people who may guide their development. Strong
mentoring relationships contribute to mission excellence and improved
retention.
A better-informed talent management system with efficient training
will provide our workforce exactly what they need to accomplish their
missions in a changing world.
Provide World Class Member Support
As one of the six Armed Forces of the United States, the Nation's
lead maritime enforcement agency, and a maritime safety regulatory
agency, our dedicated Coast Guard workforce is on the front lines every
day protecting our Nation's maritime domain from constantly evolving
threats. We must provide housing, healthcare, and childcare to ensure
they can focus fully their demanding missions.
The Coast Guard has enhanced our workforce's quality of life
through improved support programs. We have modified assignment policies
to better facilitate the co-location of dual military families,
expanded our parental leave policy, and created a program to enable
Coast Guard Reservists to backfill for active duty members on prenatal,
maternity, convalescent, and primary caregiver leave. All of these
programs make service easier for those who want to serve the Nation,
but also serve their families.
We continue to improve healthcare service and access to care for
our workforce and their families. We are currently expanding access to
telehealth services, online appointment scheduling, and electronic
health records, and improving access to key health services such as
dental care, physical therapy, and behavioral health services.
We are prioritizing family support by expanding access to childcare
options, expanding professional development opportunities to include
free LinkedIn subscriptions and assistance to spouses desiring to
participate in fellowships with civilian employers. We offer expanded
Work-Life services to our families and our global network of
ombudsmen--who serve as the critical communications link between
commands and families--as part of our robust support system for
families. The Coast Guard is grateful that since 2019, Congress has
provided additional funding for our childcare subsidy program,
expanding the program to more of our workforce, and providing targeted
financial relief to those living in high-cost childcare areas. This
support allows the Coast Guard's active duty workforce to overcome the
challenge of balancing military service and their family life. I want
to emphasize my commitment to the entirety of `Team Coast Guard.' Our
families are essential to mission success.
Programs that help our workforce pursue off duty education are more
important than ever before. We recently increased the amount of tuition
assistance available to uniformed members, and we are looking for ways
to expand educational benefits to our civilian employees for the first
time in 10 years. Reflecting the increased permeability of modern
careers, the Coast Guard's Credentialing Opportunities Online (CG COOL)
program helps our workforce earn professional credentials based on
their Coast Guard experience. As members prepare to transition, they
can now spend their last six months training with a civilian business
while remaining on active duty. The Skillbridge program's on-the-job
training and internships often lead to full-time positions, and help
our members translate their military skills to success in the civilian
workforce. The ability to translate Coast Guard experience to the
civilian workforce makes service more attractive to potential recruits.
The Service remains steadfast in providing and expanding key
support, advocacy, and recovery services for victims of military sexual
trauma and incidents of hate or harassment. We recently expanded access
to Sexual Assault Prevention Response and Recovery (SAPRR) services to
family members and former employees. Furthermore, the Coast Guard's
Special Victims Counsel program provides legal representation to
eligible individuals to help victims understand their rights and
options through the military justice process. The Coast Guard is
reforming its approach to prosecuting sexual assault, domestic
violence, and related crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2022.
Finally, the Service's Anti-Hate and Harassment Incident (AHHI) policy
includes a process for investigations and helps commands to promote an
environment free of bullying and harassment through transparency and
accountability.
Conclusion
As we look to the future, we unite around a cohesive purpose: to
lead our workforce to contribute to their greatest potential, and
therefore achieve mission excellence in the service of this great
Nation. The key support we provide to our people allows them to remain
dedicated to their primary duties to protect the Homeland from all
corners of the world, save those in peril, enhance our economic
prosperity, protect our national resources, enhance resilience to
severe weather, and strengthen the international rules-based order.
I look forward to working with Congress to establish ways for the
Coast Guard to be more adaptive, connected, and supportive. With the
continued support of the Administration and Congress, your Coast Guard
will continue to live up to our motto--Semper Paratus--Always Ready.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Admiral Fagan. We will now move on
to Member questions. Each Member will be recognized for 5
minutes, and I will start by recognizing Chairman DeFazio.
Mr. DeFazio. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Admiral. The issue of retention, do you have a
clear idea of what you are going to do to help improve
retention?
I mean, are you going to have longer rotations, or
otherwise better accommodate people, and particularly people
who might have children, in terms of where they are stationed?
Do you have enough flexibility with the force to do those
sorts of things, or are you looking at those sorts of things?
Admiral Fagan. Thank you. We are looking at any and all
policies that we use right now with regard to how we manage the
workforce.
I would highlight--and I will talk to some of the
recruiting challenges. Retention is not a particular challenge
for the organization right now. Once people are brought into
the organization, we are able to retain them. But I am
committed to making it easier for those who are serving to
continue to serve. And so, any rigid assignment policy, move
policies that makes that challenging for families to thrive and
for our members to serve is part of the work that we have
stepped off into as an organization. And I have a sense of
urgency around this.
I do not believe we have got any authorities impediment to
that. This is policy that we need to get after and update for
our workforce.
Mr. DeFazio. So, retention isn't--at this point you don't
think--you are managing to retain people?
Admiral Fagan. We have--we are continuing to retain people
at the historic high rates that we have retained people. And
so, at this point I am not concerned about retention.
Mr. DeFazio. OK.
Admiral Fagan. But I am very focused on recruiting.
Mr. DeFazio. All right. That is great.
Now, on the recruiting side, obviously, it is a huge
challenge. What sort of innovative things are you looking at,
or what kinds of outreach?
I mean, your goal was 4,200 this year, I think. How close
are you to that?
Admiral Fagan. So, we have surged resources into the
recruiting mission space. We have hired an additional 15
recruiters.
We have reassigned people who were previously qualified as
recruiters into a surge staff around recruiting. We have stood
up an integrated team with a one-star in charge of it to bring
the total capability of the organization to bear as we look at
recruiting.
We are about 1,100 short, overall, in the nonrate workforce
right now. And we are absolutely focused on bringing the
recruiter capability to the people who have a mind to serve.
And we are--again, a sense of urgency. We need to--we are
working hard to improve those numbers now.
Mr. DeFazio. OK. And then how about the issues with
childcare?
I mean, I know, nationwide, childcare is a problem now. I
would assume that the Coast Guard is experiencing similar
issues in terms of finding qualified childcare providers.
Admiral Fagan. So, we really appreciate the support of
Congress with regard to the childcare subsidies to allow
increased flexibilities for our families. And so, whether it is
subsidies, childcare centers, or other opportunities to provide
flexibility and access for our families--and we continue to
look for ways to ensure that Coast Guard members are able to
access quality childcare that is affordable, so that they can
focus on the mission that we ask of them.
Mr. DeFazio. OK. And then how about off-base housing
stipends, or whatever--allowances, I guess we call them. How
are we doing there?
I mean, even places like Coos Bay, Oregon, now, rents have
run up extraordinarily. So, I mean, for those who choose to or
have to live off base, how are we doing there?
Admiral Fagan. So, we utilize the same system that the
other military services use for determining BAH, basic
allowance for housing.
There has been a significant, sort of, shift or disruption
in the housing market in the United States writ large. And our
servicemembers are certainly feeling that as they move to new
duty stations. So, we continue to engage with DoD, and look
forward to the opportunity of working with you and Congress on
ways to reduce that lag time and ensure that our military
families are able to access affordable, quality housing.
We do operate some of our own Coast Guard housing. We have
got 2,600 housing units around the country, and seeking a sort
of diverse access to housing, and whether it is the BAH rates
or our own housing units, we again are working to remove that
as a challenge for our families. But it has been a challenging
transfer season.
Mr. DeFazio. OK. Thank you.
Thank you, Chair. My time has expired.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Chairman DeFazio. I will now
recognize Mr. Gibbs.
Mr. Gibbs. Thank you, Chairman.
Talking about recruitment, retention, and everything, what
requirements did the Coast Guard place on its members in regard
to the COVID-19 vaccine?
Admiral Fagan. So, the COVID-19 vaccine is a requirement
for Coast Guard members. It is a general lawful order that has
been----
Mr. Gibbs [interrupting]. OK. How many members were
discharged because they did not receive the vaccine?
Admiral Fagan. We have involuntarily discharged 107 members
for failing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Mr. Gibbs. OK. We have seen that the vaccine--and Dr. Fauci
has concurred with this--that it didn't protect overly well
from infection, but it does protect quite well against severe
disease leading to hospitalization and death. Since this data
has come to light, is the Coast Guard considering lifting the
vaccine requirement, or is that over your head from the
administration to do that?
Admiral Fagan. I do not have the authority to lift the
vaccine requirement.
Mr. Gibbs. OK.
Admiral Fagan. Should that change, we welcome the
opportunity to welcome back members that are in compliance with
whatever the medical requirement is.
Mr. Gibbs. Has the vaccine requirement been an issue for
recruitment? Has that come up much?
Admiral Fagan. It is not an issue for recruitment.
Mr. Gibbs. OK. So, you haven't seen anything different,
demographics from different States in the recruitment numbers?
Admiral Fagan. No. And as we continue to recruit, all the
recruits at Cape May are vaccinated. This is true for our other
accession point, the Coast Guard Academy, as we onboarded that
class recently. But everyone is vaccinated.
Mr. Gibbs. Good. On the southern border, have Coast Guard
personnel been pulled from their normal duties to be placed at
the southern border activities?
Admiral Fagan. We have had Coast Guard personnel provided
to the southwest border to support the efforts there. It has
either been medical personnel to help with medical needs and
processing, and then the other primary area that we are
supporting at the southwest border is with our marine safety
and security teams, the MSSTs, and as a riverine force to help
provide additional presence on some of the waterways that are
associated with----
Mr. Gibbs [interrupting]. So, it has been quite a few of
the health professionals, medical, that have been deployed, you
just said?
Admiral Fagan. We have had our corpsmen deployed at the
southwest border, yes.
Mr. Gibbs. Is that impacting your other activities from
your regular duties? How has that impacted that?
Admiral Fagan. So, it has had an impact on the corpsmen. We
continue around our medical providers. We are, beyond the
corpsmen, looking at ways to increase the capacity of medical
providers, diversify that medical staff.
And then we are working to understand what our requirements
are with regard particularly to the corpsmen, as the demand for
their services, either at the southwest border or with our
forward-deployed cutters, continues to increase. And we look
forward to sharing that----
Mr. Gibbs [interrupting]. I am just curious. On the medical
personnel, what percentage would you think have been pulled off
to the border?
Admiral Fagan. I can give you the exact numbers, sir. I
don't have them offhand.
Mr. Gibbs. OK. We had the 2008 modernization structural
changes that were made. Congress required the Coast Guard to
produce a manpower requirements plan, and the plan was
submitted in April 2018. It touted a force planning construct
based on manpower requirements determinations.
According to the GAO, the Coast Guard had only made such
determinations for about 6 percent of the 158 unit types by
2019. At that time, only 2 percent of the determinations were
current. According to the GAO, the Service has completed an
additional 26 determinations as of February this year.
What is the status of the force planning construct?
Admiral Fagan. So, in preparing for coming today, I asked a
number of questions of the organization in regard to where are
we with force planning, manpower requirement assessments. And,
frankly, I did not find the answer satisfying. We have work to
do there.
In the fiscal year 2023 UPL you will see there is $5
million that we have asked for in support. I don't believe we
are adequately resourced now to do the critical work to
understand our workforce requirements, and would welcome the
opportunity to work with the committee so we have got the right
structure in place to illuminate those workforce needs.
Mr. Gibbs. Yes, and I think also the reports to Congress,
you were supposed to have a report to Congress earlier, and
then you said it would be December of this year. What is the
status of submitting that manpower requirements plan to
Congress?
Admiral Fagan. Yes, we continue to work to be responsive to
that reporting requirement. And again, the process has not
proven to be particularly satisfying or responsive to myself,
and I know to the committee. And we look forward to continuing
to work to be responsive in that regard.
Mr. Gibbs. OK, because I think that Congress asked for it,
they should get that.
I will yield back. I am out of time now. Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Gibbs. I will now recognize
myself.
During my tour of the United States Coast Guard Station
Golden Gate, I learned about the incredible bravery Coasties
stationed there demonstrate as they perform rescue missions all
around the bay area, including rescues of individuals who jump
from the Golden Gate Bridge in an attempt to take their lives.
These Coasties respond to such calls with great compassion and
urgency, treating every call as a rescue and not a recovery,
the latter of which is unfortunately the most common outcome.
I listened as these Coasties spoke to the emotional and
mental toll these missions take on them. Thankfully, because of
the intensity of the rescue missions, the Coast Guard recently
assigned a dedicated mental health specialist to Station Golden
Gate.
The Coast Guard currently only has 20 mental health
specialists. Understanding the importance of mental health and
wellness in the world of first responders, how can the Coast
Guard build out a similar program at its other locations where
the mission has an acute impact on the mental health of its
workforce?
Admiral Fagan. Thank you, Chairman. Obviously, mental
health is a growing and increasing concern across the force,
across society. Specific to Station Golden Gate, that
independent duty corpsman does go and attend. It is a Navy
school that helps provide them the training in mental
healthcare.
I am pleased to tell you that we are very close to
finalizing an agreement with the Navy that will provide access
to that school for an additional 13 corpsmen a year. And so, we
are working to increase access to that training, so that we can
field it across the Coast Guard in a way that is responsive to
the mental health needs of our workforce.
And we are investing in hiring mental health professionals,
as well. This is a growing need, and we are moving to be
supportive of our workforce in that regard. Thank you.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you. In the Coast Guard, the life of a
cutterman can be difficult. They can feel incredibly distant
and isolated from their loved ones, while out at sea. Being
able to connect via video calls like FaceTime or Zoom with
family and friends can be a huge morale booster and lead to
improved productivity.
Furthermore, having access to reliable internet so that a
member can take an online course or attend to personal affairs
can improve retention in the Service, overall, but especially
in the afloat community.
With these concerns in mind, what, if any, technological
improvements are being incorporated in the buildout of the new
surface fleet--specifically, the National Security Cutters and
Offshore Patrol Cutters--that will improve connectivity on
these vessels while underway?
Admiral Fagan. Thank you, Chairman. We have made great
progress as an organization with regard to connectivity,
particularly bandwidth access. Starting initially, just a
critical need to communicate with the ships at sea, as more
applications and systems go online, initial focus was
absolutely on the operational necessity around increasing
connectivity and bandwidth, training, and other systems online.
So, we continue to move to improve connection speeds,
connection bandwidth in further geographic areas, as well. So,
it is an operational readiness issue, and as you correctly
highlighted, is a quality-of-life issue for our members. And we
remain committed to improving that experience, so that the
folks that go to sea have an enjoyable experience and are able
to continue to communicate with their families.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you. In a recent visit to Base Kodiak,
Alaska, I learned about several challenges facing Coasties
living there. For example, the Coast Guard will pay for the
cost associated with shipping one vehicle when servicemembers
are transferred. But it is often necessary for a family to have
two vehicles. And in Kodiak, there are no car dealerships.
Further, I have come to learn that, even when a cost of
living allowance is allotted to these servicemembers, their
household budgets are insufficient to meet the high energy,
internet, and childcare costs.
What is the Coast Guard doing to assist struggling Coasties
and their families living in Alaska?
And how can Congress support your efforts?
Admiral Fagan. Thank you. We follow the joint travel
requirements for vehicle shipping overseas. And we will
continue to look for opportunities to work with you to ensure
that our members are able to seamlessly transfer to remote
locations like Alaska. And we will welcome opportunities to
continue to ensure that we have got the entitlements and
benefits appropriate to our families, so they don't have to
worry about indebtedness after we ask them to move. Thank you.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you.
We will now move on, and I recognize Representative Weber.
[Pause.]
Mr. Carbajal. Mr. Weber?
We will move on to Representative Malliotakis.
Ms. Malliotakis. Good morning. Thank you very much,
Admiral. Congratulations on your success. And we are so happy
to have a female leading the Coast Guard. And I just wanted to
talk to you briefly about the cost of living as it pertains to
New York, in particular.
My district is home for Coast Guard Sector New York.
[Technical malfunction.]
Ms. Malliotakis. Sorry, I think I lost--my district is home
to Coast Guard Sector New York. And as such, obviously, they
are experiencing issues with retention due to cost of living.
So, you did talk briefly in general about the cost of
living issues throughout the country. I wanted to know what
your thoughts were in particular as it relates to New York
City.
Admiral Fagan. Thank you. I am very familiar with the
location there on Staten Island and the men and women serving
at Sector New York. I was a former captain of the port and know
from that time that housing, the need for first-month/last-
month rent and security deposits also stresses families beyond
just the overall cost of housing. And we welcome the
opportunity to look for ways to ease any of those additional
requirements that may be imposed locally.
But cost of living and affordable housing is certainly
acute for our workforce in large metropolitan areas and remote
locations. We continue to look for ways to ease that burden on
families. Thank you.
Ms. Malliotakis. And additionally, we have a housing
project that is expected for Staten Island. I am sure you are
aware also that some of the housing was destroyed in a fire.
That funding has been allocated a couple of years ago,
actually. We were able to get some supplemental housing funding
to make these repairs and modernization to--also, again, for
retention, to make sure the Coast Guard's Coasties live in the
environment that they should, have the quality of life that
they deserve.
Admiral Schultz, at the last hearing, was unable to provide
me with a timeline of when they thought construction would
begin. I am hoping that you can do so today or, at minimum,
make a commitment that you can get that answer and timeline to
my office, so I can communicate that with those that I
represent.
Admiral Fagan. Yes, thank you. And no, I am happy to
provide an update. Obviously, we are funded for phase 1 of--
that project was fully funded in 2021, and we will break ground
in 2024 for phase 1 of that project.
Phase 2 also continues, and it was funded in fiscal year
2022, and we are continuing to work with Congress to ensure
that we have got funding for phase 3, and that we recapitalize
those critical housing units there on Staten Island.
Ms. Malliotakis. Well, I am happy to help you to advocate
for that funding. I was happy to work this last year to deliver
for the phase 2. If there is anything we can do to move that
timeline up, because 2024 is obviously quite some time. This
was 2 years ago that this occurred, so, we are talking about a
4-year wait period for our Coast Guard to get those housing
repairs done. So, I look forward to speaking with you at
another time, and I hope we can work together to try to move
that timeline up.
Thank you for your service.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you. I will now recognize
Representative Larsen.
Mr. Larsen of Washington. Thank you, Chair.
Commandant, welcome to the committee, and I wanted to ask a
question first about the relationship between retention and
recruiting.
You mentioned that retention is still at record highs, or--
I forgot the term you used, but still, a RAND Corporation study
found that, over time, among the grades, especially among
representation of racial ethnic minority groups, falls over
time. And I am wondering what the relationship between trying
to keep those retention numbers up can ease recruiting on the
front end.
Admiral Fagan. Thank you. So, firstly, the good news story.
We just onboarded the class of 2026 at the Coast Guard Academy.
It is the most diverse class that we have onboarded as an
organization. It was nearly 43 percent women and 38 percent
underrepresented minority males.
The challenge now is, as those group of young officers come
forward, ensuring that we have eliminated barriers for them to
continue to serve, so that we retain particularly women and
underrepresented minority males at similar retention rates to
their majority male counterparts.
I mean, we have been working on this for some time now,
starting with Admiral Schultz and before him. And so, some of
the changes that we made 5 years ago as a result of the URM
study from RAND and the women's retention study, changes that
were implemented have--again, over the last 5 years, a 28-
percent increase in retention, particularly women at the E-6/E-
7 level.
At the O-4 level it is 375 additional women that we have
retained as a result of some of that policy change, and we are
going to continue to look at opportunities to improve those
retention numbers and ensure that the diversity we bring in
upfront is still with us as we approach a 20-year plan.
Mr. Larsen of Washington. Does that help ease at all the
recruiting challenge that you have?
Admiral Fagan. So, the recruiting challenge, this is just--
this is the, basic--and it is primarily--it is an enlisted
recruiting issue.
Mr. Larsen of Washington. Right, right, yes.
Admiral Fagan. About 75 to 80 percent of the force is
enlisted. And so, bringing in a nonrate into Cape May so that
we can then onward--get them into A school, get them their
technical and proficiency and qualifications--they are related,
but separate at this point. It is really just the competition
for talent right now. And recruiting is a person-to-person
intensive activity. And we have surged resources to start to
address that.
Mr. Larsen of Washington. Yes, thanks. I want to move to
housing and the BAH, the basic housing allowance, understanding
that there is a centralized process in the services for that.
What flexibility does the Coast Guard have to adjust basic
housing allowance to accommodate housing increases, especially,
as we have noted, all of our areas, including the Pacific
Northwest, have seen housing costs, both for single family
homes as well as multifamily apartment rents, increase unlike
we have seen probably in the last 30 years?
Admiral Fagan. Yes, I would welcome the opportunity to work
with the committee and Congress on finding ways to, again,
eliminate the lag in the system that we have got right now and
increase flexibility to ensure that we are meeting needs of
families.
When you look across just the housing sector writ large in
the country, it has been a particularly challenging,
challenging time. It is challenging to find homes to rent. It
is expensive to find homes to buy. It is particularly acute in
some of the remote and coastal communities where we live and
work. And we would welcome the opportunity to work with you to
improve--eliminate that lag time and improve our support to
families.
Mr. Larsen of Washington. Thanks. Just to go a little
local, I do want to recognize the great folks in Bellingham,
the collocation at the Naval Station Everett of some of your
Coast Guard assets. Good folks out in Port Angeles, not my
district.
But then heading farther south, down to Seattle, the Port
of Seattle recently approved the lease for, I think, a 6-year
temporary lease for pier 46 to give the Coast Guard time to do
its recapitalization there, where you are located, including
the, I presume, basin dredging. But I think it is a 6-year
lease.
I just want to, kind of, make sure we put the oar in the
water on this committee as we look at that longer term project
that you have. And, kind of, the obvious question is, I hope 6
years is plenty of time for that recap to occur. Do you see any
problems with that?
Admiral Fagan. Thank you. We are--obviously, we have
announced Polar Security Cutters will be homeported in Seattle.
We have work to do to ensure that we have got the depth of
water and facilities and pier space there. This is a longer
term investment and need, and we would welcome the opportunity
to provide a more detailed brief to you and your staff on what
our needs will be in Seattle as we move forward with the Polar
Security Cutters.
Mr. Larsen of Washington. That is great. I have talked to
folks locally, and we can do that. I just want to be sure that
we are tracking this over time, so that the timing of the lease
matches the timing of the ability for you to get your work
done, both in the water and pier-side, as well as for the
buildings that need to get rebuilt and built.
Thanks, I yield back.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Larsen. Next I would like to
recognize Mr. Weber--I don't know if he has come back.
[Pause.]
Mr. Carbajal. We will move on to the distinguished
gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Brown.
Mr. Brown of Maryland. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want
to thank you for holding this hearing today. I also want to
associate myself with your opening comments, Mr. Chairman.
And I would add that we also support our Coasties and their
families when we protect them against threats, both external
and internal, to the Service.
Admiral Fagan, let me say congratulations on your
appointment to serve as Commandant of the United States Coast
Guard. You have had a stellar, impeccable, admirable career in
uniform. And I have complete confidence that you will provide
the leadership that the Coast Guard needs at this moment.
One of my priorities on both this committee and on the
House Armed Services Committee has been rooting out extremism
in our military. I firmly believe that we have to ensure that
our military has the appropriate tools and authorities to do
just that.
Last year, I asked Commandant Schultz about extremism in
the Coast Guard during the budget hearing, and he committed to
accountability from the Coast Guard, but didn't give a
definitive answer when it came to membership in a domestic
extremist organization being cause for removal from the Coast
Guard. And some things have changed, certainly at the DoD,
regarding that.
My question for you is, Commandant Fagan, is it your
understanding that membership in a domestic extremist
organization should be cause for removal from the Coast Guard?
And if not, what would you consider to be cause for removal
from the Coast Guard for someone who manifests an affiliation
with an extremist organization?
Admiral Fagan. Thank you. Extremism and hate behavior has
no place in the Coast Guard. It is inconsistent with our core
values and does not contribute to the kind of culture that we
pride ourselves in, as an organization.
I am committed to eliminating extremism and hate behavior
in the organization. Where we have had reports of that, we
fully investigate that activity and behavior using our Coast
Guard investigative services. We have also recently updated
some of our hate speech and activities behavior.
I remain committed to, where we have found substantiated
evidence of hate activity and extremism, that we will ensure
full accountability for those members.
I don't have specific numbers right now with regard to how
many investigations we have done, but I have confidence in our
system to ensure that activity that is inconsistent with our
core values will not be tolerated within the organization.
Mr. Brown of Maryland. Thank you. Let me follow up. Does
your confidence extend to the quality of counterdomestic
extremism training that is currently required of your enlisted
and officer personnel each year?
Admiral Fagan. So, we have moved to require that training,
and that also helps to ensure that, again, we are appropriately
investigating and following through with those reports. And I
remain committed to ensuring that that training is current, and
that those who are required to access it are, so that we are
fairly and transparently conducting investigations into, again,
activity that is inconsistent with our core values.
Mr. Brown of Maryland. Thank you. Because some would say
that we are spending too much time on counterextremism training
in our services, and I couldn't disagree more with that
opinion.
I have a statement. I was going to ask another question. I
know I will run out of time. Perhaps you can follow up with a
written response. A 2020 DHS inspector general report
identified 16 allegations of race-based harassment involving
cadets at the Coast Guard Academy. At the time, the IG found
that Academy officials were aware of the incidents and had
sufficient information to investigate and address the
incidents, but failed to take action. So, if you could, respond
to the committee in writing what is the Coast Guard doing to
address racism at the Academy and foster an environment of
inclusiveness.
My last 25 seconds, Mr. Chairman, it is sort of a personal,
shameless request, Commandant Fagan. I wish I were there in
person. Even if I were, I couldn't presume what our interaction
would be like. This is my last year in Congress. I would hope
to have earned a challenge coin from you. So, I hope that over
the next few weeks we will find a time to get together, and
maybe you will consider my service in Congress worthy enough
where I can receive one of your challenge coins. And I actually
make that request on a 30-year veteran of the Coast Guard, a
good friend who I served with in the Army, and then finished
her career in the Coast Guard. So, hopefully I can do her that
favor.
Admiral Fagan. Thank you, Congressman. I welcome the
opportunity to find you and give you a challenge coin and thank
you for your service.
Mr. Brown of Maryland. Thank you.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Brown. Just a reminder. To get
that service coin, you have got to be in person.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Carbajal. So, I'm hoping you'll come to the next
hearing.
Mr. Brown of Maryland. Mr. Chairman, I will meet with the
Commandant wherever, whenever.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you. Next I will recognize Mr. Weber.
Mr. Weber of Texas. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And Mr. Brown, I will invite you to come to the gulf coast
of Texas to Galveston, because I am going to invite the
Commandant down there, and we want you to both come there and
spend lots of money.
So, anyway, Commandant, or Admiral, good to see you. And we
appreciate you being there. A couple of questions I have for
you.
I think, with your exchange between Representative Gibbs,
you said there were 105 involuntary discharges. Was that the
number because of the refusal to take the vaccine?
Admiral Fagan. It was 107 involuntary separations.
Mr. Weber of Texas. 107? OK. Have you been able to track
the number of COVID infections, or those who contracted COVID
in the Coast Guard during the same time period?
Admiral Fagan. We have kept track of the number of COVID-
positive infections, particularly early on in the pandemic. We
were particularly focused on ensuring that we continued to have
a ready force and meet our operational requirements,
particularly as it pertained to large ships and other missions
in our waterways.
I don't have the number offhand of what our current
infection rate may be, but we continue to focus on ensuring
that we have got a ready workforce, and that we are able to
operate the Coast Guard for the American public.
Mr. Weber of Texas. If you don't mind, I would like to get
that number from you at some point going forward, just as a
comparative analysis.
In other words, how many did we let go, and how many
actually in the guard contracted the actual virus? It would be
interesting to know.
And then I do actually want to tell you about my
Congressional District 14, which is the Texas gulf coast,
starting at Louisiana's border and moving on down. We have got
those first four counties that are Jefferson County, a tiny
part of Chambers County, we have got all of Galveston County,
and then the southern half of Brazoria County. We have got,
actually, six ports----
[Technical malfunction.]
Mr. Carbajal. You froze, Mr. Weber.
Mr. Weber of Texas. I froze, my----
Mr. Carbajal [interrupting]. Yes, you are back.
Mr. Weber of Texas. OK. So, I don't know how much you
heard, Mr. Chairman or Admiral Fagan, but----
Mr. Carbajal [interrupting]. If you could repeat it, that
would be great.
Mr. Weber of Texas. OK.
Mr. Carbajal. We will give you an extra 30 seconds there.
Mr. Weber of Texas. Thank you. We have got six ports, more
than any other Member of Congress, and we have got several
Coast Guard facilities. And I would like to get you to come
down to the district and maybe tour some of those.
My last living uncle, he is 90 years old, was a Coastie for
either 2 or 4 years around the Korean War time. So, we love our
Coasties, of course. We have facilities.
And maybe I should ask you, Admiral, where are you
stationed?
Admiral Fagan. So, I am currently stationed in Washington,
DC, but I have done a tour of duty in New Orleans, I have been
to Mobile, and I would certainly welcome the opportunity to
visit some of our great units in Texas with you at a future
opportunity.
Mr. Weber of Texas. Sure. Well, let's do that. I just want
to say welcome. We are glad you are there. I appreciate your
service, just like we appreciate my uncle's service, and
appreciate all the Coasties' service.
And so, sometime maybe we can reach out to the office, and
we can get you down into the district. We can get you some of
the best seafood in the country, and we would love you to tour
those facilities.
And with that, Mr. Chairman, I will yield back.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you very much, Mr. Weber. Next I will
go to Representative Auchincloss.
Mr. Auchincloss. Thank you, Chair.
Congratulations, Admiral, on your historic appointment.
Coast Guard mission excellence depends on a technically
skilled workforce and experienced leadership, and those
foundational characteristics are cultivated long before
commissioning. In my first term, I focused much of my time on
improving support and resources for student mental health,
including the health of constituents and midshipmen at the U.S.
Merchant Marine Academy.
I have had the privilege to work with families at the
Merchant Marine Academy in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, some
of that work was to ensure that their children's careers would
not be delayed because of the 2021 Sea Year pause following
disturbing reports of abuse suffered by these student mariners.
I appreciate that the Academy has worked to ensure that
students affected by the pause won't have their graduation
rates delayed while simultaneously enacting policies to protect
current and future mariners.
What outreach is the Coast Guard doing to cultivate
interest in merchant marine academies?
Admiral Fagan. We obviously have a role in merchant mariner
credentialing and licensing, and we work collaboratively with
the other merchant service academies, whether they are State
run or the Federal Academy at Kings Point, and remain committed
to that team to ensure that we have got the right capacity to
field mariners as a Nation. And we have got very rich and
ongoing conversations with each of those maritime academies to
ensure that that is occurring.
Mr. Auchincloss. These midshipmen graduate with a U.S.
Coast Guard license. What are you doing to recruit talent and
retain these midshipmen after they graduate?
Admiral Fagan. So, again, our role is in credentialing
those mariners. Each year, particularly from Kings Point, we
will directly commission some of the Kings Point graduates into
the Coast Guard, and just continue to collaborate and work with
that Academy to ensure that the professional standards required
for a license are met.
And again, just a great partnership that we have got with
Kings Point, from an academic perspective.
Mr. Auchincloss. Admiral, I also want to give you some time
to comment on more broadly what--and I know you gave this some
details in your opening statement, but what you are doing to
recruit from a talent pool that has been diminished by the
physical readiness of American youth and also by a tight labor
market, which has historically always been challenging for
military and Coast Guard recruitment.
In case you didn't get to some of the details you wanted to
get to in your opening remarks, I want to give you the floor
for these final 2 minutes.
Admiral Fagan. No, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity
to talk about our recruiting efforts.
As I have shared, the good news story is, it is not a
retention issue. And so, we have increased our resourcing--
additional recruiters, 15. We have taken folks that were
previously qualified as recruiters and redirected them into the
recruiting work, which is--I have got a sense of urgency around
now. We need to begin to draw that talent pool in. We are
fielding mobile applications and looking for every opportunity
to speed the process from initial contact to actual arrival at
Cape May as we work through the medical and physical readiness
standpoint.
We find once people understand who we are, and they have a
propensity to serve, they are very enthusiastic about the
opportunity to join and stay in the Service. We are using all
aspects of the organization to get after the recruiting
challenge.
Mr. Auchincloss. Understood. And I will close by saying I
am a strong supporter of the Coast Guard. I have been regretful
that I have not been able to support to date the U.S. Coast
Guard authorization because of the amendment to it that impedes
offshore wind development along the eastern seaboard and,
indeed, throughout the United States. President Biden has an
audacious, ambitious goal to hit 30 gigawatts of clean energy
by 2030 from offshore wind. An amendment was added to the U.S.
Coast Guard authorization that would derail those efforts,
impede economic development and job creation and clean energy
in my district, along with countless of other districts
throughout the eastern seaboard. And I have just--I have had to
fight against that shortsighted attempt to thwart clean energy
development. But in no way should it be construed as opposition
to the Coast Guard itself, of which I remain a strong
supporter.
And I yield back, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Auchincloss. I will now
recognize Representative Van Drew.
Dr. Van Drew. Good morning, and thank you to the Coast
Guard Commandant, Linda Fagan, for being here today, and for
the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation.
Before we go on, I have some remarks that I hadn't planned
on saying, but just hearing the discussion that just ensued a
couple of minutes ago: There are concerns about the wind
turbines. There are concerns about the Coast Guard, and how it
is going to be able to work in and around them. There are
concerns with the ocean floor, and what it is going to do to
the environment. There are concerns with tourism, and how it is
going to affect tourism itself. There are a great number of
concerns about, you know, there is only going to be a certain
number of years that these turbines are actually going to last,
and then what is going to happen after that? There are concerns
with the amount of money that these turbines are going to cost
the taxpayers when they pay their utility bills.
This is a difficult issue, and it is a challenging issue. I
think we assume too much when we assume that we should just go
forward full speed ahead, and that this is a perfect answer. It
is not. And there are certainly some issues that are very grave
and very serious. The fishermen, large commercial fishermen in
the area that bring in huge amounts of money and jobs and
entrepreneurial endeavor, are very concerned about it, as well.
So, I just wanted to point that out because it is a real
big deal, and not everybody is on the same page with this
issue, which makes life fun for you, I guess.
Admiral Fagan, congratulations for your historic
confirmation as Commandant. You have worked assignments across
the world and in every part of the Coast Guard over your 37
years of service. It is hard to believe. You don't look it.
Your confirmation is well deserved, and I can tell you have hit
the ground running, and that we are proud of you.
Today's hearing is about enhancing personnel resources to
support a stronger, more resilient Coast Guard. As a
Representative of the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape
May, I am deeply sympathetic to the personnel challenges facing
the Coast Guard.
Foremost, I think it is important that the Coast Guard
maintain a clear and a focused posture on its maritime safety
and national security responsibilities. Adventures in social
activism have set other armed services back in recruitment, and
I hope the Coast Guard avoids such pitfalls. They are not
necessary or beneficial.
To improve personnel recruitment and retention, we must
support Coast Guard servicemembers from beginning to end,
starting with the recruitment and training continuing through
service, and even in retirement. We must support our
servicemembers every step of the way.
I worked closely with the Coast Guard leadership to secure
$55 million in funding for phase 1, as you know, of the
Training Center Cape May barracks recapitalization. This
project will expand capacity and improve training quality at
the Coast Guard's premier training facility, which is in Cape
May. Our work at the training center is the foundation for the
next generation of Coast Guard members.
Modernizing Training Center Cape May is a critical pillar
of improving recruitment and retention in the Coast Guard at
the front end. But we must do more to support the Coasties
throughout all of their service. Congress must find solutions
to the housing, healthcare, and family support challenges that
face the Coast Guard. I hope to work with the Coast Guard to
improve quality of life in all those areas.
Today my line of questioning will focus on housing
affordability. The Coast Guard operates in coastal communities
with a relatively higher cost of living. The Coast Guard does
provide a cost of living adjustment benefit, which is a taxable
supplement allowance designed to offset higher prices in the
highest cost location. This program is currently available to
6,000 servicemembers across the United States.
I have consistently heard from my Coasties stationed in my
district that they struggle to find housing fully covered by
their allowance. As you know, Cape May is a very expensive
area. Some servicemembers live over an hour away from their
station, due to a lack of affordable housing options. It seems
that the current cost of living assistance program is possibly
not meeting the needs of Coast Guard servicemembers.
Can you share any plans that you might have that the Coast
Guard is working on to address the affordable housing within
the Service?
What action might this committee take to address these
growing concerns?
And again, because I know I am not going to have any time
left, I am done speaking, and I yield back. But I am so proud
of all of you. I am proud of the work you do. I am proud of
what you represent. I am proud of the way that you handle
yourselves.
Admiral Fagan. Thank you.
Mr. Carbajal. Representative Van Drew, you are out of time.
I am going to let Admiral Fagan answer your question briefly.
But if she wants to provide a more extensive response, I am
going to ask her to do that in writing.
But you might want to shorten that preamble before your
questions in the future, Mr. Van Drew.
With that, Admiral Fagan.
Dr. Van Drew. I would have. I didn't know we were going to
have that a little bit there, so, I am sorry.
Admiral Fagan. Thank you. And to be brief, I welcome the
opportunity to work with you on the issue of housing and
housing affordability. And while it is acute in Cape May, New
Jersey, we are experiencing challenges around the country.
And I would just like to say thank you, we appreciate your
enduring support, the enduring support of this committee. Cape
May is the birthplace of the enlisted workforce, and we are
excited to see the opportunity to begin updating and
modernizing the buildings there at that training facility. So,
thank you.
Dr. Van Drew. Thank you.
Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Commandant. That concludes our
hearing for today.
I would like to thank our witness for her testimony.
I ask unanimous consent that the record of today's hearing
remain open until such time as our witness has provided answers
to any questions that may be submitted to her in writing.
I also ask unanimous consent that the record remain open
for 15 days for additional comment and information submitted by
Members or the witness to be included in the record of today's
hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
The subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:06 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
Submissions for the Record
----------
Prepared Statement of Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Carbajal, and thank you to our witness, Admiral
Fagan, for being here today.
Welcome to your first hearing before the Subcommittee on Coast
Guard and Maritime Transportation.
The Coast Guard completed a structural modernization in 2008 with
the creation of a Deputy Commandant for Operations and a Deputy
Commandant for Mission Support, as well as the movement to sectors and
bases.
However, the enterprise-wide workforce planning necessary to truly
complete a Service-wide modernization is, at best, in its infancy.
I look forward to hearing from the Commandant how she intends to
close the long-term, persistent gap in making the required `manpower
requirements determinations' and keeping those determinations current.
Again, Commandant Fagan, welcome.
Thank you, Chair Carbajal. I yield back.
Appendix
----------
Questions from Hon. Peter A. DeFazio on behalf of Hon. John Garamendi
to Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Question 1. In December 2020, Congress enacted Mr. Garamendi's
amendment to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act as section 9503 of
the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283) affirming that the application of
the Constitution, laws, and civil and political jurisdiction of the
United States to the Outer Continental Shelf also applies to non-
mineral energy resources and exploring for, developing, producing,
transporting, or transmitting such resources. Congress always intended
U.S. law to apply to any form of exploration, development, production,
transportation, and transmission of energy resources under the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953. On January 25, 2021, President
Biden's first executive order (no.14005) after assuming office directed
federal agencies to maximize the use of American mariners, American-
built ships, and U.S.-flagged vessels under the Jones Act. Less than 90
days later (March 25, 2021) U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a
revised headquarters ruling letter (HQ H317289) contradicting Mr.
Garamendi's amendment and the President's policy, allowing foreign
vessels to construct energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Commandant, I am deeply concerned that federal regulators like the
Coast Guard have not yet updated your regulations and industry guidance
to reflect the change Congress made to the Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act when Mr. Garamendi's amendment was signed into law on January
1, 2021. What, if anything, are you doing to fully implement this
change in the law?
Answer. The U.S. Coast Guard recognizes that Congress amended the
jurisdictional provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
(OCSLA) to include non-mineral energy resource installations on the
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Most Coast Guard authorities under OCSLA
require implementing regulations. Current Coast Guard regulations
related to ``OCS Activities'' (33 CFR Subchapter N) define that term as
specific to the exploration, development, or production of ``the
minerals of the Outer Continental Shelf,'' and do not currently apply
to non-mineral energy resources activities such as wind energy. The
Coast Guard is continuing our review of Section 9503, and exploring
potential options to implement the change in OCSLA. Any updates to
these regulations will be announced on the Unified Agenda of Regulatory
and Deregulatory Actions website, on the web at: https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain
Question 2. The U.S. must have a robust maritime infrastructure.
Not only is this a national security imperative but it provides good
jobs to American workers. One of the pillars of the US maritime
industry is the Jones Act. But for the Jones Act to have the desired
effect, ensuring that there is American shipbuilding and crewing, it
must be enforced. The Coast Guard plays a preeminent role in this
enforcement.
What are you doing to ensure that the Jones Act is being enforced?
How do you ensure that vessels have OCS Exemption Letters in compliance
with the Jones Act? How are you using advances in data processing and
analytics to support this enforcement?
Answer. The Coast Guard does not make final determinations as to
whether a voyage or type of activity is in compliance with the Jones
Act nor assess or adjudicate civil penalties for violations. The Coast
Guard does, however, act in a support role and collaborates with U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, the lead Jones Act determination and
enforcement agency, when assistance is requested.
In accordance with 46 U.S.C. Sec. 12102, a vessel may engage in a
trade only if the vessel has been issued a certificate of documentation
(COD) with an endorsement for that trade. The Coast Guard makes
determinations as to whether certain vessels are entitled to engage in
a specified trade, such as a coastwise trade endorsement. Under 46
C.F.R. Part 67, the National Vessel Documentation Center will issue
eligible vessels a Certificate of Documentation (COD) after reviewing
submitted documentation to determine eligibility for the requested COD
endorsement(s). It is common practice for the Coast Guard to verify a
vessel has the proper endorsement on the COD when conducting statutory
inspections, examinations, and boardings.
OCS Exemption Letters are not required by the Jones Act. The Coast
Guard enforces the manning requirements found in 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1356
which require vessels to engaged in OCS activities be manned or crewed
by citizens of the United States or aliens lawfully admitted to the
United States for permanent residence, unless an exception ((Sec. Sec.
1356(b) and (c)) applies. In some cases, an exemption may be granted
upon demonstration to the Coast Guard of the unavailability to U.S.
citizens. In other cases, the Coast Guard may, upon request,
acknowledge that a foreign-flagged, foreign majority owned or
controlled vessel is excepted from the manning requirements of 43
U.S.C. Sec. 1356, commonly referred to as a Letter of Non-
applicability (LOA), in accordance with 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1356(c)(2). The
LOA explicitly states that it does not authorize the vessel owner or
operator to engage in Jones Act activity (i.e., coastwise trade).
The U.S. Coast Guard Data Strategy, 2021-2026, provides a strategic
approach and guiding principles to maximize the value of data for all
operations and mission support activities. Additionally, the Coast
Guard's Office of Data and Analytics supports enterprise analytic
efforts across all data domains. At this time, the Coast Guard is not
actively using advanced data processing and analytics to enforce
alleged or potential Jones Act violations at sea. The Coast Guard has
authority to support the enforcement of the Jones Act by using data
transmitted from Automatic Identification Systems transponders (which
are carried on board a vessel when it is operating in U.S.
jurisdictional waters). This information could subsequently be provided
to the lead agency upon request.
Questions from Hon. Salud O. Carbajal to Admiral Linda L. Fagan,
Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Question 1. In a recent study, GAO found that 28% of Coast Guard
housing assets are past their service life. What are the Coast Guard's
plans to recapitalize its old and dilapidated housing units?
Answer. The Coast Guard owns approximately 2,600 active family
housing units, with an average age of 47 years. The Service employs a
nationwide housing strategy to prioritize investments based on the
greatest need. In particular, areas that are remote or seasonal with
limited availability of suitable community based housing. Currently the
Service is making housing investments in Kodiak, AK; Fort Wadsworth,
NY; Portage, MI; and Novato, CA. The Coast Guard Housing Fund is used
to maintain housing units and add new capacity when appropriate. The
Housing Fund, which receives proceeds from real property divestiture,
can be quickly applied to the most urgent needs. Large recapitalization
project needs are submitted through the Procurement, Construction, and
Improvement Process for planning and budgeting.
Question 2.a. In February 2021, GAO reported that military families
said they considered housing when choosing schools for their children.
How does the Coast Guard assist families with housing decisions?
Answer. Coast Guard policy requires members in receipt of permanent
change of station orders to contact the Coast Guard housing office at
their new duty station to ensure they are aware of all housing options,
including Coast Guard owned, Coast Guard leased, and the availability
of community based housing. This early communication is critical to
ensuring housing is available in time for member's arrival and provides
each member with as much information the service can provide to assist
in personnel housing decisions. The majority of Coast Guard members
reside in community based rental housing relying primarily on the
private sector to meet the housing needs of our members. To assist in
locating suitable housing, the Coast Guard manages a robust housing
referral program in concert with U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The
Service also cost shares access to the HOMES.mil system which is a
sanctioned referral database screened by military housing
professionals. In locations where the private sector cannot accommodate
Coast Guard housing requirements, generally remote and seasonal areas,
the Coast Guard owns or leases housing for our members and their
dependents.
Question 2.b. When applicable, how does the Coast Guard work with
the other services to facilitate Coast Guard families in obtaining
housing on DOD installations?
Answer. The Coast Guard works closely with the other Armed Services
to ensure Coast Guard members have access to DoD housing. The Coast
Guard and DoD enter into reimbursable interagency agreements to provide
Coast Guard and DoD Service Members housing where needed and inventory
permits. These agreements apply to both Coast Guard and DoD owned
housing facilities. Coast Guard personnel also have access to
privatized DoD housing. There are approximately 1,700 Coast Guard
Members residing in DoD privatized housing across the country,
including Alaska and Hawaii.
Question 3. As I'm sure you're aware, poor leadership can be a
strong deterrent for reenlistment or continuation of military
personnel. In some cases, it is cited as the most influential factor in
a member's decision to separate from service. Poor leaders create a
toxic command climate by failing to treat their people with dignity and
respect, stifling open, honest communication, fostering an environment
of fear and intimidation, and putting their personal interests ahead of
taking care of their people. How is the Coast Guard addressing the
issue of poor leadership? More specifically, what trainings, programs
or protocols is the Coast Guard instituting to correct the behavior of
bad leaders and stamp them out, and how are you ensuring that policy
changes trickle down to leaders for more effective and consistent
implementation of those policies?
Answer. The Coast Guard is addressing poor leadership through the
development of a robust Leadership Development Continuum for both
officers and enlisted members. In the summer of 2022, the Office of
Leadership (CG-128) updated the Coast Guard's Leadership Development
Framework that categorizes Leadership Competencies into areas of focus
at leach level of seniority, providing a clear training path of what
the workforce should expect throughout their careers. Competencies in
the Foundational ``Leading Self'' category are made available at
accession points. Built upon that foundation, each of the four
progressing leadership pillars represent the group of competencies each
member will focus on during their career progression. Upon reaching the
most senior-level pillar, Coast Guard members will be trained on and
expected to have developed mastery in all 28 Leadership Competencies.
The Coast Guard further requires ``360'' leadership assessment in our
mid-grade and upper level leadership courses to ensure continued
assessment and reinforcement of these policies. All military leaders
are evaluated on leadership on at least an annual basis.
Question 4. All of the military branches except the Coast Guard
offer student loan repayment assistance for qualifying education loans;
the Air Force, Navy, and Army will pay up to $65,000 and the Marine
Corp. covers up to $30,000 in assistance. How effective of a recruiting
tool do you believe this type of incentive would be to aid the Coast
Guard with recruiting and retaining servicemembers?
Answer. While this particular incentive is not currently offered
for our enlisted members, the Coast Guard Recruiting Command (CGRC) is
confident it would be an attractive offering to support recruiting
efforts. As the percentage of high school students entering college
continues to rise, the ability to provide funding for student loans to
new recruits would be beneficial. The Coast Guard would need to seek
additional resources in order to launch this initiative.
Question 5.a. I am pleased that the Service updated its policies
last year on military transgender service such as making it easier for
a transgender servicemember to submit a gender transition request. What
other steps has the Coast Guard taken to embrace not only transgender
servicemembers, but all others in the LGBTQ community, and tamp down on
harassment and discriminatory practices aimed at making these
servicemembers feel ostracized?
Answer. The Coast Guard does not tolerate harassment or
discriminatory practices. Policy protections include prohibiting
behaviors that target transgender service members and the LGBTQ+
community.
The Commandant annually issues policy statements to outline the
expectations for the total workforce and these expectations are posted
at all Coast Guard units. The Commandant's Equal Opportunity (EO)
Policy Statement affirms the Coast Guard's support of equal
opportunity, equal access, and a work environment free from unlawful
discrimination, hate, and harassment. The Anti-Discrimination and Anti-
Harassment Policy Statement avows a workplace free of discrimination
and harassment, including gender bias. In addition, the policy outlines
prohibitions on discrimination, harassment, bullying, and hazing.
The U.S. Coast Guard Civil Rights Manual, COMDTINST M5350.4E, sets
forth policy and guidance for military EO and civilian Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO) programs.
The Coast Guard employs standards outlined by the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, specifically Management Directive 110, to
address discrimination and harassment complaints. The Coast Guard uses
an EO process for military members, consistent with 29 CFR 1614, which
mirrors the federal sector EEO complaint process that applies to
civilian members. These structured processes enable the Service to
maintain a model EEO program that ensures protection and equality based
on multiple protected bases, including sex (i.e., gender identity,
sexual orientation).
The Coast Guard's Anti-Harassment and Hate Incident (AHHI) policy
and procedures, in effect since 2010, aim to combat prohibited
harassment, including sexual orientation and gender-based harassment,
and charges unit commanders to investigate and address any reported or
observed harassing behaviors promptly.
The AHHI policy defines prohibited harassment as including, but not
limited to, unwelcome verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct that has
the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's
work performance or creating an intimidating, offensive, or hostile
environment based on a protected status. Gender-based harassment is a
form of prohibited harassment.
The Coast Guard has determined that the most effective way to
curtail harassing behavior is to treat it as misconduct, even if it
does not rise to the level of harassment actionable under civil rights
laws and regulations. The Coast Guard maintains that even a single
utterance of an ethnic, racial, sexual, or gender-based epithet that
offends an employee is inappropriate and must be stopped.
To promote inclusion across the total workforce throughout the
year, the Coast Guard highlights personnel of all backgrounds including
LGBTQ+ service members on its internal and external communications
channels. During the month of June in particular, Coast Guard units
held Pride Month recognition events around the country. These events
were also highlighted on Coast Guard internal and external
communications channels.
Question 5.b. For transgender members who go underway, what is the
Coast Guard's policy on the use of washroom facilities and sleeping
quarters?
Answer. In accordance with the Coast Guard's Military Transgender
Service Policy, COMDTINST M1000.13B, all members will use those
berthing, bathroom, and shower facilities associated with the member's
gender marker entered in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting
System (DEERS) while on Coast Guard or DoD property, or in a Coast
Guard or DoD leased space. Members must be considered and treated in
accordance with the gender recorded in DEERS in all respects, unless
the member has an approved exception to policy (ETP) granted by
Commander. Members may request ETPs from any gender-based Coast Guard
policy. The ETPs must have supporting justification, as well as
assessment by the commanding officer/officer in charge, to include a
specific implementation plan.
Question 6. In 2020 the Coast Guard released its Diversity and
Inclusion Action Plan for 2019-2023. As we are now more than halfway
through this four-year action plan, can you advise where the Coast
Guard is in carrying out the steps outlined in that plan? Are there any
resources the Coast Guard is lacking that would help it fulfill the
remaining action items from the Plan?
Answer. In June 2020, the Coast guard released its 2019-2023
Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan. It consisted of three lines of
effort (LOEs): 1) Development of D&I Acumen; 2) Strengthen Leadership
and D&I Awareness and Accountability; and 3) Build and Maintain an
Inclusive Workforce. Approximately 15 action steps were embedded within
the LOE's. The status of each action is listed below. Furthermore,
Coast Guard personnel validated that some actions are continuous in
nature which is also indicated below. The Coast Guard is committed to
continuously reviewing its policies and programs in pursuit of a more
inclusive Coast Guard.
LOE 1--Development of D&I Acumen
Action 1.1--Complete the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) program
level CG Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmark Audit, Assessment and
Strategy to move the Coast Guard from a reactive organization to a
progressive organization in D&I. (100 percent complete)
Action 1.2--Conduct a series of facilitated dialogues to build a
common understanding of the Coast Guard Core Values of Honor, Respect,
and Devotion to Duty, as seen through the eyes of the total workforce
at all levels. (100 percent complete)
Action 1.3--Develop the Diversity and Inclusion Education and
Awareness Program to equip participants with the coaching competencies
to navigate sensitive situations involving all dimensions of diversity.
(100 percent complete)
Action 1.4--Complete the Holistic Study & Analysis of Recruiting &
Retention of Underrepresented Minorities. (100 percent complete)
LOE 2--Strengthen Leadership D&I Awareness and Accountability
Action 2.1--Enhance the Coast Guard's Inclusive Leader Environment
Index to assess organizational climate factors, inclusivity trends
using data from the Organizational Assessment Survey and the Federal
Employee Viewpoint Survey. (100 percent complete)
Action 2.2--Review the Leadership, Excellence and Diversity Council
construct and assess the functionality. Implement changes to support
this Action plan. (100 percent complete)
Action 2.3--Develop a ``dashboard'' of metrics to be reviewed
annually with Senior Leadership as a component of the Personnel
Readiness Briefs to the Commandant. (100 percent complete)
Action 2.4--Create a competency code for D&I. This OSMS-type code
will adopt the Apprentice, Journeyman, and Expert model. Each
progression requires a certain amount of professional engagements/
training/continuing education to progress. (90 percent complete)
Action 2.5--Consistent dialogue of D&I concepts shall be a standard
during speaking engagements, unit events, town halls and all-hands
gatherings for leaders across the Coast Guard. (Continuous)
LOE 3--Build and Maintain an Inclusive Total Workforce
Action 3.1--Develop a comprehensive Outreach Plan to actively
recruit a diverse workforce. (Continuous)
Action 3.2--Develop policies and procedures for the support of
affinity groups. (100 percent complete)
Action 3.3--Execute a Coast Guard wide learning initiative at the
unit level to discuss the importance of respect and inclusion in the
Coast Guard Mission. (75 percent complete)
Action 3.4--Identify the root causes of recurring historical and/or
institutional racial inequities and barriers to diversity and
inclusion, and develop recommendations to improve the Coast Guard's
ability to better reflect the racial/ethnic/gender make-up of the
United States. (Continuous)
Action 3.5--Develop a Coast Guard Mentoring Program framework to
emphasize and focus on inclusive leadership for the total workforce.
(100 percent complete)
Action 3.6--Conduct a holistic review of Leadership Development
Center courses, Training Center Cape May and Coast Guard Academy
training and education curricula to ensure D&I requirements are
delivered and appropriately achieved in the training environment. (55
percent complete)
The Coast Guard's Office of D&I is staffed with six civilian
personnel (1 GS-15, 1 GS-14, 4 GS-13s) and six active-duty members (3
O5s, 1 LT, 1 CWO, and 1 E7). The growing requirements associated with
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at the national,
department and component level, are quickly rendering the Office of
Diversity and Inclusion as under-resourced. The Coast Guard will
continue to support this effort through requesting for additional
permanent resources through resource proposals.
Question 7. The Coast Guard's CSPI program (College Student Pre-
Commissioning Initiative) is a great accession source for diverse
candidates. In its report, ``Improving the Representation of Women and
Racial/Ethnic Minorities Among U.S. Coast Guard Active-Duty Members,''
RAND recommends leveraging CSPI accessioned officers as a recruitment
tool for strategic and targeted engagement with minority serving
institutions. How was this recommendation received by the Coast Guard
and are there steps being taken to build out this initiative as a
source for recruiting underrepresented minorities?
Answer. The CGRC often deploys College Student Pre-Commissioning
Initiative (CSPI) ambassadors alongside Recruiters at outreach events.
Specifically, CGRC involves CSPI alumni when engaging with their
respective minority serving institutions (MSI) and allows them to
support networking events and relationship-building within the MSI
faculty, staff, and administration. For the upcoming academic year,
CGRC has a CSPI outreach calendar that leverages a myriad of
activities, such as Homecoming events, on many MSI campuses to enable
ambassadors to connect with current students and share information on
Coast Guard job opportunities.
Question 8. The Coast Guard removed identifying demographical
information from its performance evaluation process for officers and
enlisted personnel years ago. The intent was to preclude hidden biases
from seeping into the promotion selection process by promotion boards
while evaluating members, but it doesn't account for any inherent
biases held by the member's rating chain who write and approve the
performance evaluation. Are there any statistics available to
illustrate how the removal of demographical information has improved
promotion rates for underrepresented minorities groups after it was
implemented?
Answer. No statistics are available to illustrate how the removal
of demographic information may have affected promotion and advancement
rates. Coast Guard enlisted members did not compete for advancement
through a paneled process prior to the removal of the demographic data
fields from Enlisted Evaluation Reports in November 2018. While Coast
Guard officers compete for promotion through paneled processes, the
Coast Guard's Personnel Service Center is not aware of a time of when
an officer's demographic information was a standard data field
associated with the Officer Evaluation Report.
Question 9. How does the Coast Guard ensure that its senior leaders
are trained on and publicizing Coast Guard child care programs
available to families, so that families can take advantage of them?
Answer. The Coast Guard has 19 Family Resource Specialists and 5
Child Development Services Specialists that work for the 13 Work Life--
Regional Practices. They are responsible for Command and unit trainings
which address child development services available to commands and
families. The Coast Guard child care fee assistance program is also
included in the military child care neighborhood program on
militarychildcare.com, which was recently marketed to the families
through the Headquarters Program Office and Ombudsman District meetings
(includes the Ombudsman and the District Commanders). Ombudsmen are the
liaison between the families and commands, and they are trained on the
child care programs available to families. In addition, the child care
programs are marketed on www.mycg.uscg.mil and offered through the
Coast Guard Employee Assistance Program branded as CGSUPRT
(www.CGSUPRT.com).
Question 10. How does the Coast Guard facilitate its families
connecting with DOD school liaisons, where they are available, to
assist the families in choosing the appropriate educational options for
their children?
Answer. The Coast Guard has 19 Family Resource Specialists (FRS)
dispersed across the country that provide support to families choosing
education options for their children. The FRS refers the family to the
school liaison, or contacts the school liaison for the family, when
there is a DoD school liaison in the area or state where the family
resides. Additionally, the Coast Guard trains unit Ombudsmen on
available resources for families which includes information on the
local DoD school liaison. Coast Guard families are included and
supported by the Interstate Compact on Education Opportunity for
Military Children. The Coast Guard has a representative on DoD's
Military Department Headquarters School Liaison Military Interstate
Children's Compact Commission working group to stay abreast of
education transition policies and elevate issues encountered by Coast
Guard families to the Commission.
Question 11. How have the Coast Guard's missions evolved to meet
21st century threats and challenges, such as cybersecurity, climate
change, and growing maritime trade?
Answer. The Coast Guard continually reviews new and emerging
threats and identifies opportunities to enhance the way we provide
maritime safety and security, protect resources, and respond to crises.
Specifically, the Service seeks opportunities to coordinate and
consolidate new and existing cybersecurity initiatives across mission
areas. The Coast Guard recently published the 2021 Cyber Strategic
Outlook (CSO), which charts the path to meet the challenges of a
rapidly evolving cyber domain. Key to the CSO are three LOE's: (1)
Defend and Operate the Enterprise Mission Platform, (2) Protect the
Marine Transportation System (MTS), and (3) Operate In and Through
Cyberspace. The Coast Guard continues to operationalize MTS cyber risk
management from the headquarters program level to the port level,
including the incorporation of cybersecurity into the Service's
prevention and response framework. Coast Guard Cyber Command's Maritime
Cyber Readiness Branch, Cyber Protection Teams, and Cyber Mission Teams
support the Coast Guard's mission by offering cybersecurity services to
the Coast Guard and, by extension, the MTS, to prevent and respond to
cyber threats. Further, the Coast Guard embedded civilian MTS Cyber
Specialists at its districts and sectors to enhance cyber literacy of
our units and liaise between the Coast Guard and industry partners.
Climate change places increased demands on Coast Guard mission
execution. The lengthened boating season, climate-driven events, rising
water levels, and the opening of the Arctic present evolving challenges
as the Service works to ensure a safe and secure MTS. The Coast Guard
is developing a strategic framework to strengthen climate resilience by
embracing opportunities for action related to climate resilience and
actively incorporating climate change into new and revised policies,
strategies, plans, and initiatives.
Our Nation's economic success hinges on our ability to maximize our
waterways while preserving natural resources and maintaining safety and
security. As demand for maritime commerce expands, our fundamental
approach to these new threats and challenges remains the same. The
Coast Guard will continue to strive to reduce casualties and improve
service. Where able, we will pursue improvements to service delivery
while also ensuring that we have sufficient data, analysis, technical
capability, and capacity to keep pace with the growing demand.
Recognized as the U.S. maritime service with the most relatable
mission profile to many nations' maritime forces, we work with domestic
and international partners to promote maritime governance and the
international rule of law. The Coast Guard works to enable likeminded
partners to counter malign actors and activities, enable commerce, and
elevate safety and environmental stewardship. The Service maintains
many long established relationships and cooperates on a variety of
maritime economic and national security challenges across the globe.
Question 11.a. How do these new threats and challenges affect other
Coast Guard missions and how has the service identified the budgetary
and workforce needs associated with these changes?
Answer. The Coast Guard continuously evaluates and balances mission
priorities against risk. Across the Service, personnel and asset needs,
are constantly evaluated to account for changing and/or increased
missions demands.
Question 11.b. Does the Coast Guard have the data necessary to
assess its workforce needs for evolving missions like these?
Answer. The Coast Guard has completed Manpower Requirements
Analyses (MRA) and Manpower Requirements Determinations (MRD) for 31
percent of units and utilizes established staffing standards for
another 33 percent. The continued completion of these studies is
critical to ensuring the Coast Guard has the workforce it needs to meet
these evolving missions. As the Coast Guard evolves to meet emerging
threats and challenges, we are rapidly accelerating the development of
new capabilities to collect, integrate, and analyze that data necessary
to inform decision-making for workforce transformation.
Question 12. Aside from the marine inspector field, in what other
ratings or specialties is the Coast Guard experiencing a critical
shortage and what are you doing to address this concern?
Answer. The active duty enlisted workforce is experiencing critical
shortages in the following ratings: Aviation Survival Technician (87
percent strength), Boatswain's Mate (94 percent strength), Culinary
Specialist (93 percent strength), Electronics Technician (95 percent
strength), and Gunner's Mate (96 percent strength). The Coast Guard is
addressing these critical shortages through monetary interventions
(enlistment bonuses, critical skills training bonuses, retention
bonuses) and non-monetary interventions (direct-to-A-school, Extended
Active Duty contracts). These incentives are used by the Coast Guard to
retain, recruit, and train service members in any ratings identified as
critical.
The active duty commissioned officer workforce is experiencing
critical shortages in the following officer specialties: Cyber, Legal,
and Rotary-wing Aviators. The Coast Guard is addressing these critical
shortages through non-monetary interventions (assignment preference and
airframe transitions in exchange for obligated service for aviators)
and monetary interventions (retention bonuses and incentive pay), which
allow the Coast Guard to recruit, train, and retain service members in
these critical specialties.
Questions from Hon. Sam Graves to Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant,
U.S. Coast Guard
Question 1. Admiral Fagan, one of the biggest ways we can support
our service members and also aid in recruiting this younger generation
is through ensuring that they have the tools and most innovative
technology available. I recently became aware of exciting new litter
basket stabilization tech which can drastically change the way the
Coast Guard conducts search and rescue operations. Can you describe
your commitment to getting new technology into the hands of our service
members and how you plan to partner with our nation's small business
innovators to help ensure new technology solutions, like the litter
basket stabilization technology, are available to our nation's Coast
Guard?
Answer. The Coast Guard is committed to ensuring our members have
the tools they need to effectively complete Service missions. Through
analysis of our mission requirements and current capabilities, the
Coast Guard identifies new technologies or capabilities that could
boost mission effectiveness and following the appropriate acquisition
policy and budgetary process, we acquire and field the new technology
or equipment. The Coast Guard's Research and Development Center and
Blue Technology Center of Expertise are also important partners in
vendor outreach to identify and test emerging technologies to support
the Service. The Coast Guard also has an Office of Small Business and
Industry Liaison Program with the mission to maximize and expand small
business inclusion, industry engagement, and business opportunities
within Coast Guard's Contracting Enterprise.
Question 2. Mission Requirements Determinations: In 2008, the Coast
Guard completed structural changes at the leadership and field levels
as part of the Service's modernization, but has not undertaken Manpower
Requirements Assessments, or made the Manpower Requirement
Determinations based on those analyses to assure that the workforce is
adequate and aligned with the updated structure.
In 2018, a decade after the modernization's structural changes were
made, Congress required the Coast Guard to produce a Manpower
Requirements Plan. That plan was submitted in April 2018 and the plan
touted a Force Planning Construct based on Manpower Requirements
Determinations. According to GAO, the Coast Guard had only made such
determinations for 6% of the 158-unit types by 2019, and at that time,
only 2% of such Determinations were current, i.e., having been made
within the prior 5 years. According to GAO, the Service has completed
an additional 26 determinations as of February 2022.
Question 2.a. What is the status of the Force Planning Construct?
Answer. The original Force Planning Construct (FPC) working group
conducted a manpower estimation of the total workforce to meet the
``Commandant's Strategic Intent 2015-2019,'' including steady state
operations, major contingency operations, and heightened maritime
security requirements. While the FPC process was insightful, the
Service determined existing manpower requirements processes were better
suited to meet the Coast Guard's needs.
Question 2.a.i. Is the Force Planning Construct still the Coast
Guard's proposed method for managing Service manpower needs?
Question 2.a.ii. If so, when will it be sufficiently populated with
data to be useful?
Answer to 2.a.i. & 2.a.ii. No. While the FPC process was
insightful, the Coast Guard has determined existing manpower
calculation processes such as Manpower Requirements Determinations and
Analyses are better suited to meet the Service's needs.
Question 2.b. What progress has the Coast Guard made since 2020
toward making manpower requirements determinations and keeping those
determinations current?
Answer. From 2020 through 2022, the Coast Guard completed 26 full
or partial MRDs on Coast Guard units. The majority of the units never
had any type of manpower study or model completed and were not a part
of another staffing model.
Question 2.b.i. At present, what percentage of the Coast Guard's
158-unit types have Manpower Requirements Determinations been made?
Answer. As of August 2022, the Coast Guard has completed full or
partial unit MRDs on 15 percent of Coast Guard units (126 units) and a
full or partial MRA for an additional 16 percent (143 units) of the
Service.
Question 2.b.ii. What percentage of those Determinations or
redeterminations have been made within the last 5 years?
Answer. Within the last five years, 495 out of 882 units have had
some sort of study or revalidation (Sector Staffing Model, Station
Staffing Model, MRA, or MRD). Of those, 106 have been MRDs or Partial-
unit MRDs.
Question 2.c. What are the contributing factors that explain the
Coast Guard's limited progress in assessing its workforce needs? What
changes are being made to address workforce needs going forward?
Answer. An under resourced Manpower Determination Branch combined
with high active duty turnover in the Division (100 percent active duty
turnover in 2022) limits throughput of studies and MRD production.
Additionally, the recent high amount of acquisition programs that
require manpower estimates reduces the ability to conduct legacy unit
studies.
In 2021, the Coast Guard published its first ever MRD Tactics,
Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) Guide. The MRD TTP Guide is used to
instruct new analysts, as well as standardize phases of analysis,
algorithms used in analysis, and the required deliverables in the
analysis process. By publishing the MRD TTP Guide, the Coast Guard has
enabled program offices and contractors outside of the MRD enterprise
to conduct manpower analyses while employing the standards used by
trained analysts. This effort helps ensure quality standards are met
and increases efficiency in the MRD process.
Question 2.d. Since it has made limited progress in assessing
workforce needs, how does the Coast Guard use the limited information
it currently possesses to allocate personnel and resources?
Answer. While the Coast Guard has only completed MRA's and MRD's
for a portion of the workforce (31 percent of units), the Service
utilizes established staffing standards for another 33 percent of
units. The Coast Guard also recently established an Office of Data and
Analytics which is charged with making data more accessible across the
Service to empower data-driven decision-making. It is anticipated that
this information will be utilized in future workforce planning
decisions for allocation of personnel and resources.
Question 3. Staffing Models: In addition to the manpower
requirements process which bases it conclusions on mission needs
requirements, the Coast Guard also uses the Sector Staffing Model, and
the Activity-Based Staffing Model used for small boat stations. These
two staffing models rely on historic activity levels rather than
mission needs requirements.
Question 3.a. For units that have been assessed using both the
historic activity-based staffing models and the mission needs-based
manpower requirements model, has the Coast Guard compared the outcomes
for similar units?
Answer. The Coast Guard prioritizes the use of MRA and MRD efforts
on units with no previous model or study. Accordingly, most workforces
with staffing models have not been studied using MRA or MRD processes.
If a workforce (or part of a workforce) has an MRD completed, it is
integrated into the staffing model.
Question 3.a.i. If so, have the outcomes from using the different
models produced significantly different results?
Question 3.a.ii. If not, does the Coast Guard intend to conduct
such comparisons?
Answer to 3.a.i. & 3.a.ii. Outcomes of the few comparisons
completed yielded a difference of under 10 percent each.
Question 3.b. Are the staffing models being phased out in favor of
the manpower requirements model?
Answer. After the Coast Guard completes studies on all units
without any previous study or model, the Service intends to conduct the
formal MRA and MRD on all units that have previously fallen under a
staffing model.
Question 4. Report to Congress: In its February 2022 report, GAO
recommended that the Coast Guard update its 2018 Manpower Requirements
Plan to include time frames for how the service plans to reach its goal
of completing manpower requirements analyses and determinations for all
positions and units. In concurring with the recommendation, the Coast
Guard stated it would submit its updated plan when it was next due to
Congress, in fiscal year 2022. However, as of June 2022, the Coast
Guard had not submitted the updated report and said it would not do so
until December 2022.
Question 4.a. When does the Coast Guard now expect to submit the
update Manpower Requirements Plan to Congress?
Answer. The Coast Guard is finalizing review of the 2022 Manpower
Requirements Plan and intends to deliver the plan by the end of the
calendar year.
Question 4.b. Why doesn't the Service plan to do so in fiscal year
2022, as required?
Answer. The review of the plan was delayed when the Coast Guard
experienced 100 percent turnover of the active duty staff within the
Manpower Determination Branch in the summer of 2022.
Question 5. Request for New Positions: Coast Guard's FY `23 budget
submission included a request for about 1,200 new Operations &
Sustainment positions.
Question 5.a. What analysis has the Coast Guard conducted to
support its request for these additional personnel?
Question 5.b. What steps has the Coast Guard taken to ensure it has
the right mix of skills for these positions?
Answer to 5.a. & 5.b. As part of the formulation of the Service's
Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Budget, Coast Guard leaders evaluated the overall
need for operational personnel, ongoing recapitalization efforts, and
the expanding global call for Coast Guard missions to best allocate all
resources to the Nation's highest priorities. The billets requested in
the Coast Guard's FY 2023 Budget submission directly support emerging
operational needs, crew for new surface and aviation assets commencing
operations, or personnel to facilitate on-going acquisitions for the
Service's surface, the Command, Control, Communication, Computer,
Cyber, and Intelligence Service Center, shore infrastructure, and
aviation programs.
Question 6. RAND Report: According to a RAND report from 2021,
minority groups account for 32% at the O-2 level and 11% at the flag
officer level, and for enlisted, 35% at the E-5 level, but only 18% at
E-9.
Question 6.a. Have the disparities between the percentage of
minority groups entering and reaching executive levels narrowed,
widened, or remained relatively steady over the 5- and 10-year periods
preceding the RAND report?
Answer. Over 5-years, the level of disparity between the percentage
of minority-group individuals entering and reaching executive levels
for officers has widened slightly and remained steady for enlisted.
Over 10-years the level of disparity between the percentage of
minority-group individuals entering and reaching executive levels
widened for officers and remained steady for enlisted.
Question 6.b. Are there similar disparities for the percentage of
women entering the workforce versus those who make flag rank?
Answer. Yes.
Question 6.b.i. If so, has the trend with respect to women
narrowed, widened, or remained relatively steady over the 5- and 10-
year periods preceding the RAND report the Coast Guard?
Answer. Over 5-years the level of disparity between the percentage
of women entering and reaching executive levels has remained steady for
officers and narrowed slightly for enlisted.
Over 10-years the level of disparity between the percentage of
women entering and reaching executive levels has remained steady for
officers and widened slightly for enlisted.
The Coast Guard continues to improve representation across all
ranks and paygrades. Although the Service is observing progress it is
slow because of the time that it takes for personnel to advance through
the promotion system after meeting minimum time in grade requirements.
For example, an officer who was an O-2 in 2010 and promotes according
to minimum time in grade requirements will not be flag officer
promotion eligible until 2033. Similarly an E-5 level enlisted member
in 2010 who advanced according to minimum time in grade requirements
was not E-9 level advancement eligible until 2017.
Question 6.c. If the disparity between the percentage of women and
minorities entering the Service and those reaching executive level
leadership has remained unchanged over time, what are the structural
hurdles preventing those groups from being as successful as other
groups?
Answer. The RAND URM Study identified barriers to advancement and
retention that include enlisted service-wide examinations, inequity in
sea/operational time, input variables into the officer evaluation
process, disciplinary actions, work-life balance, and poor leadership
experiences.
Question 6.c.i. How can those barriers be lowered without lowering
the ability of the Coast Guard to carry out its missions?
Answer. Additional analysis is required to fully understand the
statistical relevance of the barriers identified by the 2021 RAND URM
Study data. Nonetheless, the study delivered 40 recommendations for
reducing barriers without eroding the Coast Guard's ability to
accomplish its missions. The Coast Guard developed and implemented an
action plan based on these 40 recommendations. These recommendations
relate to:
Leadership Accountability
Data Enabled Talent Management
Outreach and Recruiting
Deliberate Development
Inclusive Culture
Question 7. Prevention Workforce: One component of the Coast
Guard's Strategic Plan (Objective 1.1.2) is to invest in and sustain
the Prevention workforce.
Question 7.a. Please describe the Coast Guard's efforts to sustain
its prevention workforce.
Answer. The Coast Guard continues to pursue multiple LOE's to build
capacity, modernize training, and retain talent as mission demands
evolve and increase the need for more resources. Through annual
appropriations, the Coast Guard continues to steadily expand its marine
inspection, investigations, and waterways management workforce to meet
emerging prevention activities in offshore wind, space, cybersecurity,
and environmental protection. Advancements in virtual training expand
opportunities for workforce professional development and allow for
continuous learning that is scalable and keeps pace with rapid
technology changes outpacing the existing regulatory framework.
Finally, the Coast Guard holistically re-evaluated its efforts to
retain its highly skilled prevention professionals by creatively
expanding monetary incentives for in-demand, difficult to fill
positions, and updating policy to improve work-life balances such as
increasing parental leave and expanding remote and telework
opportunities.
Question 7.b. The Coast Guard's December 2020 Prevention Program
Readiness Initiative Report FY2021-2026 stated that future workforce
modeling needs to be forward leaning.
Question 7.b.i. Does the Coast Guard intend to use requirements-
based, i.e. forward leaning workforce models, when configuring the
structure of the future prevention workforce?
Answer. The Coast Guard Office of Workforce Forecasting and
Analysis (CG-126), with support from the Research and Development
Center (RDC), is constructing a modeling tool to analyze future
workforce requirements.
Question 7.b.ii. When the Coast Guard prevention workforce is
understaffed, the historic result has been ever greater reliance on the
third-party non-profit organizations and private sector businesses.
Question 7.b.ii.1. Is the Coast Guard satisfied with that outcome?
Does it pose inherent conflicts of interest when non-governmental
groups undertake prevention activities?
Answer. Yes, the Coast Guard is satisfied with the overall function
of third party organizations (TPO) as allowed by the Code of Federal
Regulation. The use of recognized and third party organizations has
been common practice in the domestic and international regulatory
communities. The Coast Guard has focused resources that provide
oversight on these delegated functions and processes to ensure
regulatory compliance.
While some program decisions were driven by resource constraints,
they also reduced the redundancies in the work carried out by the Coast
Guard and Recognized Organizations (ROs).
This does not pose inherent conflicts. These ROs and TPOs are
required to adhere to international instruments and national regulatory
requirements. The delegated functions for each RO are captured in
agreements.
Question 7.c. Marine inspectors: In 2012, after a one-time increase
in appropriations, the number of marine inspectors at Coast Guard
sectors reached a one time high of 75% of the number the Sector
Staffing Model calls for in each sector. Since 2016, the number of
marine inspectors at Coast Guard sectors has hovered just over 60% of
the number the Sector Staffing Model calls for in each sector.
Question 7.c.i. How do the number of marine inspectors called for
under the Sector Staffing model compare to the number that would be
required under a Missions Requirements Determination?
Answer. The outcomes of an MRA produce an MRD. The marine
inspection workforce has not received a formal MRA due to higher
priorities in new acquisitions or workforces without staffing models.
The Sector Staffing Model currently serves the marine inspection
workforce as an operationally-focused alternative for a MRA.
Question 7.c.ii. Six of the nine industry stakeholders GAO
interviewed stated that their firms have experienced delays because
marine inspectors were not available in a timely manner. The
Subcommittee has heard numerous complaints from industry about the lack
of timely availability of marine inspectors.
Question 7.c.ii.1. What actions is the Coast Guard taking to
increase the number of available marine inspectors?
Answer. The Coast Guard has notably increased its marine inspection
workforce in recent years through strategic investments. The following
table outlines the yearly increases in the Coast Guard's marine
inspection workforce since FY 2020.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
FY Workforce Type Billets
Added
------------------------------------------------------------------------
20.................................. Marine Inspectors...... 9
21.................................. Marine Inspectors...... 26
21.................................. Third Party Oversight 19
Coordinators.
22.................................. Marine Inspections 21
Training Coordinators.
22.................................. Marine Inspectors...... 12
23 (PRESBUD)........................ Marine Inspectors...... 14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question 7.c.ii.2. Can inspectors remain actively certified to
conduct marine inspection when they are serving in non-inspection
billets?
Answer. Yes. Marine inspectors serving in non-inspection billets
can remain actively certified if they maintain their annual
certification requirements.
Question 7.c.iii. In January 2022, GAO recommended that the Coast
Guard collect additional data on the marine inspection workforce and
the maritime industry to better forecast future workforce needs. The
Coast Guard concurred and ``anticipates'' having a preliminary analytic
model complete my March 2024.
Question 7.c.iii.1. When it is available, will this model be used
to inform Mission Requirement Analysis?
Answer. Yes. The Coast Guard's Offices of Strategy and Human
Resource Capability and Strategic Workforce Planning and Human Resource
Analytics, with support from the Coast Guard's RDC, is designing the
modeling tool to analyze future workforce needs and inform the MRA.
Question 7.c.iii.2. When the Subcommittee asks in the FY '25 Budget
hearing, which should occur in March or April of 2024, whether the
analytic model is complete and being used, will you be able to say that
it is?
Answer. The Coast Guard anticipates completion of the analytical
modeling tool within the last two fiscal quarters of 2024 per their
established development timelines.
Question 8. Health Clinic and Sickbay Staffing: In February 2022,
GAO found surge deployments for of health care staff had quadrupled
between fiscal year 2018 and fiscal years fiscal year 2021.
Question 8.a. What is the cause or causes of these vastly increased
surge deployments:
Question 8.a.i. DHS operations unrelated for base Coast Guard
missions and duties such as land border immigration? COVID-19 screening
at airports?
Question 8.a.ii. Operations related to Coast Guard missions such as
hurricane response activity and illegal migration by water?
Answer to 8.a.i. & 8.a.ii. Deployment of Coast Guard health
professionals has increased due to growing internal (in support of
Coast Guard operations) and external (in support of U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) or other department/agency operations)
deployments. The demand for a global Coast Guard presence has
increased, and cutters are being deployed further from home for longer
periods of time. To protect the health and safety of crews, such
deployments frequently require additional medical personnel. These
personnel are surged from within the Service to support the highest
operational need. External contingencies, including support for DHS
operations and the COVID pandemic, have contributed to increased
deployment requirements.
Question 8.b. As of February 2022, the Coast Guard had not
completed a Mission Requirements Determination but agreed with GAO's
recommendation to make Manpower Requirements Determination for its
health care clinic staff. The Coast Guard agreed to make the
Determination by March 2022. That determination has not been made.
Question 8.b.i. When will the Coast Guard make its Determination
with respect to health care clinic and sickbay staff?
Answer. In August, 2022, the Coast Guard completed a clinic
services model and is currently moving forward with the MRD process.
The MRD is expected to be completed in late 2022.
Question 8.b.ii. In making the healthcare clinic staff manpower
requirements determination, what level of surge deployments will the
manpower requirements analysis assume? 2018 levels? 2022 levels? A
future projection?
Answer. The clinic staffing model considers historical deployment
data from FY 2014 through 2021.
Question 8.c. GAO also found that Coast Guard did not have staffing
standards to determine the levels and types of staff needed to meet the
health care needs of the service.
Question 8.c.i. What is the status of development of health care
staffing standards?
Answer. The Coast Guard is developing a staffing standard model
related to healthcare, services which is expected to be complete in
late 2022. Once the model is approved, the Service will utilize the
model to project healthcare services need and begin to resource to
those levels in future budget cycles.
Question 8.c.ii. How will the staffing standards inform the
Manpower Requirements Analysis for clinics and sickbays?
Answer. The healthcare staffing model is being developed using
standards and best practices informed by healthcare and manpower
requirements analysis standards.
Question 9. New Surface Assets: The Coast Guard's top acquisition
priority is 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters which will replace the Medium
Endurance Cutters. The crew size reductions alleged in the replacement
for the High Endurance Cutters to National Security Cutters (NCSs)
largely did not occur and the Coast Guard is acquiring at least 11 and
possibly 12 NCSs rather than 8 as planned. In addition, three new polar
Security Cutters will be commissioned in the next decade.
How will the commissioning of these new assets affect the Coast
Guard's workforce needs?
Answer. The Coast Guard expects the afloat workforce to grow by
approximately 2,000 active duty personnel over the next 19 years to
meet the needs of arriving assets. Providing support for the assets and
Coast Guard workforce operating them is also vital to the continued
success of Coast Guard missions. The Coast Guard requests personnel to
ensure our crews have sufficient administration, support for medical
care, family services, and work life staff.
Question 10. Electronic Health Records: What is the status of
implementation of electronic health records for Coast Guard personnel?
Answer. The Coast Guard Electronic Health Record Acquisition has
successfully deployed to 109 sites, or 99 percent of Coast Guard
clinics and sickbays. The sole exception is the clinic at Detachment
Borinquen, which remains on the Paper Health Record system until the
Coast Guard completes a network upgrade on infrastructure servicing
that clinic. This network upgrade is scheduled for completion by the
first quarter of FY 2024.
Questions from Hon. Mike Gallagher to Admiral Linda L. Fagan,
Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Question 1. In a July 2020 Report to Congress, the USCG cites a
prolonged construction schedule of nine years for a new heavy Great
Lakes Icebreaker. The report also provided an accelerated 7-year
timeline given Congressional direction. Would procurement law relief
for the GLIB speed the vessels construction?
Answer. No. Procurement law relief for the Great Lakes Icebreaker
would not reduce the construction timeline. The July 2020 Report to
Congress, Great Lakes Icebreaker Acquisition, outlined potential
Congressional actions that could accelerate the overall acquisition
timeline. Over the past two years, the Coast Guard has worked to
accelerate the program schedule by initiating pre-acquisition
activities, including reports, documentation, and analyses required for
major acquisition programs under sections 1131 and 1132 of Title 14,
United States Code. As a result, exempting this Program from complying
with requirements under those sections of law is unlikely to provide
appreciable schedule savings as the requirements are either complete or
are in process.
Question 2. I am thrilled that the House passed the Great Lakes
Winter Commerce Act, which will accurately document the impacts of
inadequate icebreaking on the Great Lakes. What is the Coast Guard's
plan of action ahead of the GAO study required by that Act to alleviate
and better track problems moving vital raw materials on the Great Lakes
during the winter months?
Answer. The Coast Guard is assessing and developing metrics to more
efficiently evaluate and record performance outputs of the domestic
icebreaking fleet and its effectiveness in accomplishing all aspects of
the domestic icebreaking mission. While the current primary metric,
Tier One waterway availability, does document mission performance in
major thoroughfares, it does not fully inform important elements of the
domestic icebreaking mission, such as the waterway traffic affected by
ice in other areas or the impact of the Coast Guard's aging domestic
icebreaking cutter fleet.