Improving Precommissioning Assignments and Readiness on the U.S. Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter

As the first of 25 offshore patrol cutters (OPCs) nears delivery, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is focusing greater attention on the staffing needs of these ships, particularly during the precommissioning period. USCG leadership believes that crew satisfaction with these assignments is low and that this has implications for force readiness. In addition, the USCG has limited return on its training investment if crew members leave the service or return to shore duty soon after their precommissioning assignments. Thus, increasing institutional knowledge is also a priority. Researchers evaluated 11 courses of action (COAs) that the USCG could consider to improve crew satisfaction with precommissioning assignments and overall fleet readiness-the first being the status quo precommissioning process. Of the remaining ten COAs, five would delay crew reporting; three would develop expertise, facilitate the sharing of best practices across OPC crews, and promote standardization; and two would adjust personnel assignment and compensation policies. Although some COAs are mutually exclusive, others could be combined to address a broader set of problems or more effectively address a single issue. The most appropriate combination depends on how the USCG prioritizes the various evaluation criteria. One way forward would be for the USCG to adopt an incremental approach: Implement some of the more-feasible COAs in the short term while working toward some of the higher-impact COAs over the long term.

• | Author: Jennifer Lamping Lewis, Aaron C. Davenport, Brynn Tannehill, Austin Lewis, James V. Marrone
• | Publisher: Rand Corporation
• | Publication Date: Oct 31, 2023
• | Number of Pages: 118 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1977409482
• | ISBN-13: 9781977409485