This is a lengthy post but I highly recommend you read it so you can understand how modernization is impacting our field units.
Guest Post from BMCS Jeremy McConnell and MKC John Christie:
As Officers in Charge and Engineer Petty Officers in the Coast Guard we have been taught over and again that pride in ownership and craftsmanship is one of the most endearing qualities that we can bring to a unit. We know that many in the current Coast Guard are having some strong feelings about the modernization effort taking place in the small boat world. As an OIC and EPO of a station that went through modernization, we were skeptical and uneasy with such a bold step. Numerous thoughts ran through our head, such as: What do you mean it is not my boat!; You are taking HOW MUCH of my budget!; I do not want anybody micro-managing me on how I run my department. After going through the process, all we can say is that the transformation should have happened a long time ago.
We both transferred this year leaving the modernized world and talked on numerous occasions about how we stepped back two years in time. While we still remembered how to do the job the old way, we knew that it can be done a much easier way that can benefit all involved. We decided to provide some positives and negatives to both at the OIC and EPO levels that we discovered during the entire modernization transformation. We do not have enough time and bandwidth to talk about all the issues and topics, but we will hit the big topics.
From an EPO perspective:
Inventory: As you all know, each unit inventory was pretty much stripped from them during the Field Unit Inventory Removal Project (FUIRP) and the Inventory Control and Compliance Program (ICCP). Out of approximately 320 line items, we had around 150 items taken from us and relocated to Elizabeth City. From a positive stand point, that was 150 less items that I was accountable for. Inventories became a lot easier, but I did not have the parts that I needed at times and sometimes condition F parts would show up leaving you 2 more days behind the repair of the asset. Where as after the modernization, I could order parts and have them in 1 to 2 days.
Preventative Maintenance System (PMS): In my opinion, this was one of the most needed transformations. While each unit had the resources to complete the task, not every unit was completing the task properly or on time. Many feel that they were or are going to be micromanaged or that they have big brother watching them. While it may be unsettling for some to be watched, if you do your job like normal you will not have a problem. In the old school of doing PMS, we all know how it happened, one section would complete all the PMS while their currency hours or training would lag behind. Vice versa for the other section. With modernization it could not be simpler. PMS is prescheduled for you and divided up so you don’t have 15tasks come due on one day. Monday you may have 1 or 2 items, Tuesday you may have none. Wednesday you may have one and Thursday you may have 2 or 3. The tasks were tracked and parts would show up ahead of time for PMS that was due 1 to 2 weeks down the road. Yes the Sector could keep track of where you were on maintenance and your OIC was privy to this information but as I said earlier, if you are doing your job as you should, you will have nothing to worry about.
The one unfortunate item is that there will no longer be a unit asset per say. While CG 41485 is attached to Hobucken, a need may arise in the sector, district or Coast Guard to move 41485 to another station and give Hobucken some other UTB. In the pre modernization Coast Guard this was unheard of and frowned upon by many. Units take pride in their boats. It is a symbol of who they are and how hard they work. No unit ever wants to give away their boat. That boat is theirs and they want nothing more than to show it off and compare it to other units.
From an OIC perspective:
As an OIC, we are graded on our personnel, our operations, proper training, and the ability to properly maintain our assets and facilities. We are looked at from multiple angles and dissected to the tenth degree, often spending numerous hours trying to cover our stern in every way. We wear many hats and try to instill the very traditions that were upheld by so many before us. We live to help those in peril and protect those who could not protect themselves. The way we do things in many ways had not changed for years, just tweaked in order to accommodate new platforms or environmental changes. We are protective and proud of our abilities and the empowerment the Coast Guard Regulations Manual affords us. With that said, let us be realistic and truthful to the big picture. We live in a different world now. Our world is now understanding Force Optimization, management of resource and employment hour goals, currency data for boat crews, and ensuring every data goal is met all the while still doing the very things we were expected to do before. I have talked to some fellow OICs and they feel micro-managed and like someone is looking over their shoulder. I understand that and can identify with that way of thinking. But we need to realize that this change is beneficial and creates new tools to benefit our units and our Coast Guard.
Assets: We all have lived by the philosophy of: Do whatever you have to do to get the boat operational. We all spent late nights working on boats, driving long distances to pick up parts, and countless man hours and stress worry about making sure no one had to cover our AOR. We did what we had to do to make it happen. In the modernization, when a boat is put into Charlie and the unit is not capable of meeting its required SAR or LE coverage, Sectors and units must look to each other for help. This is where we must change our thinking but still keep the status quo of unit pride in an asset. We did not want our boat in Charlie, and we did not want to send our boat somewhere else. It was ours and only ours. Each of us knows that judgment is often passed by others by just looking at boats from another unit. Let us be honest, some time in our careers we have all said: wow, look at that boat, they don’t take care of their boats, that unit must stink. As OICs, we all know this and often strive to create a positive reputation in the eyes of others, especially fellow OICs. It is one thing to have a BM3 say that, but when a fellow OIC says that, that is a peer talking.
OICs are a prideful group, a group that often looks to each other for advice and ideas, but when you are not viewed in a positive light, your phone might not ring as much. So yes this might sound petty, but it is true. Often we do not want to send one of our boats to another unit because they might not take the time and effort to properly care for your boat like your unit does. You can still take the time and effort to show your unit pride. Set your standards high and expect nothing less than before. Belief in the cause is paramount and think about the impression and influence you will send to other fellow OICs, not to mention their crew.
Money: Yes, they take 69 percent of your Standard Support Levels (SSL) budget for the platforms. Yes, that hurts but let us put it in perspective. At least 60 percent of your annual budget for each boat type goes to engineering. Once your unit is modernized, every item needed to be purchased for your platforms over fifty dollars is paid for by the modernization project. Any item needed for the boat over fifty dollars. That covers the Deck side too and really is not as big a hit as you think. As the system is up and running for awhile, just think about when Rescue and Survival (RS) items are added to the mix. The RS system ordered through this system would benefit the unit because we all know; each unit spends more on RS than what they are budgeted for. I will be excited to see it.
They are already receiving feedback on the data they have collected from modernized units on where funding is needed and not. When I sat down with the Commandant a couple of weeks ago he put the finance side of my issues to rest when he said: Last year we had over 13 million dollars in purchases for over 10 million dollars in items we already had in excess parts in the Coast Guard. We already had the parts!! We need this change in order to get more funding.
If that does not help, look at it the way the Logistics Transformation Program Integration Office (LTPIO) team put it to me. When you go to change a spark plug how long does it take? The common response was ten minutes. If you add it up, after you order the part, get your tools, start, stop, finish putting everything back, it is an hour later. The problem with the boat world is we have been getting paid and funded for ten minutes instead of one hour.
PMS: This is one of the most helpful items in the entire modernization project. As an OIC you go to the EPO and check the PMS logs and hope that everything is done well and the boats are ready to go. This cuts out the worry if the PMS is being done properly. Through the Aviation Computerized Maintenance System (ACMS), which has been tailored to the small boat community, you can track the PMS schedule and progress for each asset. The system also provides you with a compounded list of overdue PMS that is pending on your boats. This system justifies the OICs decision to take a boat down for PMS. Once there is PMS overdue on an asset, the boat is to be in a Charlie status until the PMS is done.
Each of us know when a MISHAP arises, they pull all records and review each item to ensure we were doing our job properly. This system covers our stern by making sure each PMS items is done and done correctly. Having the Engineer Officer capable of seeing the PMS lists also helps plan accordingly for trends and possible catastrophic events that can occur. Yes, it seems like someone is looking over your shoulder but look at it like another set of eyes helping you be at the top of your game.
As we stated earlier, these are just some of our observations and how we felt about the process. We did not agree on everything but if you cannot tell, we drank the Kool Aid and like it. We feel it is exactly where the Coast Guard needs to go and we are glad it is happening. We are a society that doesn’t change well. We take our work personally and feel when change happens it is because we did something wrong. We did not do something wrong, we did the very best work with what we had. The best work in the world. This change is to help better the system to make it better for us. That is our view anyway. This is one of those things where we must give a little to gain a lot. Be open to it, the Kool Aid does not taste that bad.
