Guest Post by RDML Daniel Neptun, Commander, CG Personnel Service Center:
The Coast Guard's response to the Haiti earthquake on 12 January 2010 has been larger and more resource intensive than any contingency operation since Hurricane KATRINA in the summer and fall of 2005. Coming so soon after our transition to the modernized Mission Support Organization, the significant requirements of this event tested our newly implemented mission support structure.
Following this first major test, I am pleased to report that all accounts and measures indicate the Personnel Service Center (PSC) Surge Staffing Branch (SSB) plays an effective, critical role in the operational readiness of deployed assets. Coast Guard senior leaders within LANTAREA, PACAREA, FORCECOM, and the Mission Support Organization have even remarked that the surge staffing function was enhanced through Modernization by uniting the capability and expertise from the legacy Maintenance and Logistics Commands (MLCs) and Integrated Support Commands (ISCs).
PSC's surge staffing function was prominently on display in the Haiti operations as, in partnership with LANTAREA, PACAREA, FORCECOM, the Districts, and the Mission Support Organization's Logistics and Service Centers, the SSB met an unprecedented level of Requests for Forces (RFFs) and tracked forward personnel deployments. SSB filled more than 300 individual position requirements, each in less than one day on average, using the Mobilization Readiness Tracking Tool (MRTT) Volunteer Bulletin Board.
I extend sincere appreciation to all involved commands for the support, and operational and personal sacrifices, of their officers, crews, and staffs in making the mission in Haiti a success that continues beyond the initial response surge.
To learn more about the uncovered gem in our modernized Service that is the Surge Staffing Branch, please read CAPT David Kranking's post on the DCMS Log blog.
Bravo Zulu,
RDML Neptun
