Tqc.........

[BMCM Stuart S. Slesh]

With everything else going on at the start of the transfer season........TQC deserves a pat on the back.
They have a staff of 19 and are responsible for 40,000 plus orders a year. Every one of my people who scheduled their pre-arrival training got the seats they wanted. They were also notifed that they got their orders. Any time we called them, someone either answered, or returned the call.

With some statistics and the downside.......
from just the boarding team member schools and boarding team officer classes.......about 50% of the orders issued need to get changed. And even with that, TQC still manages to fill 75% of the seats.
I see this as us failing the system, not the system failing us. I need to ask the question.....Why are so many people putting in for classes that they can't attend? You get to ask for three dates. Why put down a date that you can't attend?

[BMCS Jim Madsen]

Maybe we can get someone from TQC to run EPM.

[PACS Steve Carleton]

Perhaps the same "penalty" for these C schools athat is in place for the CPO Academy?

[BMCM Deane Smith]

Stu...I cancelled a LAMS class for my independent duty FS1 due to operations. I was supposed to be inport the week of the school, but our schedule changed and I couldn't sail without him. Maybe for a day or two, but not for 5 or 6 days. We don't really have someone that can cook three squares a day and isn't needed on the buoy deck. Not to mention break-outs, inventory management, paperwork, etc. Anyway, we hadn't put him in for 3 dates, just the one. If I were putting someone in for a school like BO/BTM, I wouldn't cancel. I would know going into it that they were committed.

I know how well TQC works with units. This transfer season my XPO has 3 schools to attend, the MK1 has 3 schools and the DC1 has a school. And, my EPO will be gone for the CPOA...all during transfer season and with a 13 person crew. None of it will keep us from getting u/w, we were able to coordinate all of the schools with minimal inconvenience. There is one 10-day period that the MKC and MK1 will both be gone and I just won't get u/w during those 10 days.

[BMCM Stuart S. Slesh]

Deane, I appreciate your example. I think I would have probably still sailed without him, maybe that's just me. I tend to look at it like, what if the person died........would we still get underway. I know I'm comparing different fruits here, but we used to get underway for 8 days at a shot on the HAWSER and we never had a FS. We didn't have the admin work that went along with having one either, but we still had two or three meals cooked a day.
Yours is also a one time thing. When you get to the point of every other set of orders needing to be changed, you have to admit we're seeing poor management skills.

Steve, I'm not sure what penalty you're talking about. The only ones I hear about trying to hold people accountable comes from PACAREA who has had enough. I'd like to see the things that they're trying to do, applied across the board,....especially with pre-arrival training.

Jim, I brought that up. People smiled......no one laughed.

[PACS Steve Carleton]

Perhaps penalty is the wrong word -- I was thinking about the process that occurs when a unit cancels/requests a last minute cancelation of orders to the CPO Academy.

Excerpted from an e-mail:


(1) The Unit Command Chief (CC, CSC, and CMC) will monitor which Chiefs at their respective unit have attended the CPO Academy or DOD equivalent, and provide recommendations or reports when needed. Deployable units shall make every effort to allow Chiefs to attend the CPO Academy during a portion of an underway period to minimize the days away from homeport, for the member. Attendance to the CPO Academy or DOD equivalent will be compulsory once orders are issued unless a waiver is granted by the first Flag Officer in the member’s chain of command.

[PACS Steve Carleton]

FLAG Voice 283

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER ACADEMY EMPTY SEATS

The Chief Petty Officer Academy (CPOA) is one of the Coast Guard’s most important leadership training programs. We have worked hard to provide 640 training quotas a year. Yet, we have more than 1,500 Chiefs who have not attended the Academy. The school normally has a lengthy waiting list (upwards of 30-40 people) for each class. However, in FY04, we lost over 50 quotas because of late cancellations, no-shows, or disenrollments because of disqualifying medical and weight issues. In FY05, we lost over 20 quotas. Every empty seat is a missed opportunity, and I ask prospective students and their chain of command to do everything possible not to lose these precious opportunities.



Addressing the following core issues will significantly reduce the number of CPOA empty seat:

Students must report to the CPOA meeting the required physical standards (including weight);

Cancellation of orders to the CPOA must be treated as an important command decision made only for urgent personal or command reasons; and

In those circumstances when orders must be cancelled, the Training Quota Management Center (TQC) must be notified as early as possible to allow a Chief on the waiting list to have an opportunity to attend.
Commandant Instruction 1500.15 (series), Chief Petty Officer Academy provides information on the policy and procedures for attending the CPOA. We are currently reviewing possible changes to that Instruction to help minimize empty seats. Pending changes, we have moved out with the following:

Orders are now issued three months prior to class convening instead of 4 to 6 weeks to allow more time for the unit and member to prepare for the extended TAD. This allows the unit to request TAD augmentation if needed and permits the member and family to make necessary arrangements. It will also permit travel arrangements if assigned to a cutter that is deployed.

We will continue every effort to fill cancelled slots. But, to minimize the churn and inefficiencies associated with late orders due to cancellations, TQC will stop issuing orders to those on the waiting list who are two weeks or less away from the reporting date.

The CPOA is developing a method for students undergoing the course of instruction at the CPOA to contact incoming students to answer any questions and help them prepare for the program. This should reduce anxiety and build excitement for the training.
Pending changes to the Commandant Instruction, I ask units to immediately institute the following:

Ensure student profiles are submitted 30 days prior to class convening, using the modified physical examination form found in the Medical Manual (Figure 3-A-1, page 3-12). This form is signed by a medical officer. The CPOA will send a message to the unit if the member does not submit their student profile on time. Upon receiving the student profile, the CPOA will flag any issues that may preclude successful completion of the program.

Include the Gold Badge Command Master Chief (Sector, District, MLC, or Area) on all requests to cancel orders to the CPOA. This will provide greater visibility to the Sector, District, MLC or Area Commanders.

Cancelled orders to CPOA should be released by O-5 and above unit COs/XOs only, Headquarters Office Chiefs or higher, or Area/MLC/District Division Chiefs or higher. This will ensure command and senior level attention to the urgency of canceling a quota.
I appreciate everyone’s cooperation as we all endeavor to get the most value out of the absolutely essential leadership training the CPOA provides to our Chiefs.

[ETC Joe Jester ret]

Pending changes to the Commandant Instruction, I ask units to immediately institute the following

Steve,

Out of curosity .... what is the date of the Flag Voice and has the CI been updated to reflect the Flag voice?

I'm still pondering where in the list actionable instructions does a flag voice fall. I'm sure they could have released it as a CN in message traffic to give it the color of authority, or has that been another difficult task that we have seen fall by the wayside ... like the IDP database updates.

If the Flag Voice is an actionable document, I'm sure some can point to a current CIM, CI, or CN that authorizes such.

[AMTCM John Long]

FWIW....

Myself being the Aircrew Program Manager, I manage most all the aircrew classes and work with TQC (MCPO Roger Dukes specifically). So far this year I have not had an empty seat. With that said I might have a couple coming up but I'll get to that in a second. I think TQC does a great job considering the dynamics involved. Without tooting the airdale horn....we are lucky in that each airsta has a LCPO whom I work with. I also work with their TPO's. The structure is such that I'm able to solicit names quite a ways in advance. I monitor who goes, what unit gets what class, etc. I forward my info on to TQC who in turn will cross-check me, assign who gets what rental car, authorizations, cut the orders, etc.

Now back to what I mention above about empty seats. Here's an insider's perspective. There are several things that will cause seats to go unfilled. Deane touched on one of them. The unit's ops scheds/deployments. Compound that with the upcoming transfer season when crews are tight and units are struggling to stay functional. Oh ya....kick in summer leave scheds too!

I as the Aircrew PM get the class quotas the prior year. That gives me a chance to advertise the classes to the LCPO's we'll before the convening dates. That helps some in personnel planning and scheduling but I still have challenges to deal with.

Another challange is who owns the school. If it is a CG school, we control it. If it's a DOD school, we have to play with them on their sched. I can't speak for non-aircrew classes, but the CG takes a back seat to the other DOD services while the war is going on. We can get some classes in 1's and 2's but it's usually at the last minute (We do get allocated DOD HAZMAT class pretty good).

I give extra effort in filling civilian/commercial schools. That's because they are spendy. Not only are we paying (the CG) for the perdiem, we also pay for the contract. Having empty seats for these is bad!! The one commercial school I oversee works off a tiered scale. I can have anywhere between 2-4 students in the class and it will take place. It's cheaper per student to send 4 vs 2. I always plan and push for 4 students. If we only get 2 students, that means I'll have 2 empty seats. We will only pay for the number attending but we loose on the training opportunity (2 seats). That hurts.

As I mentioned above, I think the relationship between myself, the units and TQC account for the high attendance rates. IMO the lack of this direct relationship is a major hinderence to the afloat/station community getting better utilization of the schools. Many units have to rely on the Unit or Sector ESO to get the classes. I suspect it becomes a juggling act for the ESO when the station/ship gets some unsched ops, Emer LV request, etc at the last minute. The ESO might not be able to get a replacement, he/she has to tell TQC and/or the PM for that particular class their student has to CX. The PM and/or TQC in turn can't get a backfill in time. Hence...we get an empty seat and/or the class has to get cx'd.

Anyway, hopefully that will give some of you guys some insight to the challenges from the HQ perspective and why empty seats come about.

John

[CMC Isherwood]

Joe,
I can't help but wonder about your IDP quip. Are IDPs now required for the retiree community? And what did you mean by fall by the wayside? This sounds like it may be a local issue.

SORRY

I will now get back on topic. TQC/CPOACAD/LAMS or any other service provider, unfortunately do not have the "juice" to hold folks accountable for last minute CNXing or other bad behaviors. Those training entities are at the mercy of the operational commanders. Basically, if the operational commander does not emphasis the importance of this or that, many units will do any willy nilly thing that is convenient to their personal situation.

[ETC Joe Jester ret]

Kevin,

IDPs are probably one of the latest in "requirements". Yes things fall through the cracks [documentation wise], but it wouldn't surprise me in the least those units higher in the food chain have the biggest cracks where things fall through. And yes it's a local problem and the information points to the locality.

I had a problem once where the "technical support" claimed it was a "local problem" ... so I asked another two units to replicate what I did. It seems the "local problem" pointed right to technical support's unwillingness to investigate ... after all, only "one unit" complained. The same characterization happens when people "complain" about things, like the IDP stats. Those complaints become the generic ass chewings to soften the impact on those higher food chain commands. I hated those generic messages and everytime I got one, I called the originator to see if the message was specifically addressing me and my unit. Otherwise I didn't need to pay attention to it.

Everyone is stressing the importance of the IDP for first termers. Does the development stop when one re-enlists? I seriously doubt it as there are other programs those not in the first term are seeking [ACET et al]. If that is truely an Individual Developement Plan, it should be more towards life long learning and not fall by the wayside after the first enlistment.

I have no problems with the IDP, it was just an observation on the "crazyness" of it's short life span. It's your Coast Guard.

When has it become out of fashion to query someone on the "source" for such requirements. I've always preferred to give someone the source and let them read it themselves. I know my charges hated me for that tactic, but they learned where to find various information. I'd rather read the source documents for such things then rely on what I read on forums. I'm still curious on the "official" standing of the Flag Voice. That started out as another information document, much like the various magazines the CG publishes. In each of the magazines, it clearly states the information is not for official direction.

[CMC Isherwood]

Joe,
I missed something here, you said, "IDPs have fallen by the way side". I asked, "What you meant by that". IDPs in their current form are relatively new to the CG and the ability to view compliance is even newer. From my perspective there are NO signs that we are losing interest in the IDP.

I just realized, with my blazing two finger typing prowess that I have gotten of the subject. I cut and pasted the rest on the IDP thread.

Flag Voices are not CG policy, they are used as interim guidance until specific references can be updated. Because the PERSMAN updates have taken so long to come out, both PACAREA and LANTAREA have included verbiage regarding CPOACAD attendance in their People Plans. This should remove ALL doubt that attendance to the CPOACAD or DoD equivalent is required for all chiefs, senior chiefs and master chiefs unless an approved retirement letter is on file. Additionally, once oders are issued, CNXing requires first Flag in the CoC approval. This has significantly reduced the "not convenient for me" last minute cancellations.

[ETC Joe Jester ret]

Kevin,

Documentation ... not the program. I used that in the context of the "statistics" from the other thread ... where as those above the unit level have the lower rate of documentation compared to the unit. Whether that translates to not having the plans in place wasn't the intent of my post, although some could draw that conclusion. It relates to leading by example. Wouldn't one like to think the higher units on the food chain would have the higher documentation rate? I know that would be leading by example.

By the way ... nice response on the other thread concerning the IDP program, even the illustrative story :).

To get this back on topic, I don't believe I've ever had a problem with TQC ... they even enjoyed dropping a school for someone at a support unit to get a billet for my operational unit. :) The only minor problem I had was them scheduling schools for someone who already held the qualification code of the school. It wasn't really their fault because the detailer listed everything on the orders ... it just took a message from me to cancel the extra schooling.