I was getting NJP and had to meet with a new ensign to go over some stuff. She got a couple of the building names mixed up so I was late to our meeting by five minutes or so. As an E4, of course it was my fault and it reflected on how it all went.
Yes and no…Congress increased are allowable strength in the controlled grades (O4+) which caused the promotions to O4 to go up quite a bit which left lower ranks gapped as people promoted fairly early from LT to LCDR. However, we have no shortage of applicants. The bottle neck is how many officers we can push through OCS a year. But the gap won’t be hard to close like on the enlisted side since we are still turning people away vs not meeting recruitment goals.
If you are curious the OCMP gets published every year on sharepoint and goes over all the numbers. It was just released for 2024 and gives the projections for body to billet. It projects we will be at 98.5% strength by the end of FY24 and will close the gap by FY25-26. Much less doomsday than our enlisted recruitment numbers.
Adding to this you are seeing close to 160 DCO's being hired per year right now to close the gap as the officer corp was allowance was increased from 6900 to 7400? By 2025. OCS even with the new 12wk program is still a fixed throughput, the academy takes 4yrs to grow an officer and only had so many beds to house cadets just like OCS. So the "shortage" is more of a logical fallacy, expecially on the DCO boards, lots of Selectees, Alternate lists getting cut deep, but really it's the easiest tap to turn on and off to meet the requirements. With the new cutters coming online, cyber/mts mission set expanding and an actual shortage of pilots (evn tho it seems relatively minor on paper). Talking with a few of the Flags/OPM/CGRC about improving the process they seem content that they are receiving enough qualified applicats for the billets available and they do not have a shortage per say, dispite hiring left, right and center for the past two years.
This is the most confusing because it seems like it depends on who you ask. Some people say “you have no shot at getting selected to OCS, it’s the most selective and if you’re not enlisted you’re not getting selected” and then others say “oh yeah you can definitely get in, now’s the best time to apply to OCS as a civilian”. Definitely mixed messaging
Number-wise, yes. But officer jobs can manage with shortages because we do a lot of administrative work. The enlisted shortages are more critical; they are the ones doing all the work.
Reserves for context.
I’m the assistant to the maintenance officer. Between an LT and a CWO4.
No complaints, get to appreciate the work of the crew and sip coffee with a ninja wizard.
God I hope not. JOs are multiplying like bunnies.
I was getting NJP and had to meet with a new ensign to go over some stuff. She got a couple of the building names mixed up so I was late to our meeting by five minutes or so. As an E4, of course it was my fault and it reflected on how it all went.
Skill issue
Yes. Bonuses for underway gigs and they made like 80% on the last promotion of LCDR. If you had a pulse and could count to ten, you made it.
Which is hilarious considering how in years past they would pass over folks they had just paid to go to gradschool.
Yes and no…Congress increased are allowable strength in the controlled grades (O4+) which caused the promotions to O4 to go up quite a bit which left lower ranks gapped as people promoted fairly early from LT to LCDR. However, we have no shortage of applicants. The bottle neck is how many officers we can push through OCS a year. But the gap won’t be hard to close like on the enlisted side since we are still turning people away vs not meeting recruitment goals. If you are curious the OCMP gets published every year on sharepoint and goes over all the numbers. It was just released for 2024 and gives the projections for body to billet. It projects we will be at 98.5% strength by the end of FY24 and will close the gap by FY25-26. Much less doomsday than our enlisted recruitment numbers.
Adding to this you are seeing close to 160 DCO's being hired per year right now to close the gap as the officer corp was allowance was increased from 6900 to 7400? By 2025. OCS even with the new 12wk program is still a fixed throughput, the academy takes 4yrs to grow an officer and only had so many beds to house cadets just like OCS. So the "shortage" is more of a logical fallacy, expecially on the DCO boards, lots of Selectees, Alternate lists getting cut deep, but really it's the easiest tap to turn on and off to meet the requirements. With the new cutters coming online, cyber/mts mission set expanding and an actual shortage of pilots (evn tho it seems relatively minor on paper). Talking with a few of the Flags/OPM/CGRC about improving the process they seem content that they are receiving enough qualified applicats for the billets available and they do not have a shortage per say, dispite hiring left, right and center for the past two years.
This is the most confusing because it seems like it depends on who you ask. Some people say “you have no shot at getting selected to OCS, it’s the most selective and if you’re not enlisted you’re not getting selected” and then others say “oh yeah you can definitely get in, now’s the best time to apply to OCS as a civilian”. Definitely mixed messaging
Numbers wise, absolutely. Now is the Coast Guard gonna do anything about it? Nah.
Number-wise, yes. But officer jobs can manage with shortages because we do a lot of administrative work. The enlisted shortages are more critical; they are the ones doing all the work.
Reserves for context. I’m the assistant to the maintenance officer. Between an LT and a CWO4. No complaints, get to appreciate the work of the crew and sip coffee with a ninja wizard.
Is this also true for the Reserve?
[yes](https://www.reddit.com/r/uscg/s/3paV64ztRH)