 Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the the launch of the Coast Guard strategy My name is Chris Hensley and I'll be emceeing this event and as somebody who had the fortunate opportunity to help work on Drafting of this strategy. I'm very excited that we're releasing it today And I'm also excited by the the overwhelming support we're seeing from the team here I was told that we needed to gin up support to get people to come to the room and this room They were turning people away at the door, and there's another 500 plus people online ma'am We're excited here today to hear about your vision ma'am about how we can transform the service We can transform our total workforce sharpen our competitive edge and advance our mission excellence and These tenants introduced in the your intent Are laid out in this strategy and it will show how we can provide Specificity and moving forward in these different areas We've been very thoughtful about thinking about how we roll out this strategy The fact is that much of the work that's laid out in the strategy belongs in this building It's the policy work done here by the o4s the e6s the e7s the o5s and the GS 14s and 15s It's the acquisition work that goes on in this building and all the other efforts that come together and are critical to Achieving our collective success and change across the service so ma'am Mass chief I'm excited to hear what you have to say without mass chief Jones, please. Hey, how's everybody doing today? First I'll give yourselves a round of applause. Look at this crowd Wow You know, I'll hit it on a second But yesterday I was in a setting with 575 DoD senior enlisted leader so it is nice to be in a room full of blue suitors right now This is uh, yeah, this is a much more comfortable, but thank y'all very much for this opportunity This is this is just a really exciting day. This is two things It's the culmination of a lot of hard work and it's the starting point of a lot of hard work to come So we're very excited, you know, I came in this role about five months ago and we have literally traveled around the world Yeah, more than once. Um, yeah, ten days into your job We literally went went around the world and everywhere we go I carry with me and I talk about the hard work of our folks here at Coast Guard headquarters, you know And it's one thing that I've talked to some of the senior enlisted leaders about is we want to kind of change that mind Said, you know people always had the jokes about being at headquarters and the payback tours and the Penance and this and that we used to say this in pack area all the time We'd come here and leave and go there is a lot of great work going on here at headquarters every day And I want to thank you all for very much for that, you know as we transform You know what what's not going to stay or what's not going to change is our steadfast commitment to the American public that our People are always going to be ready to answer the call that is fundamental and our Coast Guard and that will not change You know for 230 years we've responded to every type of event that the country needs We saw it recently here within the last two weeks with Hurricane Ian down in Florida And we continue to see this that commitment to the American public for our workforce Will not change the way that we need to get after some work to support those folks to do that mission That's what's going to change in a new and exciting way our missions continue to evolve One thing we recognized early on was the need to modernize our Coast Guard ethos And so I want to talk a little bit about that in a second, but first if we can go ahead and play the ethos, please In service to our nation with honor respect and devotion to duty We protect we defend we save we are separate us We are the United States Coast Guard So you may notice, uh, you know, hopefully you notice a little bit of change there So when we started working this out, you know, we have some documents that are already in place We have the creed of the Coast Guardsmen that has existed for a long time That creed is the eye that creed is what each and every one of us as individuals need to be need to adapt Need to make part of our personal values and who we are to serve in the Coast Guard The ethos came out and served us great for a long time But the ethos always talked about I and I and I and our whole goal of twist of Tweaking that is the creed addresses the eye the ethos addresses the we it means What we bring as a team and we as 88,000 Coast Guard active duty reserve auxiliary civilian If we all embrace that creed that I and our personal values and we bring that together for the we and the ethos That's the magic spot where we need to be for our American public. So that's what that's why we're rolling out The good news is I sent this out to our to the training center Kate may CEO The command mash chief and the battalion commander this morning in advance of this right before coming down here I got a call from the battalion commander that said this week's company that graduates will say that ethos at graduation this Friday So very excited about that You know as the demand and opportunity grow, you know for our increasingly challenging environment Our service we're the sentinels that bridge the gap between the many demanding missions of the Coast Guard between What the Department of Homeland Security needs from us what the Department of State needs from us what the Department of Defense needs for That's what our workforce brings We're uniquely positioned to deliver this mission excellence anywhere in our country What we owe to our workforce is a Coast Guard that's ready to meet those challenges We owe a talent management system that that that addresses a modern workforce the common I'd says is quite often Our current policies have served us well for a very long time But they were designed for a post-war war two era workforce. That is not who we have serving us anymore Our workforce today is different. It's modern and we have to be that way We have to have policies that support that you know one one really neat thing I mentioned yesterday. I was down in Fort Bliss talking to the US Army Sergeant Majors Academy Good to see you here, Mike. I was a great talk yesterday a great time with them But let me tell you it's not just our workforce that is watching us It's not just our workforce as that is excited. They are everywhere we go everywhere Your your your command master chiefs have been out and visited our workforce is excited their pump their energize But what I learned yesterday is the DOD is watching us. They're excited. They're engaged So we not only have an opportunity right now to set the Coast Guard for the future We have the opportunity to really and truly model the way for the military workforce of the future and our and our Talent management processes. That's all the good news The I don't want to say a bad news the challenge to each of us here in this building is We have to deliver the workforces out there. They're pumped. They're excited. They want to see change They want to see things differently. They want to serve They want to see us tear down barriers that that that prevent them from serving and the end to the max of their capacity We have to deliver. So I'm ready to do this. I'm excited to do this I love getting out and traveling. I tell everybody everywhere. I go What you do is you give me homework when I get back to the building I come back I'm looking at one face in Admiral Pinori. There's one face that I meet with almost I mean, I actually usually text you from the road Donna, sir He loves my midnight text from a hotel room. Hey, sir. This is a great idea, but he always answers back So thank you very much But with that it is my privilege to introduce to you our 27th commandant Admiral Linda Fagan. Thanks. Thanks Thank you. Thanks. Thanks everyone and it is great to see everybody here, right? So we talked a lot about hey, how do we roll this strategy out? How we get some excitement around it and you know the Coast Guard runs on our stomach So we decided we needed to do a launch event and I'm glad to glad to see see everyone out here I am really excited about the strategy and what's in the document and I'll I'll get into some some more of the details What I want though to instill in you as we work through this and then go into the Q&A and talk is a sense of ownership This is not my strategy. It's our strategy It's not my Coast Guard. It's our Coast Guard We are at our best when we come together as a united team to help a drive some of the progress and change That we need to bring into the organization Master Chief talked a little bit about what's not changing. I used to say well the ethos isn't changing Well, we did change the ethos a bit But when you if you're familiar with the old ethos rate that the essence of that ethos is still there This is just now a tighter articulation of who we are as we serve we serve the nation So we literally have flown around the world more than once. I think I'm pushing 60,000 air miles not something that I thought I would have experienced in the first four plus a month have visited 74 crews and Coast Guard units and then more significantly have had an opportunity to engage with officials From 49 key partner countries and and allies You know, we talk about the global demand for the Coast Guard I don't know we need to change that we are a global Coast Guard. This is not just the man coming We are a globally we globally operate We have global relevance and that mission and relevance is being reflected back to us at the most senior levels of the government In a way that I have never seen before and there's tons of opportunity for us there You know the people that are out doing the frontline work are doing great great things the work You are all doing here in this building is absolutely essential to how we Operate the Coast Guard the policy the programming the resource resourcing the hard for bureaucratic work that goes with the headquarters function is essential to success for those frontline operators and whether it's the Interdicting migrants in the Florida Straits or you know the Eastpac mission or cutters deployed in the Westpac high latitude You know pick a mission set what you are doing is critical to enabling that that success It's going to be critical to how far we're able to advance the the strategy So the pace of change continues to to quicken whether it's geopolitics climate societal a change that is we sometimes we bemoan change in the pace of change This is just a reality change has been with us as an organization for all 232 years We just need to be savvy and attuned to what what that environment is that we are Operating that the service in so we have embarked on some pretty aggressive Initiatives and one of the documents. I don't know if we've handed them out right is the hundred day action What we've accomplished in the first 100 days and it's a pretty impressive list I'll talk through some of that and then some of the Intents with regard to the strategy that we're publishing So, you know, there's three three tenants to the commandant's strategy The number one priority though is workforce and workforce transformation if You know, the other thing that I like to to say to people as you think about the kind of transformation in different thinking that we need To bring in to the Coast Guard as we as we man it and operate it is The riskiest position for us right now as an organization is the status quo Right. So when people say, oh, we've always done it that way I'm challenging you to so in some cases We've always done it that way and it's a good thing and we need to continue to do it But in more instances than not we need to challenge that thinking and think differently About whatever pick that problem set in in your world of work I need you to feel empowered to think differently about how we are managing and operating the organization And in this Workforce and talent management. We're in a race for talent We're a race for talent with industry a race for talent with the other DOD services And we need to create the environment that excites people to want to come to the Coast Guard And not in a you come in at the bottom and you get forced forward at a fixed pace Right, we need it. We need to unpack that allow people the lateral in Opportunities to come and go from the service in a way. That's much more dynamic than what we what we do right now You know where this is a great organization I am super excited about you know still being in the Coast Guard the opportunity to lead this incredible team and so our job is to Incite others who are not part of us now to that opportunity and so there's some of the discussions around Recruiting and in some of the initiatives of there, so we highlight a couple of things that That we've done done already in the in the first hundred days. We've aligned our medical standards for sessions and retention We had more restrictive medical standards than our DOD appears. We've aligned like what why? Do should we leave a barrier in place that need not be there? We're testing a pilot for lateral entry for three rates em HSCS so it's easy for mid-career professionals to choose a military career So think you know if you've got civilian credentials. We allow you to come in as a you know e4 e5 With a path then to integration I do want to say you know as I talked about what doesn't change besides the ethos What doesn't change is our nature as a military service The the commitment to the nation our value to the nation who we are as a as an organization That will remain core to who we are as we embark on this on this transformative work So we've also instituted an opt-out policy for officers To compete for 0304 when they're ready sort of take a pause again Right now the conveyor belt moves forward at a pretty steady fixed pace This allows more fluidity and how folks manage their careers moving forward We've suspended high year tenure until at least 2025 right a tool That's available to us that we certainly don't need it right now. So why why leave it in place? Lots of work to be done. I know there are a number of reps from a CG1 and the apex team here in the room But you know also a shout out to the apex team for really helping us drive Drive forward the 100-day initiatives get this strategy document put together And now provide the foundation for the work work that is still in in front of us So with regard to sharpen our competitive edge Every Coast Guard mission starts and shop starts and ends at a shore facility Creates data that we need to in liven to employ and so we're going to you know build Towards investments in the shore Infrastructure that we know we need to get after we're going to develop a 20-year plan for some of those investments So it's a more Coherent and integrated strategy around infrastructure as opposed to the just you know kind of Individual looks that we take around the operating footprint that we have as a service We have stood up the office of data and analytics. I am really excited about that office Data we've been creating data for probably as well for as long as we've been an organization certainly Since all of the computer systems began to be fielded Back in the mid-80s and yes, I have been in the service long enough to remember a time Where I did not have a computer on my desk. In fact, I like to tell the story as a young ensign on the Polar Star We came back from the first deep freeze and a computer a green screen with a floppy disk the size of a pizza Went into it and we all stood there and looked at it. So what are you supposed to do with this thing? Right fast forward where we are? I don't have my phones on me But right we've got phones in our pockets that are more capable than what they use to put men on the moon But we're entering data into those systems and we need to Get after the governance around data so that we can enliven What we are already generating? Information around so you know think AI machine learning predictive analytics for a lot of opportunity for us there around around data So with regard to to mission excellence, right? We we are a global Coast Guard and we need to continue to advance how we operate That that that Coast Guard we've designed an overhaul for the sort of staffing process How many of us think the old system was serving as well? You don't need to raise your hand, but but Getting processes into a more mature and relevant You know way to meet our needs as truly the global Coast Guard that that we have become We just last week held our first ever National risk and opportunities conferences the first time that the leadership of the organization has come together so the Myself the vice all the three stars and the key assistant Commandants and talked about The national level organizational risk and how we posture the force We have tended to do that through the lens of the land area commander and the pack area commander This is the first time that that conversation was elevated to a national DC level Conversation around where is the risk? Do we have the force postured? appropriately Against the risk that we see in the world today It was it was a great conversation and I you know, I was reflecting I was like, I don't think we've ever done that I know we've never done that before as a conversation and it's a reflection again of the maturing and opportunities that we've That we've got as an organization another thing That we need to challenge with regard to assumptions is reducing administrative burden, right? This comes up all the time We've we've basically We've we've put all of the self-help on on each of you We've put administrative burden on some of the frontline units and really unpacking that so that we unburden Those types of activities that are not not useful for us. I See nothing but opportunity in the future. I see a lot of change a lot of uncertainty You know the geopolitical situation continues to evolve for far more rapidly than I think Any of us may have Anticipated just a couple years ago the pace of climate change the strength and and frequency of storms We don't have to wonder about that. That is all here now And so this is the imperative for some of the change that that that we're talking about so I'm committed to doing this work, but here's my ask of you. I ask that you think differently As you'd be bold and question Traditional assumptions in some cases will say nope. That's there for a reason and we need to continue to to abide by that but in many cases there is opportunity whether it's around technology or Different ways of thinking that we need to bring into the into the organization I ask that you collaborate across the organization, you know, we have a very program Biased focus within this headquarters building and many of the best outcomes that are reflected in the strategy will require Cross-cutting synchronization and collaboration across some of the program offices that that you're representing I ask you to try new ideas think differently Breakdown barriers. So right a barrier is something that is in place that in particularly in the human capital world Prevents someone who may want to serve from serving Tattoos would be a great example of it. You know the the the path we've been on to continue to ease the tattoo Standard and policy right tattoos should not serve as a barrier to entry They have no bearing on an individual's ability to operate and contribute to the organization That's just a you know one small example of Barriers that we need to need to look at and consider So collaborate think differently Understand and I recognize that not everything we try is going to work So I like we're piloting the lateral program and reserve the right say, you know what that actually is not in our best interests as an Organization, but until we get that insight and try it We don't know that and back to that we are on a race for talent So creating opportunity for talent to enter the service and contribute to this incredible organization that you know We all know how how impressive the organization is now. We need to you know bring bring other other folks in So there is risk in what I am suggesting here, and I am not naive to the risk or The culture change that this is going to take and this is going to take enduring sustained effort and thinking To bring us into a more You know flexible nimble Organization around a couple of areas that have been been pretty You know sort of untouched for for a while whether it's the personnel system or some of our operating paradigms But I go back to what I said at the beginning The greatest risk is associated with the status quo if we don't move with a sense of urgency We will not have the organization We will not have the talent and the workforce that we need to operate the organization Right we're in the midst of the largest Acquisition Programs that we've had since since World War two I'm really excited about all the new assets that we've got bringing online But you can deliver a new ship, but if you don't have talent, you don't have people heartbeats It's just a piece of steel and at the end of the day We are you know we're a people business and what operates the coast or why we are the world's best coast guard Is the talent reflected here in the room and the way we collaborate and innovate and work alongside each other to bring to bring the organization forward so this is again my ask is that you get familiar with the strategy that you feel a sense of ownership a sense of urgency a Sense of excitement over where we're going. There is something in here for every one of you And I know you if you're all sitting all over this headquarters building and lots of different Different programs and directorates and you know been with us a short time a long time Find something that excites you in this document and engage the process that helps helps bring it forward So again, this is not my coast guard. It's our coast guard. This is not my strategy It's our strategy together. We make the organization better I'm on this journey alongside of you know my my goal is to define hey This is the aspirational goal in the direction we need to go now I need all of us rowing in that direction and the Together we'll get further down that path and then if any one of us endeavors to do that Individually so thank you for for attending. Thank you for committing to to this journey For bringing our coast guard forward we I have no idea how far we're going to get but I Confident the organization will be in a better stronger more nimble place in you know in six months in a year in 18 months And you'll know there's no four-year Deadline or closure on this strategy done. Well, this is foundational work for work that continues Well into our future for whoever is in my job, you know The next time and the next time the time after that this is about doing what's right for us and our service So, thank you Yeah, we do a little Q&A. Yeah, thanks very much. Admiral. We've got time for a few questions I know Mike and a couple others are floating around in the back with microphones. So if you're interested, please throw up I am we'd love to hear from you. Good afternoon, Comanot Commander Andrew Grantham civil rights directorate You thank you for your words today. You spoke at length about thinking differently and challenging the status quo I'm wondering ma'am Oftentimes it's the decision-making that can be the biggest resistance to maintaining the status quo How are we going to decide differently the challenge here right when I talk about challenging the status quo there? There is a huge Culture element to that right not just thinking differently about outcomes thinking differently about how We get there right and there is a the the process that that takes us into decision-making the actual decision-making what we have sort of captured and Inculturated as a service all all is part of this change that we need to need to think about I Sometimes talk about this from the context of right. We have a we have a strong tradition as a 232 year old organization To go oh either we've always done it that way or oh I know how to do this again because we've always done it that way and then you you know We just kind of fall back into the the wagon wheel ruts and go forward so our Assignment processes and promotion processes on both the officer and listed side are good examples of You know where we've got a playbook that that we know works that's safe but all in need of Update and fresh so that when the decisions are being made on you know something as simple as who goes where next that that's done in a way that that is More nuanced than just the needs of the service the needs of service will always prevail, but that are much more reflective of the kind of Flexibility and opportunity and stability that the workforce is gonna gonna ask for us and So right this your question gets right to the heart of culture change and each of us needs to play an active role in helping Bring that culture forward and in particular You know I look at the group is a pretty senior group both on the officer and enlisted side But think about as you're having these culture Struggles and conversations. I think about where the culture keepers are in the organization I would suggest they're the they're the e-fives and the e-sixes some extent the chiefs But really e-fives e-sixes and they're the lieutenants Right, that's our audience for all of this. That's when when they're behaving in the new ways of thinking and are engaged in Doing things differently than what then we are moving moving forward and moving the moving the needle forward Thanks. I have new natural. My name is a lieutenant your grade Dennis Dalian with a cg-86 so I'm just coming off exo tour and Guam and My enlisted members really feeling the pain of higher inflation rates and housing going up and Stock market going down and so I guess do we have a strategy to ensure that our people can continue to afford a Comfortable lifestyle. All right, I'm a Pena. Are you ready to jump on if I say anything bad, right? So there this is an absolute we get it. That's that's the number one thing we get everywhere We go is the cost of living and there's a multi-pronged multi-pronged approach to what's going on and it deals with Immediate injects now to kind of stop the bleeding and then a long-term process change to make these processes more adaptable and more More flexible so like immediate injection and we've all seen the stuff that rolled out from Secretary of Defense with You know the 28 mha's and the immediate inject into into BAH in those areas We saw what six months ago. We had the mileage change and what I tell the workforces When we do all hands is don't look at that 4 cent TDY and PCS mileage change or the 28 mha's I just got a BAH bump don't look at that as as our team spiking the football and seeing victory What we need to look at is this is the first time in almost two and a half to three decades That we've had mid-year changes to any of these rates That means our overseers hear us our message is resonating. So that's just that's just we're it's just building blocks and steps So we're continuing on that What you know on the on the pay side where we're entering our quadrennial review of military compensation Mastery saws will be happy. I finally got that out without sputtering on that one That's just something where we're taking a look and this is where we're going after just the base pay Especially on the enlisted side because if you look if you look at the pay scales between officer enlisted where everyone's kind of gotten pay Rages over the years, but if you look at a 12-year gap The the officer pay scale has increased just just a little bit more than the enlisted pay scale So we'll really take a look how we close the gap and then the long-term piece is our processes for BAH validation Cola things like that We're gonna have to go after legislative change that allows us to where we can get inject points whether it's a Four times a year whether you know quarterly or semiannual Because the market as we know the market doesn't wait on anything. It'll change overnight We need to have some that's more flexible to inject there So it's kind of a holistic approach that we're looking at on that sir, you know also in the strategy, right? Transitioning talking about family services housing child care health care We recruit an individual but right that retention then hinges on family services and family support and having a more Deliverate and intentional focus with regard to the kinds of you know, whether it's what what the Master Chief's just unpacked With regard to you know, how we how we energize the the system that we use for housing and BAH, but there's investments We need to make in health care There's there's child care conversation and I keep getting pressed. Well, will we build a child development center in position X? Well, maybe that's the right answer in position X but maybe it's increased child care subsidies and in You know what the what the drivers and stressors are for our workforce There's not a one-size-fits-all because you know, you can be in a remote location location in Jonesport, Maine where you can be it, you know, Portsmouth base ports and lots of units for the Having strategies that are responsive and reflective of the the realities for our people on the on the ground And then there's the Airbnb effect, right? That's that's really part of what's significantly disrupted some of the the housing and during during cost up You want to share the new port example? We got more there. Oh, yeah So the mayor so Airbnb particularly in our, you know, many of the port communities and resort communities that we we operate in Has had a dramatic effect and when we were in Newport for the re-homeporting of the 270s the mayor was there and was quite proud and and Good for her That they had passed an ordinance that prohibited the number of days you can list a single-family residence on Airbnb in the In the heart of Old Town Newport and there's probably others that are going to need to need to go in that direction afternoon admiral master chief in regards to Attracting and retraining people. How far are we willing to change our uniform and weight? policies So that we are gonna have that we will have to have that conversation at some point, you know, we've we have We have struggled as an organization with regard to what exactly is the weight program Is it a health program to a fitness program? Is it something else? I? Don't know that it does any one of those things particularly well. I was at I was in New York Last week engaging with some business executives and was talking. I was somewhat bemoaning the fact that the population that we need to draw from Is shrinking the population with a propensity to serve and then frankly? people who are able to meet the medical and fitness standards and and So the business executive says we you ought to you need to think differently about that So one first you need to ask are our current Medical and fitness standards appropriate for the first work the force we're trying to hire Maybe yes, maybe no, but we need to ask the question and then two How do you expand? How do you increase the pool of people that are qualified and you've seen what the Navy has done? They're sort of I'm calling it pre boot camp boot camp But right where you take people who I think in the case of the Navy up to 20% Over the weight standard and bring them in and basically start, you know educating folks on decent nutrition and Exercising them and then and getting them ready for a boot camp I think all of that is going to need to be on the table as we look at look at talent and how we How we expand the pool that we're going to be able to to draw from Right we have standards in place they've been in place for a reason and we may conclude up They all need to stay exactly but as but as we look at What the talent is we need and with the you know fitness and health level as we need we need to be really intentional With regard to some of those assumptions. Yeah, and so on two things there on the on the uniform side I don't want to fly the plane and build it in front of y'all right now But deputy and I have just kind of unearthed some some Concerns that we need to work through not not in Coast Guard concerns But on the DOD side some things we need to work through so I've got some homework to do on that in before I speak publicly about it But on the standards side, you know the comment I mentioned the Navy program You know, I hear a lot when the Navy does this or the Air Force does it and people always say DOD branches And I want to be very clear we should always be informed by what the DOD is doing But not necessarily think that we necessarily need to be like the DOD and the reason I say that is go walk in a go walk And I was in an auditorium yesterday 575 DOD senior enlisted leaders none of them were prior Coasties But I bet we have some prior DOD folks in this room, you know So I would a reason I say we don't jump to the DOD side is People come to the Coast Guard for a reason so we need to be informed by them But still hold what's what's great about our Coast Guard But I'm already getting feedback from from the Navy that that program is not going very well for them because folks that are going out into the field basically the admin burden and The the not fit for duty and inability to do the job It's just being passed on to the field units in the Navy And it's just kind of kind of exacerbating that problem down the line one thing I'm looking at two folks from Cape May here recently that will that will correct me on this if I'm wrong But one thing I talked to this team about right before our Captain Felgers change of command was What what differences are we seeing in the young women and men coming to Cape May now? Two and a half three years into COVID and we kind of do this Forming week physical fitness standard and the graduation week physical fitness standard correct and what I've been told is hands down It's that forming week physical fitness standard. It was upwards of 70 percent What's that? Yeah, so so that you know these these are I thought it was going to be human interaction skills You know things like that they said it's none of that it's that physical fitness standards like the common I said we have to ask what is going to be our standard and Challenge what our standard is now see if we can tweak that standard if we need to tweak that standard if we don't And set that going forth Yeah, apparently sit-ups are the new mile and a half run. I learned this at a visit at Fletsey They were like everybody reporting for a Tactical coxswain training and they couldn't do the I don't know what is 3540. I don't know what this I was like I was appalled it was like you can't do them any sentence video games. There's a lot of a lot of reasons behind it, but I'm not the video game generation just in case you were wondering So my main question is one that hasn't been asked yet, but it's something that is very important when we talk about how it acquisition and retain it I'm talking about mental health What are some of the programs like if someone were to get into a situation where they don't feel like they can perform as they can And they don't feel like they can rely on the people within their unit. What are the programs to get them back into that? Status of being a reliable productive member within the Coast Guard. Yeah. No, that's a great question Right mental health after actually even before housing Mental health and access to mental health care is one of the number one concerns out there with the workforce and it comes up Time and time again. And so we have made investments in fielding mental health professionals into our clinics and Into communities and I think we I think we've got at least one that we've added here. I'm looking at Doc Thomas It's not enough though. We need to continue to invest in mental health the health care capacity and frankly just organic health care as it pertains to how we Operate as an as an operating organization. So there's ongoing work there The other thing and this is not something that requires a resourcing investment. It's the getting comfortable talking about mental health and destigmatizing The feeling that some people have that if I seek help it will have a negative impact on my career That's not the case. We need to Enable people to feel safe and secure in seeking the professional help that that we need and help help folks That may find themselves You know in stress duress and and you know it could be any one of us at any point And so it's a it is an important topic and unfortunately You know as we come out of you know last month with suicide prevention month. Unfortunately, we've had we've had 10 suicides In the past, you know in the past year in the Coast Guard, you know every one of those It's one too many and when we talk about readiness and impact and erosion readiness Suicide is probably the most Disruptive and just painful thing that a unit can go through that family members can go through And so this really requires attention of of all of us, but thank thanks Darrys Mind if I hit a couple so number one I need everybody to hear me loud and clear it is okay to not be okay It's okay to struggle because Struggle is called life. Everybody has good days bad days But but if somebody breaks an ankle is anybody gonna keep coming to work for six seven weeks on a broken ankle and not Go get medical help. No, well some stubborn people will but most of us will go to the doctor We'll get put in again. I see where Doc Thomas is looking right now. I see you. I see your eyeball them out I was thinking the same thing Sorry, sir. Just put you on blast But no you're gonna go to the dock you get the x-ray you get put in the cast and is anybody on the crew gonna question No, they got you back. They can see it. Why is it any different if you can't see where somebody's struggling? So we like the like the ball said we have to be willing to talk about it And we have to get out there and we have to get past perceptions and barriers because someone's perception is their reality Whether it's factual or not that they believe it to be true in their mind It's true and we have a lot of misperceptions in the workforce depending on if you're this rating or this rating or this rating If you say you need help your career is over. Those are factually not true I asked yesterday, and I know our amazing rating for smash chiefs are gonna do this I asked them all to gather all the facts about Anything related to mental health care in their rating and impacts and communicate out that communicate that out to their rating Because there may be some differences depending on the jobs in this but the rating for smash chiefs are gonna take this on And they're communicate we've got to get past these barriers and these misperceptions and realize it's okay Good afternoon coming up McPog. Thank you for your time today. My question is about I'm going back to the focus on the people In total workforce Management and I think what I've seen over the years It's it seems like some years when we're focusing on modernizing the fleet Infrastructure then some of the people programs get cut and now it seems like you know We've kind of the pendulum has swung a little bit now We're focusing on people in the workforce and recruiting and I'm curious What concessions we're making on the operational side or where we cutting back there to enable us to focus on on people? Yeah, so when you go through the 100-day document with regard to people While it is significant the policy changes and think what what is reflected in there is Change that we had authority to make that didn't require big money or people resource investments some of the onward work is going to require us to to think about Where and how we resource like I'll use for example. I how many do we have many assignment officers? Do we have in here? I assume we've got a couple of assignment officer I had a chance to talk to the assignment officer. This is almost all of them right there There's three of them right this is almost all of them I will find out right and so one of the feedbacks we get is hey the system isn't responsive to me It's because we actually don't have enough capacity in the assignment system to run it the way we would like to With regard to the reality now that we're at a 2000. What's the non-rate shortfall? I'm looking to get the because it changes 15 25. Oh, why it's got last time I've brought it up. Anyhow 2,500 non-rates short in the organization All right, what it non-rates? 850 almost a thousand right the non-rate shortage is the petty officer shortage and We are a team up for the LC here in a couple weeks this exact conversation as We you know one accelerate into recruiting to get talent, you know increase the flow talent in the organization We've got operational impacts now. I was at a Where worry I was in all hands I was given out informal awards at the end and in the write-up they were Acknowledging that this particular 270 had sailed at 65% of the deck force capacity. Well, that's not okay And so being honest with ourselves organizationally about where we are what what safe Ready capacity can we generate now as we as we build back into a more ready force? And we're having that come say I don't have I don't have a good XYZ answer But but we owe that we the leadership team we the headquarters team is who pertains the program of policy owe that clarity To to the frontline operators so which is why I keep coming back to if we don't have people It doesn't matter that we're going to buy and build a new icebreaker It doesn't matter that we've announced the WCC we don't have the people it we we we quickly Don't don't provide the return on investment for the American public So ma'am you asked where we were with that that shortage everywhere we go. We it's everywhere we go We get that so and a couple things to and I was talking to an all-hands group the other day And I told them so you know when you look at the the the previous common odds teams the last three or four They've done an amazing job when it comes to buying things steal things that float and fly We are on an amazing trajectory and we're and not that that doesn't still need Maintaining and working and focus at that does we're good there Which allows the current leadership team to focus on as vice-versa Thomas put this the other day That the best way I've heard it put is the tail Is is we we had we can improve in the way we buy the the the maintenance tail That comes with everything and that's where this leadership team is so keenly focused is Saying yeah, we need this piece of thing that floats or flies, but we need the humans that come with it We need the the policy that comes with it. We need to house and we need to feed them We need to clothe them. We need to you know, they're they're kids in a child care We need medical clinics. That's the focus of this leadership team and it's been enabled because our predecessors have gotten us in such a good place with with those things that float and fly I'm good afternoon Admiral. Good afternoon master chief. I am is three pompos. I work at the sip and we've been talking about recruiting and gaining people and I've seen a big increase in chat on the my CG page about the everyone's a recruiter program and I understand going out and talking to people. What should we be telling them about the Coast Guard when we go out and talk to people about it So what you should be telling them is what your experience in the organization has been what a great how much Opportunity we offer as an organization You know for some people Medical care will resonate for others the our you know the education benefits The opportunity to serve something greater than self and The incredible workforce you get to work with do you know? We've all come from different backgrounds and have found different paths into the organization. I Do not take for granted ever What an incredible workforce we have I mean it's why I'm still in uniform is because I get to come to work every day And work with this incredible group of people and oh by the way we get to do some really cool stuff right that is Absolutely of valued to the American people. That's what you need and you need to you know Enlighten people excite them make them aware of who and what we are I you know, I've been talking about we we probably do need a more deliberate marketing campaign We just think we're so great. Everybody knows who we are. Well, they don't Right occasionally the DoD guys find their way over and in fact as I work with my peers the number of them that have said to me Oh, if I'd only known if I'd only known I would have gone to the Coast Guard Academy not West Point Right, so we suffer a little bit from that lack of awareness So again and ask every one of you should be shouting on the rooftops about how incredible the organization is and what the opportunity is That that we offer and oh by the way you get to work with some pretty awesome and cool people along the way and jump out of Helicopters and drive boats and you know do all the do all the cool front line stuff that We'll get to go back and do right. It's just a set of orders But not not if you go to the Academy now, not if you go to the Academy right went to the Academy thinking she'd get to Do what a BM2 does. Yeah Yeah, I said you own it all now you can if you want So I know one of the strategies is about getting advancement with technology and there's always that great push to Get us on the next level especially within prevention Industry outpacing us beyond There's one thing to be to develop the technology into have those systems But to have those things get into the hands of the frontline workers Is there anything in the development or on the holistic side of the way to get that technology into the hands of the Frontline workers so we can actually improve and move their Coast Guard into the next generation Yeah, so we have done some of it. Where's Rusty Talk to talk to rear-evil slick dash down here. I'll give you the whole whole unpacking But so we have accelerated some of that technology into the frontline Hands particularly the prevention folks We're modernizing and changing the learning system around how we you know create that that expertise So it's kind of it's a it's a multifaceted approach What it we we have been slow as an organization To bring in what I'll you know commercial off-the-shelf kind of technologies think scan eagle and UAS right this probably in our most recent Ingestive substantial, you know kind of cutting-edge technology So this too is part of as we think about how we do marine inspections There's a whole conversation. We need to have around are we doing it the right way now You know once we in live in our data and we get into some more predictive analytics the the time-based inspections that we do But really no longer would serve as well that you get to the point that you're able to predict that this ship This issue is going to be where the next risk to the port is and so there's a there's a huge data component to that And then frankly just mobile technology in the hands of frontline folks So that as you're being required to enter that data into the system that we're going to increasingly In live and we need to make it make it easy You know, there's an app for that right joke. There's an app for that, right? We need to we need to continue to to move out. All right. Hey, thank you Master chief do any kind of closing thoughts or anything? Two things if you don't mind ma'am So number one I just like that like the ball said there's a lot of challenges ahead But they're nothing but opportunities and that's in one thing I want us to think think through because I know this building is ready for it I know we're up to the challenge. I know what we're ready to think differently and do things differently Let's remember to think through also how we message you messaging it to the field because um That's that's the struggle that that's the struggle and as your senior leaders both enlisted officer travel around and you ask somebody Hey, have you heard about this and and they they say well, no, I haven't I'm cycle God we've we've done six articles and three messages and this and that so We have to think through how we're getting that information into the hands of our folks in the field And the second thing and I just remind everybody of this every single day Two things we control every day that nobody can take from us And that's our attitude and our effort that we bring to work And let's remember that every single morning get up come to this building give your best have your best attitude And give your best effort if you bring that every single day, I'll take this team and take on the world All right, thanks. Thanks, master chief. Hey, thank you. Thanks. Thanks for being here I am really excited this This is an incredible time to be in the coast guard and We've we are enjoying support at multiple levels of the government that I that I have never seen before Like from levels of the government or people a couple years ago would have gone coast guard. What? Right, so it is an incredibly exciting time Nothing but opportunity in front of us I like say I you know I view my role is this kind of is defining the in-state that we're driving towards and then creating The environment that allows all of us to endeavor in that direction in a way that brings us significantly Forward as an as an organization I meant what I said about the workforce. It is what leaves me excited to come to work Every day I will put our workforce up against any other and we will outpace them and outrun them I've absolutely no doubt. You know as we send Liaison officers and you know folks over whether it was Operation Allied Welcome or Hurricane and the FEMA off-center pick a thing Always the feedback comes. Hey that you know that lieutenant or that petty officer. They were awesome Did you hand pick them and I get to say no not actually I've got like a whole locker of people just like that with all of that great leadership and enthusiasm And you can do attitude. So thank you And really spent a privilege spent a little bit of time with you. Hopefully the pokegables and teriyaki looks like everybody's done Eating so thanks and enjoy the rest of the conversation. Thank you