Policy and Standards Division (CG-1221)

Why is the Personnel Manual being split up?
The Personnel Manual (hereafter legacy Personnel Manual), in its current state, is over 1500 pages and includes policy and procedure covering a wide span of topics. This is problematic when making changes, especially during the concurrent clearance phase in which these changes are routed through numerous entities for approval. By streamlining the subject matter in the manuals, concurrent clearance will also be streamlined and changes can be made in a more efficient manner.

Additionally, in its current state, the size of the Personnel Manual is problematic for units with limited bandwidth capabilities as well as servers for all other units due to numerous people downloading and saving the file on their hard drives.

How many new directives will there be?
There are 9 new manuals and 3 new instructions titled as follows:

Enlisted Accessions, Evaluations, and Advancements                 COMDTINST M1000.2
Officer Accessions, Evaluations, and Promotions                        COMDTINST M1000.3
Military Separations                                                                  COMDTINST M1000.4
Military Assignments and Authorized Absences                          COMDTINST M1000.8
Coast Guard Drug and Alcohol Abuse Program                           COMDTINST M1000.10
Discipline and Conduct                                                             COMDTINST M1600.2
Military Civil and Dependent Affairs                                            COMDTINST M1700.1
Military Casualties and Decedent Affairs                                    COMDTINST M1770.9
Military Bonus Programs                                                          COMDTINST M7220.2
Pregnancy in the Coast Guard                                                  COMDTINST 1000.9
Public Health Service Officers Detailed to the Coast Guard          COMDTINST 1000.11
Correcting Military Records                                                       COMDTISNT 1070.1

Why are the SSIC numbers for the new manuals and instructions not in numerical order?
This answer is two-fold. The SSIC numbers are aligned with the single standard system of number and/or letter symbols per the Standard Subject Identification Codes (SSIC) Manual, COMDTINST M5210.5 (series). Using this guidance, the SSIC numbers were assigned by Commandant (CG-612) using numbers that are not currently in use and have not been previously used by other manuals or instructions. Duplication of SSIC numbers, past or present, is not authorized. These two reasons prevented the SSIC numbers for all the new directives from being sequential.

Where will the new manuals and instructions be located?
As with all Coast Guard directives, the manuals and instructions replacing the Personnel Manual will be maintained on the following Commandant (CG- 612)’s websites: Intranet: http://cgweb.comdt.uscg.mil/CGDirectives/Welcome.htm, Internet: http://www.uscg.mil/directives/, and CGPortal: https://cgportal.uscg.mil/delivery/Satellite/CG612.

Are there policy changes in the updated manuals/instruction?
There are numerous minor changes throughout the manuals and instructions including updates to commands and Headquarters offices to reflect the current Coast Guard organizational structure. There are changes to policy as a result of ALCOAST messages that had not yet been incorporated into the legacy Personnel Manual as well as decision memos and legislatively mandated changes. Numerous meetings were held with stakeholders that also resulted in updates to various policies and procedures throughout to reflect current and relative guidance.

How are the changes captured?
There will be a pdf file on our website titled “Summary of Changes” that captures the changes from all manuals and instructions. A search can be conducted from this document of key words to locate changes to a specific topic.

Is the format of the new manuals and instructions the same as the legacy Personnel Manual?
A format waiver was authorized for all the new manuals which allowed us to continue using the format found in the legacy Personnel Manual, enabling us to maintain a level of familiarity in the new manuals. For instance, Article 12.C. of the Personnel Manual contains policy on retirement from active duty. Chapter 12 is now its own manual, Military Separations, and retirement policy is found in Article 1.C. of that manual. Taking that a step further, Article 12.C.1. of the legacy Personnel Manual is now Article 1.C.1. of the new Military Separations Manual.

How will the field know when the manuals are released?
An ALCOAST will be released announcing the promulgation of the new manuals and instructions.

Are there aids available to help ease the transition to the new manuals and instructions?
Yes.  CG-1221’s (Office of Policy and Standards) website will contain numerous documents to help familiarize yourself with the new directives along with links to the actual manuals and instructions.

Will there be follow-on changes made to the new manuals and instructions?
Yes. The release of the new manuals and instruction marks the end of Phase 1 of the Personnel Manual project. Follow-on phases will include more in- depth changes to specific policies as a result of working groups. We will also review CG-122 instructions for potential inclusion in one of the new manuals or instructions, thereby combining like policies and reducing the number of directives. We will also identify and extract pieces of execution from the policy and delegate authority to the execution entities (e.g., PSC, PPC, CGRC, CGA) that will allow them to make/change execution policies without referring to COMDT (CG-122). Allowing the execution entities ownership of execution allows them to provide procedural guidance to the field in
a timely manner that is also reflective of current Service needs and workforce trends.

Please e-mail any questions or comments to Policies & Standards