CG PSC- Officer Personnel Management

Coast Guard Personnel Service Center

Officer Personnel Management Division

Officer Evaluations Branch (CG PSC-opm-3)

OFFICER SPECIALTY MANAGMENT SYSTEM

** OSMS update

As of 28 December 2011, CCG has approved the OSMS program. There are still lots of steps to be taken here at OPM-3 to ensure we push a well thought out and planned program to the field. Please bear with us as we complete the final tasks that are vital for program support preceding the implementation of OSMS and Officer Specialty Codes for field use. Per earlier guidance please do not make, or request any changes be made to your legacy OBC or OSC in Direct Access. There will be a future ALCOAST when we are ready to move forward, and what actions will be required of you. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we endure this process.

In August 2006, the Commandant, Admiral Thad Allen, disseminated a memorandum “Commandant’s Intent Action Order # 8 – Human Resource Strategies to Support Coast Guard Maritime Strategy.” In his memorandum, he envisioned the Coast Guard sustaining an archetype workplace, allowing unit commanders and staff to achieve the right mix of human capital to support mission requirements. The Commandant stated, “The Coast Guard’s staffing standards are outdated and do not reflect our current operating environment. This deficit has impacted the officer corps to a point where officers are expected to be both specialists and broadened leaders. Our Human Resource systems have not evolved to ensure the right balance between technical competence and leadership competence for all workforce components. Without a clear understanding of requirements, individuals are unable to make informed choices regarding their own career development.”

During the past several years, the Future Force Project Staff (CG-1B1) sponsored a series of tasks designed, in the aggregate, to identify improvements to the current Officer Corps Management System (OCMS) that would enhance system agility and flexibility. One of these initiatives was the development of the OSMS, a replacement of the legacy Officer Billet Codes (OBCs) with new Officer Specialty Codes (OSCs). The old OBC system, containing more than 70 specialties, has been replaced by a framework of 13 specialties and 38 sub-specialties, each distinguished with a unique OSC. These specialties and sub-specialties are not an end-state, but rather an assessment of the existing state, and must remain dynamic and will likely change with time to meet the needs and requirements of the Service. These changes should not be viewed as diminishing the value of any specialty; nor should the consolidation of multiple legacy OBCs into fewer specialties/sub-specialties be viewed as an indication of the affected specialties’ having a reduced value to the Service. Rather, the new framework puts in place a labeling system that simplifies a specialty list that had grown cumbersome for senior leaders and Human Resource (HR) managers. The result is a clearer picture of what is required by positions and what capabilities the officer corps has earned.

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