Coast Guard releases new action plan for Mission Support

Vice. Adm. Paul Thomas, the deputy Commandant for Mission Support (DCMS), released a new Commander’s Intent and a new 2022 – 2026 Mission Support Action Plan. This plan shares Thomas’ vison of guiding principles of readiness, innovation, and integration for the service’s Mission Support team.  

“Tomorrow looks different – and so will Coast Guard Mission Support. The environment in which Mission Support continues to operate will remain challenging, requiring the best of its workforce,” Thomas said in the Mission Support Action Plan. “I am committed to providing Mission Support with the training, tools, support, and culture it needs to grow professionally, take care of families, and provide word class support to its customers.”  

• Responsive: Mission Support will move beyond delivering services at the “speed of need” and focus on anticipating need to resolve issues before they are known to Mission Support’s customers. Success will include continued excellence at delivering support to contingency and emergent operations while maturing as an organization.   
• Innovative: The Coast Guard is a learning organization that does not accept the status quo. Mission Support professionals will strive for continuous improvement meeting customer needs with cutting edge services and systems that drive improvement in operational effectiveness.  
• Integrated: Mission Support will deliver Mission Support “packages” synchronized and timed to meet the needs of the workforce and platforms to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of Coast Guard operations.  

The MSAP expands on the Commandant’s three tenets outlined in the Coast Guard Strategy (2022) of transform our total workforce, sharpen our competitive edge, and advance our mission excellence. Tying these tenets to Mission Support initiatives and detailing how the Mission Support Organization will execute the Coast Guard Strategy.  

“The evolution of the Mission Support organization over the next four years toward Mission Support 4.0 will involve changes to organizational structure, governance, and processes,” Thomas said in the action plan. “These milestones represent critical markers of growth, development, and maturity. Reaching these milestones will advance foundational concepts, realizing some of the baseline synergies intended by Mission Support’s founders and enabling full integration and alignment of processes across the organization.”  

Mission Support 4.0 Milestones include:  

• Talent Management Transformation 
• Modernize C5I Lifecyle Management  
• Establish a Change Management Organization 
• Establish a Mission Support Integrator  
• Build Expeditionary Logistics Capability  
• Mature Modernized Ready Learning  
• Modernize Contracting and Procurement  
• Modernize Civil Engineering  
• Modernize Health, Safety, and Worklife (HSWL) Program  

As Mission Support undertakes this responsive, integrated, and innovative effort to transform our total workforce, sharpen our competitive edge, and advance our mission excellence in support of our service’s continued effort to remain the world’s best Coast Guard, Mission Support leaders are encouraged to discuss the MSAP with members of their workforce. If you have the opportunity to communicate with the workforce, please see the Mission Support Action Plan Playbook for helpful information on how to communicate the importance of the MSAP and the future of the Mission Support Organization.  

Original source can be found here