ALCGPSC 127/17 - PY18 ACTIVE DUTY CWO APPOINTMENT BOARD TIMELINES

R 01 NOV 17

ALCGPSC 127/17
SUBJ: PY18 ACTIVE DUTY CWO APPOINTMENT BOARD TIMELINES
A. PY18 Schedule of Officer Personnel Boards and Panels, PSCNOTE
1401
B. Active Duty CWO Appointment Guide
C. Appointing Warrant Officers, COMDTINST M1420.1(series)
D. Enlisted Accessions, Evaluations, and Advancements, COMDTINST
M1000.2
E. Performance, Training, and Education Manual, COMDTINST
M1500.10C
F. Coast Guard Weight and Body Fat Standards Program Manual,
COMDTINST M.1020.8(series)
1. This message announces the schedule and requirements for the
PY18 CWO Appointment Board. Per Ref A, the CWO Appointment Board
will convene on 2 APR 2018. Members will only be allowed to
compete for one specialty this appointment cycle. It is
imperative that candidates read this entire message thoroughly,
use the above references to assist with application
requirements, and meet all specified deadlines.
2. Ref B was created by PSC to provide guidance and outline
procedures on the CWO appointment process. Applicants, units,
and servicing personnel offices (SPOs) should use this guide and
its checklists to ensure eligibility requirements are met and
Direct Access functions (i.e., My Panel Submission, etc.) are
submitted correctly and on time. Ref B is available at the
following link:
http://cglink.uscg.mil/6eb73f1.
3. The following is the normal path for all enlisted ratings to
CWO specialties:
ENLISTED RATING    CWO SPECIALTY
AET/AMT            Aviation Engineering (AVI)
AST                Marine Safety Specialist Deck (MSSD)
BM                 Boatswain (BOSN)
                   Marine Safety Specialist Deck (MSSD)
                   Marine Safety Specialist Response (MSSR)
CS                 Finance and Supply (F&S)
DC                 Material Maintenance (MAT)
                   Marine Safety Specialist Engineering (MSSE)
                   Marine Safety Specialist Response (MSSR)
DV                 Diver (DIV)
EM                 Marine Safety Specialist Engineering (MSSE)
                   Naval Engineering (ENG)
ET                 Electronics (ELC)
GM                 Weapons (WEPS)
HS                 Medical Administration (MED)
IS                 Intelligence Systems Specialist (ISS)
IT                 Information Systems Mgmt (ISM)
IV                 Criminal Investigator (INV) (Note 1)
ME                 Maritime Law Enforcement Specialist (MLES)
MK                 Naval Engineering (ENG)
                   Marine Safety Specialist Engineering (MSSE)
                   Marine Safety Specialist Response (MSSR)
MST                Marine Safety Specialist Deck (MSSD)
                   Marine Safety Specialist Response (MSSR)
OS                 Operations Systems Specialist (OSS)
PA                 Public Information (INF)
SK                 Finance and Supply (F&S)
YN                 Personnel Administration (PERS)
(NOTE 1) Special agents applying to the INV specialty shall
follow the eligibility requirements outlined in Article 3.H.6 of
Ref C and meet deadlines published below.
4. General Eligibility: Members must be on active duty to apply.
Title 10 and SELRES members are not eligible to apply. All
members must meet the minimum eligibility requirements outlined
in Article 3.E of Ref C, and Commanding Officers shall confirm
compliance with these requirements before positively endorsing
an applicant for this highly competitive program. These
requirements will not be waived. In addition to meeting all
minimum eligibility requirements, it is imperative that members
and commands are familiar with and adhere to the following
policies:
   a. Maximum Active Service: Members cannot have more than 26
years of active duty service as of 1 JUN 2019.
   b. High Year Tenure (HYT) and Senior Enlisted Continuation
Board (SECB): Members whose mandatory separation date will have
occurred prior to the effective date of the Final Eligibility
List (1 JUN 2019)are not eligible to apply.
   c. Weight and Body Fat Compliant: Members on weight and body
fat probation in accordance with Ref F, are ineligible to apply.
   d. Previously Found Not Fully-Qualified: Members of the PY17
CWO Appointment cycle found not fully-qualified for appointment
to warrant grade by the Board, are ineligible to apply for two
appointment cycles in accordance with Article 3.E.11 of Ref C.
5. Exceptions: Color perception and hearing requirements are
outlined in Article 3.H.6.d of Ref C. It should be noted that
waivers of these specific requirements will not be granted.
However, the following two exceptions do apply with respect to
color perception:
   a. IT or OS enlisted personnel without normal color vision
who were previously grandfathered into their respective ratings
or were selected from other ratings by a panel to lateral to IT
or OS.
   b. MK enlisted personnel who entered the MK rating, whether
MK A-school or striker program, prior to 1 OCT 2001.
6. After reviewing and ensuring compliance with all of the
eligibility requirements outlined in Article 3.E of Ref C,
applicants shall:
   a. All applicants: Submit an application via Direct Access
“My Panel Submission” to their Commanding Officer to obtain a
recommendation for appointment to CWO.
   b. Prior service or eligible reserve applicants:  Pay
particular attention to the time in grade (TIG) listed on the
Personnel Data Extract (PDE) and profile letter. Direct Access
cannot distinguish between active duty time and reserve time,
leading it to overstate all TIG for members with reserve time.
Only active duty time may be counted towards TIG, which may
require manual calculation and adjustment for some members. If
you think your TIG needs to be adjusted, notify your SPO to
complete a statement of creditable service (SOCS).
   c. BOSN and ENG applicants:  The CWO appointment PDE only
lists whether the applicant is sea duty qualified or not. The
calculated sea time has been removed from the CWO PDE. The sea
time used to determine eligibility does not include creditable
sea time while TDY, sea time at TACLET, LEDETS, etc, and surfmen
(CXNSJ, CXNSK or CXNSM) who have completed 12 months as
certified surfman in a designated surfman billet. This time will
have to be manually calculated to ensure applicants' eligibility
for these specific specialties. Applicants who believe their sea
time eligibility is incorrect and needs to be adjusted should
notify their SPO and inform the PSC-OPM-1 POCs listed in
paragraph 17.
NOTE: Sea time does not affect pre-board score.  Sea time is
solely used to establish eligibility to compete in either BOSN
or ENG chief warrant officer specialty.  
7. The Commanding Officer's recommendation is the most important
step in the CWO appointment process, as the recommendation
assists the Service in affirming the candidate's mental, moral,
physical, and professional qualifications for appointment to
chief warrant officer. The Commanding Officer's recommendation
shall take into consideration the totality of the applicant's
career, not just the time observed while assigned to his or her
unit. Only the Commanding Officer's endorsement is authorized.
An Officer-in-Charge shall forward the E-resume up the chain of
command for appropriate command approval. The Commanding Officer
shall:
   a. Ensure the applicant's compliance with all eligibility
requirements outlined in Article 3.E of Ref C.
   b. Review the applicant's unit and/or SPO personnel data
record.
   c. Review Article 3.I.3.d of Ref C to ensure members'
suitability for appointment, including past performance and
historical documentation while assigned to other units.
Potentially disqualifying behavior includes, but is not limited
to, non-adherence to core values: substance and/or alcohol
abuse, misconduct (civil and military), domestic violence,
financial irresponsibility, sexual harassment or discrimination,
or other related disciplinary issues.
   d. Positively or negatively recommend the applicant for
appointment to chief warrant officer via endorsement of their
application. Recommendations are only viewed by OPM to ensure
compliance with the eligibility requirements and are not viewed
by the board, therefore lengthy recommendations are not required
nor desired. Positive recommendations should simply state
'Member meets eligibility requirements,' and negative
recommendations should state 'Member does not meet eligibility
requirements.'
8. Deadlines:
   a. 8 DEC 2017:  Applicants complete all eligibility
requirements as outlined in Ref C, including the Commanding
Officer's recommendation. Members must take measures to ensure
that they have coordinated the interview, screening process, and
have submitted their application for approval to their command
prior to 8 DEC in order to meet this deadline.
   b. 8 DEC 2017:  Command submission of Enlisted Employee
Review (EER) in Direct Access (Note 1) and submission of a
command endorsement to the member’s application in Direct Access
(Note 2).
Note 1:  This ensures the EER is available for computation of
the evaluation pre-board factor. Members and commands are
reminded that due to the requirement of a minimal 184-day
observation period, it is acceptable for applicants recently
promoted to E-7 to go before the board without an E-7 EER (see
Art 5.E.2 of Ref D).
Note 2: Applicants should pay extra attention to paragraph 4 of
Ref B for instructions on completing the application via the “My
Panel Submission” link in Direct Access. Failure to apply
correctly may result in loss of eligibility.
   c. 11 DEC 2017:  PSC-OPM-1 compiles a list from Direct Access
of all applicants that have submitted applications (not
published via message).
   d. 3 JAN 2018:  Applicants log on to Direct Access and
view/validate their PDE.
Note: To access PDE:  From the main DA screen, under the
Employee pagelet, click ‘View’ then ‘Warrant PDE’. Members
unable to view their PDE may not have submitted their
application properly and should immediately notify their
Commanding Officer, SPO, and PSC-OPM-1 so that prompt corrective
action can be taken to ensure consideration in the cycle.
   e. 22 JAN 2018: All corrections made to PDE.
   f. 26 JAN 2018: Members can log into Direct Access and view
their profile letter.
Note: To view profile letter:  From the main DA screen, under
the Employee pagelet, click ‘View’ then ‘Warrant Profile
Letter’. The pre-board score is a live number and will
continually change as candidate information is changed or
corrected. The score used for the pre-board eligibility list
will be finalized on 31 JAN 2018.
   g. 7 FEB 2018:  PSC will publish the pre-board eligibility
list via ALCGPSC. This list consists of those applicants whose
pre-board scores as of the 31 JAN 2018 deadline qualify them as
primary or alternate candidates.
   h. 2 MAR 2018:  Recommendation Files (OERs) and Resumes due
to PSC-OPM-1 for all primary and alternate candidates as
published in the pre-board eligibility list. Candidates shall
strictly follow the procedures outlined in Articles 5.B and 5.C
of Ref C for preparation and distribution of these core
documents, including appropriate formatting and content.
NOTE: Recommendation files are not to be mailed. Candidates
shall scan and email to PSC-OPM-1 via ARL-PF-CGPSC-OPM-1-BOARDS
global e-mail address.
   i. 2 APR 2018:  CWO Appointment Board convenes.
9. In order to maintain fairness to all candidates in this
highly competitive process, there will be no exceptions or
waivers of the published deadlines listed above, except for the
extenuating circumstances listed below in paragraph 11.
Applicants seeking this unique opportunity to join the
commissioned officer corps bear the responsibility for
completing this process, as well as working closely with their
commands and SPOs to identify and correct any errors before
submitting final packages.
10. Applicants who are tour-complete in AY 2018 must pay
particular attention to the CWO appointment application process.
Applicants who wish to submit an application for the CWO
Appointment Board shall log into Direct Access as outlined in
paragraph 4 of Ref B. All Direct Access questions should be
directed to the PSC-OPM-1 POC listed in paragraph 15.
11. Units or afloat commands with limited or no access to Direct
Access who are unable to comply with any of the above listed
requirements or deadlines should notify the CG PSC-OPM-1 POC as
soon as possible to work out an alternate solution.
12. The subject line of any email relating to the 2018 CWO
Appointment Board shall read “PY18 ACTIVE DUTY CWO APPOINTMENT
BOARD”.
13. The content of personnel records is the responsibility of
the member. Candidates should review paragraph 11 of Ref B for
PSC Electronically Imaged Personnel Data Record (EI-PDR)
guidance. Direct Access and the EI-PDR are two different systems
and may not match. The contents of Direct Access do not contain
actual imaged documents, such as award citations and college
transcripts. It is extremely important that candidates ensure
the imaged content of the EI-PDR is correct and up-to-date.
Procedures for obtaining a copy of an official record can be
found at: http://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-
Commandant-for-Human-Resources-CG-1/Personnel-Service-Center-
PSC/BOPS/PSC-BOPS-C/PSC-BOPS-C-MR/.
14. Members who have education, training, professional
certifications and licenses, and other information are
encouraged to complete a CG-4082 in accordance with Ref E. The
CG-4082 form must include a commanding officer's signature to be
entered into your EI-PDR. Completed CG-4082 forms should be
submitted to PSC-PSD-MR.
15. PSC-OPM-1 POCs: CWO Jennifer Bell and LCDR Brian Whisler.
Preferred method of communication is email to:
Jennifer.K.Bell@uscg.mil and Brian.R.Whisler@uscg.mil.
16. Released by: RDML M. T. Bell Jr., Commander, Personnel
Service Center. The Service Center for Our Most Important
Resource – Our People.
17. Internet release is authorized.