ALCGPSC 130/20 - PY21 ACTIVE DUTY CWO APPOINTMENT BOARD TIMELINES

R 13 NOV 20
UNCLAS//N01401//
ALCGPSC 130/20
SUBJ: PY21 ACTIVE DUTY CWO APPOINTMENT BOARD TIMELINES 
A. PY21 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(series)
E. Performance, Training, and Education Manual, COMDTINST 
M1500.10(series)
F. Coast Guard Weight and Body Fat Standards Program Manual, 
COMDTINST M1020.8(series)
1. This message announces the schedule and requirements for the 
PY21 CWO Appointment Board. Per Ref A, the CWO Appointment Board 
will convene on 19 April 2021. 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 CG 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:
https://cglink.uscg.mil/65ae18e. 
3. Per Ref C, the following is the normal path for all enlisted 
ratings to these 19 CWO specialties: 
ENLISTED RATING    CWO SPECIALTY
AET/AMT		   Aviation Engineering (AVI)
AST	           Aviation Engineering (AVI)
                   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): 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 adhere to the following policies: 
   a. Maximum Active Service: Members cannot have more than 26 
years of active duty service as of 1 JUN 2022.
   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 2022) 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 from PY19 and 
PY20 CWO Appointment board found not fully-qualified by the 
Appointment Board are not eligible to apply in accordance with 
Article 3.E.11 of Ref C. Waivers will not be considered.
5. Exceptions: Color perception and hearing requirements are 
outlined in Article 3.H.1. and 3.H.6.d. of Ref C. Waivers will 
not be considered; 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 a “My Panel Submission” via Direct 
Access to their Commanding Officer to obtain a positive or 
negative recommendation as outlined in paragraph 7.
   b. Prior service or eligible reserve (EAD) 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 must 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 CG PSC (opm-1) POCs listed in paragraph 
14. 
(Note): Sea time does not affect pre-board score. Sea time is 
solely used to establish eligibility to compete for BOSN and ENG 
chief warrant officer specialties.   
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 “My Panel Submission” 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 shall simply state 'Member 
meets eligibility requirements,' and negative recommendations 
should state 'Member does not meet eligibility requirements.' 
Commands are required to either recommend or not recommend all 
requested endorsements. Blank endorsements will be sent back to 
applicant requesting an endorsement.
8. Deadlines:
   a. 8 JAN 2021: Submission deadline for “My Panel Submission” 
application and command endorsement in Direct Access. Step by 
step application instructions are provided in paragraph 4 of Ref 
B for applicants and in paragraph 6 of Ref B for command 
endorsements.
   b. 15 JAN 2021: Command ensures Enlisted Employee Review (EER) 
up to date in Direct Access per Article 4.C.1.b. of Ref D.
   c. 29 JAN 2021: 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. For any needed corrections, 
review paragraph 8 of Ref B.
   d. 15 FEB 2021: Deadline for PDE corrections and waiver 
requests. 
   e. 22 FEB 2021: Members can log into Direct Access and view 
their profile letter. 
(Note): To view profile letter: From the main DA screen, under 
‘Employee’, 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. 
  f. 3 MAR 2021: PSC will publish the pre-board eligibility list 
via ALCGPSC. This list consists of those applicants whose pre-
board scores as of the 29 JAN 2021 deadline qualify them as 
primary or alternate candidates.
  g. 22 MAR 2021: Recommendation Files (OERs) and Resumes due to 
CG 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 CG PSC (opm-1) via ARL-PF-CGPSC-OPM-1-
BOARDS global e-mail address.
  h. 19 APR 2021: 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 extenuating 
circumstances listed below in paragraph 10. 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. 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. 
11. The subject line of any email relating to the 2021 CWO 
Appointment Board shall read “PY21 ACTIVE DUTY CWO APPOINTMENT 
BOARD”.
12. The content of personnel records is the responsibility of the 
member. Candidates should review paragraph 11 of Ref B for PSC 
Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) guidance. Direct Access 
and the OMPF 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 OMPF 
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/. 
13. 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 OMPF. Completed CG-4082 forms should be submitted to CG PSC 
(BOPS-C-Military Records) according to instructions on the link 
in paragraph 12.
14. CG PSC (opm-1) POCs: CWO Michele Natale and LCDR David 
Ratner. Preferred method of communication is email to: 
Michele.A.Natale@uscg.mil and David.W.Ranter@uscg.mil. 
15. Released by: RDML S. N. Gilreath, Commander, Personnel 
Service Center. The Service Center for Our Most Important 
Resource – Our People.
16. Internet release is authorized.