ALCOAST 040/22 - FEB 2022 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY OUTSTANDING UNIT AWARD TO THE U.S. COAST GUARD ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

R 071520Z FEB 22
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
TO ALCOAST
BT
UNCLAS
ALCOAST 040/22
SSIC 1650
SUBJ: DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY OUTSTANDING UNIT AWARD TO
THE U.S. COAST GUARD ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
A. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 252150Z JAN 21/ALCOAST 025/21
B. Coast Guard Military Medals and Awards Manual, COMDTINST
M1650.25 (series)
1. The Commandant announced the establishment and award of the
Department of Homeland Security Outstanding Unit Award (DHS OUA)
to the Coast Guard for the period of 25 August 2017 to 30 November
2020, in REF (A).
2. Creation and procurement of a ribbon with frame and civilian
lapel pin is currently ongoing. A one-time issuance of ribbons and
lapel pins will be distributed to the field for all recipients of
the award. PSC-PSD-fs-ma will obtain estimated numbers for
distribution. Supplies will be shipped to AREAs, DCO, DCMS,
Districts, Bases, and Air Station Award Coordinators for further
distribution to their units. We anticipate having our first shipment
of the new ribbons and pins within four months of the date of this
message.
3. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
a. All CG Active Duty, Reserve, Auxiliary, and Civilian Personnel
(appropriated and non-appropriated) who were affiliated with the
Coast Guard at any time during the established award period and
served honorably are eligible for the award.
1) Any Coast Guard member who has not served honorably, has
received or is pending administrative or disciplinary action at any
time during or after the established award period, is not eligible
to receive this award. Waivers are not authorized.
2) Additionally, any civilian employee not in compliance with
equal employment provisions, merit system principles, and/or DHS
Ethical Conduct Standards at any time during or after the
established award period is not eligible to receive the award.
b. All Other Military Service members Active Duty or Reserve,
Public Health Service, and NOAA personnel who were permanently
assigned to serve a tour of duty with the Coast Guard during the
established award period and served honorably are eligible for the
award. Personnel assigned TDY to the Coast Guard, specifically for
an event recognized in REF (A), are eligible for the award.
Civilian employees from other federal agencies assigned on official
detail or rotational assignment to the Coast Guard during this
period are eligible. See concurrence requirements in paragraph 6.
4. PRECEDENCE: The DHS OUA will be worn subsequent to the
Presidential Unit Citation and preceding the Department of
Transportation Outstanding Unit Award.
5. VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY:
a. Units will be required to verify eligibility for members who
were assigned during the awarding period. Units with members that
have transferred PCS and are still in transit will verify their
eligibility. Members who have arrived at their new duty assignment
will have their eligibility verified by the new command. Members
currently serving and who are found ineligible to receive this
award should be informed of the commands decision.
b. A template for the roster can be found at:
(Copy and Paste URL Below into Browser)

https://cg.portal.uscg.mil/units/psc/Medals%20and%20Awards/
DHS%20OUA/Forms/AllItems.aspx

The template contains two tabs for eligible and non-eligible
members.
1) Eligible members are to be verified at the first O-6 level.
This portion of the roster will be maintained at this level.
Forwarding to PSC-PSD-fs-ma is not required.
2) Eligible separated/retired military members will be
verified by the unit they were assigned at separation/retirement and
listed under the "Eligible Personnel" tab of the template. Requests
to add the award to members' official military record can be made by
submitting a request to PSC-BOPS-C to have a DD-215 issued (HQS-DG-
M-CGPSC-BOPS-C@uscg.mil).
3) Eligible separated/retired civilian employees must submit
a request for consideration for this award to
ARL.Medals@uscg.mil. The request must include: full official name,
current mailing address, dates of Coast Guard civilian service,
whether service was appropriated fund or non-appropriated fund
(NAF), Coast Guard separation date, and name of command/unit at time
of separation from Coast Guard. PSC-PSD-fs-ma will consolidate
requests from separated/retired civilians and request verification
of service from COMDT (CG-124). COMDT (CG-124) will coordinate
verification for former NAF employees with the Community Services
Command NAF HR office. Once eligibility is verified, PSC-PDS-fs-ma
will mail the pin to the former employee at the address provided.
4) Non-eligible members, to include separated/retired, are to
be verified and combined into one roster at the first flag level in
the chain and forwarded to ARL.Medals@uscg.mil for future veteran
eligibility inquiry.
c. The deadline for verification and submission of the required
roster for non-eligible members is 30 April 2022. Approvals for
members inadvertently left off a unit’s initial roster subsequent to
the deadline, must include a memo for verification and an attached
roster.
6. CONCURRENCE REQUIREMENTS FOR OTHER MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS AND
CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES FROM OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES:
a. Requests for concurrence for other military service members
must be forwarded to PSC-PSD-fs-ma at ARL.Medals@uscg.mil. Requests
for concurrence for civilian employees from other federal agencies
that were detailed or on official rotational assignment to Coast
Guard during the eligibility period must be forwarded to COMDT (CG-
124) at CivilianAwardRequests@uscg.mil. Requests will be in memo
format with attached roster including name, unit assigned, parent
military service/federal agency, and dates eligible. Consolidated
requests may be submitted; however, individual rosters must be
provided for each branch of service/federal agency.
b. Other military service members assigned TDY and other civilian
employees from other federal agencies who meet the criteria in
paragraph 3.B. above, must include a copy of the TDY orders
(military) or detail/rotational assignment documentation (civilian)
with the request for concurrence to be considered.
c. No awards can be presented until the concurrence request has
been approved by the respective military service or federal agency.
The parent service/agency has final authority to approve any
concurrence requests.
7. Presentation of the award will be as directed by the unit
commander and in accordance with guidance contained in REF (B).
Due to the large number of recipients, units are not required
to provide a copy of the citation with the ribbon or lapel pin.
However, this does not eliminate the requirement for entry into the
Official Military Personnel File. A pdf of the citation is available
for members to print for their personal records and can be found at
A2X1018000615-20210112123904 (uscg.mil) on the CGPortal or
Personnel Services Division - Medals & Awards (uscg.mil).
8. Direct Access (DA) entries can be made at the unit level once the
verification/approval process is complete and no later than 30 April
2022. Members are encouraged to verify the entry after this deadline
and contact their unit admin for missing entries. The appropriate DA
entry will include:
a. AWARD APPROVAL DATE: 25 January 2021 - Date of the
Commandant's ALCOAST announcing the award, REF (A).
b. HONOR AND AWARD: CGDH – New Code for DHS OUA
c. FROM DATE and TO DATE: Enter the member's appropriate from
and to dates provided in the eligibility roster. Acceptable date
range will fall within the award period of 25 August 2017
through 30 November 2020.
d. GRANTOR: ALCOAST 025/21
9. Civilian honorary awards are not entered in the electronic
Official Personnel Folder (eOPF). Units shall maintain local award
records for civilian employees.
10. Questions may be directed to ARL.Medals@uscg.mil. A listing of
frequently asked questions will be compiled and posted at DHS OUA -
All Documents (uscg.mil).
11. RADM E. C. Jones, Assistant Commandant for Human Resources
(CG-1), sends.
12. Internet release is authorized.