ALCOAST 211/23 - JUN 2023 CY 2022 EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENTS

R 091330Z JUN 23 MID120000205371U
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC
TO ALCOAST
BT
UNCLAS
ALCOAST 211/23
SSIC 1650
SUBJ: CY 2022 EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENTS
A. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 061339Z DEC 22/ALCOAST 480/22
1. I am pleased to announce the winners of the CY 2022 Excellence
in Customer Service Awards, described in REF (A). Congratulations
to the following award recipients, organized by category:
    a. Large Unit: U.S. Coast Guard Finance Center (FINCEN). FINCEN
pro-actively addressed customer needs and achieved measurable
improvements in the speed and quality of financial services in
response to a historic Coast Guard-wide transition to a new finance,
accounting, and procurement system. During the transition, FINCEN
worked through the Financial System Modernization Solution (FSMS)
Incident Management Team to coordinate and implement a surge support
effort consisting of 300 Active Duty personnel and 50 contractors
to successfully clear a backlog of over 27,000 invoices, assist in
processing more than 8,000 member payments, refine business
processes, introduce robotic process automation to streamline
repetitive manual transactions, and reduce transaction volume to
improve system performance. During a 7-month period, FINCEN
implemented innovative processes that enabled the Coast Guard to
refocus more than 375 work hours to resolve transition-related
challenges.
    b. Teams:
      (1) Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber and
Information Service Center's (C5ISC) Intune Transition Team.
This team swiftly modernized the Coast Guard's mobile computing
environment, enrolling 7,500 customers in DoD365 Mobile+ within
6 months, and creating a comprehensive, uniform experience on
Teams with the same look and feel as a Coast Guard standard
workstation. The team collaborated with contracted engineering
support, C5ISC project managers, and surge staffing Reservists to
ensure 24/7 support and customer satisfaction. The team demonstrated
tremendous technical and communication skills through its flexible,
tiered support system, which involved accepting support requests
through numerous forums, such as CGFIXIT, a Microsoft Teams Chat
channel, daily Teams calls with technical experts, and an in-person
helpdesk at Coast Guard Headquarters. The team responded to 2,000
CGFIXIT tickets and provided about 1,500 hours of live support to
educate senior executives on the new technological capabilities.
The team enabled the successful transition to the DoD365 Mobile+
application suite and Intune management platform 1 month ahead of
schedule, enabling cloud-based workflows on Coast Guard mobility
devices and productivity anywhere.
      (2) Base Miami Beach's (BMB) Key West (KW) Support Team.
This team is comprised of the following detachments: the Maintenance
Augmentation Team (MAT), the Weapons Augmentation Team (WAT), the
Asset Material Managers (AMMs), and the Electronic Systems Support
Detachment (ESD). The entire team provided superior support to
Sector Key West, its Stations and Patrol Boats, homeported major
cutters, and visiting cutters during a historic surge in migrant
activity. During Operation SOUTHEAST WATCH (OPSEW) and Operation
VIGILANT SENTRY (OVS), the team provided the parts, logistics,
preventative maintenance, and casualty repairs necessary to sustain
the heightened pace of operations. In addition, amidst OVS, the BMB
Key West Support Team prepared for and responded to Hurricane IAN,
a devastating and costly storm, by facilitating critical continuity
of operations efforts—for example, successfully relocating the
Sector Key West Command Center to Sector Miami.
      (3) Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber and
Information Service Center (C5ISC) District 7 (D7) Migrant
Interdiction Operations (MIO) Application Response Team. This team
quickly shifted resources and priorities to address a historic surge
in migrant activity. Due to outdated processes for tracking and
coordinating the movement of unprecedented numbers of people from
Cuba and Haiti, cutter personnel needed a new modernized tool to
keep pace with operational demand. Thus, C5ISC team members promptly
responded to analyze the situation, document MIO requirements, and
begin developing a solution. Team members worked swiftly with
software developers and other D7 personnel to integrate and enhance
existing tools. As a result, they decreased data entry and SITREP
development time by more than 75 percent, saving hours on tracking
migrants and greatly reducing follow-up work to correct errors.
The team enabled already heavily taxed cutter and command center
staff to focus on operations vice duplicating data entry and
manually aggregating data. The team created further efficiencies by
developing a replacement enforcement application that allows for
true synchronous data exchange, providing real-time migrant status
information to the operational commanders in the field.
    c. Individuals:
      (1) SK2 Caleb Curran, independent duty storekeeper onboard
CGC BRISTOL BAY. SK2 Curran's amazing communication and technical
skills have increased the operational readiness of his cutter.
As the Coast Guard transitioned to a new finance, accounting, and
procurement system (i.e., FSMS), SK2 led CGC BRISTOL BAY's crew
through this challenging and difficult time. He corrected
deficiencies in property management and procurement processes by
educating the crew on the new system, including the implementation
of the Procurement Requisition Expedited Service System (P.R.E.S.S.
V1.0 and V2.0). SK2 Curran also facilitated appropriate funding,
scheduling, and receipt of items and services to meet operational
demands, resolving problems along the way. While coordinating timely
delivery of fuel and lube oil, SK2 restored a vital relationship
with a sole source oily waste offload vendor by addressing $20,000
in overdue payments. His actions enabled the unit to offload more
than 8,000 gallons of oily waste, remain operational, and complete
more than 190 buoy evolutions during OPERATION SPRING RESTORE 2022.
SK2 Curran went above and beyond to purchase and arrange services
for emergent needs, including support to the unit after a
catastrophic failure of the hydraulic power unit engine and pumps,
which required him to quickly process four urgent purchase requests
within 24 hours to support replacement/repair of the engine and
pumps. Additionally, he coordinated plans with oil vendors, arranged
commercial crane services, and took delivery of a new hydraulic pump
after normal business hours to support his shipmates. His actions
restored the unit to full mission capability, allowing it to
service 43 floating aids to navigation, promoting safe maritime
navigation.
      (2) CWO Harrison Stanley, Sector Field Office Southwest
Harbor (SFO SWH) Supervisor and Sector Northern New England (SNNE)
Facilities Engineer (FE). Last year, CWO Stanley developed and
helped implement a multi-year strategic plan with CEU Providence
and Sector Logistics to recapitalize and repair SNNE's aging shore
portfolio, skillfully navigating the transition to the FSMS to
obtain funding and expedite multiple projects from a $100M backlog.
He managed $4M in FY22 critical infrastructure projects and secured
more than $4.4M in FY24 infrastructure funding, which included funds
for repairs to the SFO command building and Station Jonesport.
He also executed funding to renovate SFO's multisport complex and
boathouse, replace recreation infrastructure, and acquire
cutting-edge heavy equipment for housing development. CWO Stanley
creatively leveraged resources to maintain superb support readiness
for more than 370 shore facilities. He initiated a 2-year Industrial
Service Order to complete facility maintenance, enhancing
habitability and extending shore asset service life within the
region. He also contributed to personnel readiness, for example, by
improving the new water testing policy for facilities. Moreover, in
a region with limited healthcare resources, he facilitated two
mobile unit events, enabling 144 periodic health assessments and
other services, improving SNNE's overall medical readiness by
22 percent. To mitigate a vacancy in the Local Housing Office,
CWO Stanley took on additional responsibilities to successfully
complete more than 2,200 hours of maintenance. He coordinated a
50 percent occupancy turnover at several housing sites and oversaw
new home construction to bring first-class accommodations to
Coast Guard families in remote areas of Maine.
      (3) YN1 Christine Cioe, Base Charleston Personnel and
Administration (P&A) Supervisor. YN1 Cioe immediately improved the
speed and quality of personnel support during the Coast Guard's
financial and travel system modernization. While serving as the only
Base Charleston P&A supervisor, she worked closely with the Pay and
Personnel Center (PPC) and the Human Resources Directorate (CG-1) to
update nearly 75 YN process model guides, streamlining yeoman
support services using the FSMS and E-Gov Travel System (ETS).
She initiated changes to actions, such as processing sea pay,
retirement orders, and releases from Active Duty, enabling a more
efficient and flexible YN staff throughout the Service. During
transfer season, she oversaw more than 1,200 records and ensured
that all pay and entitlements were correct. In addition, YN1 Cioe
identified and resolved a discrepancy in pay procedures for members
who were assigned to cutters and being separated, and recommended a
comprehensive solution, which led to the applicable user guides
being updated for fleetwide use. While supporting recruiting
initiatives, YN1 Cioe identified a common error in Direct Access
while completing a rehire for a member selected for a Direct
Commission Officer program. Again, she recommended and implemented
a solution, that ultimately led to applicable user guides being
updated. As a result, this Coast Guard-wide change prevents
administrative offices from making similar errors, consolidates
Direct Commission Officer benefits packages, and reduces processing
time for Service entry.
2. The selection panel included the following five Base NCR members,
who evaluated 28 nomination packages:
    a. CAPT Michael Roschel, DCMS-5
    b. CAPT Joe Sundland, Base NCR Commanding Officer
    c. CAPT David Melton, COMDT (CG-44)
    d. CMC Jahmal Pereira, DCMS
    e. Ms. Lizette Medina, FORCECOM
3. These teams and individuals will be recognized by senior
leadership and presented with a plaque.
4. I recommend that members who were nominated but not selected for
these awards be recognized by their commands. At a minimum,
documentation of the award nomination should be reflected in
nominees' performance evaluations or personnel files.
5. Information and eligibility requirements for the 2023 Excellence
in Customer Service Awards will be available this fall.
6. POC: Please direct any questions to Ms. Lori Pastro,
Mission Support Integration Office (DCMS-5), at
DCMSContent@uscg.mil.
7. VADM Paul F. Thomas, Deputy Commandant for Mission Support
(DCMS), sends.
8. Internet release is authorized.