Coast Guard Workforce Mix

Concerns have been raised in recent years about the ratio of the Coast Guard's military-to-civilian staff. Over the years, the Coast Guard has employed more military personnel, relative to its full-time workforce, than have other military services. This report evaluates (1) how the Coast Guard's current workforce mix compares with the workforce mix of other military services and how the workforce mix has changed since 1991, (2) how many military commissioned officer positions in administrative and support functions offer opportunities for conversion to civilian positions, and (3) what the advantages and disadvantages are of converting those military positions to civilian positions. GAO found that the Coast Guard employs proportionately more military personnel in its full-time workforce than the military services and that the mix has remained essentially unchanged since fiscal year 1991.

GAO noted that: (1) the Coast Guard employs proportionately more military personnel in its full-time workforce than the military services in the Department of Defense; (2) this mix of civilian and military personnel has remained essentially unchanged since fiscal year 1991; (3) about 800 of the 980 commissioned officer positions in the Coast Guard units GAO selected for review offer opportunities for conversion to civilian positions because they do not meet the Coast Guard's criteria for military staffing as defined in its 1989 staffing standards manual; (4) such positions include those in personnel, public affairs, civil rights, data processing, research and development, information resources management, contracting, financial management, and civil, naval, and electronic engineering; (5) Coast Guard managers in the support units housing these positions generally said that these functions did not require the skills and abilities that could be obtained only through military training or operational experience, and thus, could be performed by civilian personnel; (6) there are advantages and disadvantages to filling military positions with civilians; (7) filling the positions that GAO reviewed with commissioned officers costs the government, on average, 21 percent more than filling the same positions with comparable civilian employees because of differences in the average pay and retirement benefits, as well as the nontaxability of military allowances; (8) long-term potential annual cost savings of about $15 million to the government for converting about 800 commissioned officer positions is one significant advantage; (9) while Coast Guard officials noted that initial costs could reduce costs savings when conversions are made, the Coast Guard has recognized that civilians provide qualitative benefits such as greater continuity of service and, in some cases, greater technical expertise; (10) Coast Guard officials also identified a number of disadvantages to converting these military positions to civilian positions; (11) they believe that military officers have experience with and knowledge of the Coast Guard's operations, which enhances the officer's efficiency and effectiveness; (12) the commissioned officer positions GAO identified do not meet the Coast Guard's criteria for military staffing, and conversions could not be phased in over time without substantially affecting the Coast Guard's operations; and (13) a change of this magnitude needs to be carefully implemented to avoid any unintended consequences.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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