T he Reserve Component continually serves as the Coast Guard’s nimble force in garrison, providing operational capabilities and mission ready personnel to meet the myriad of requests that come its way. The Reserve capability has been showcased in recent years, with additional active duty opportunities in response to hurricanes and humanitarian crises, border operations, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 40% of the Reserve workforce (over 2,400 members) serves within the shore forces enterprise across our sectors, marine safety units, marine safety detachments, sector field offices, who continually provide valuable assistance to their active duty counterparts. The Office of Shore Forces identified the need to realign and update many of its reserve training capabilities, and with the introduction of the Shore Forces Reserve Management Plan (SFRMP), we are able to provide a stronger and more ready, trained surge force to aid our active duty counterparts when called up, filling vital roles in service to our nation. You might be thinking that if you’ve seen one sector, you’ve seen them all. Same missions, departments, same positions, right? But not all sectors are exactly equal. A sector in the Pacific Northwest with nearby shipping ports may have a heavier load on facility inspections. Another in New England may focus their reservists on law enforcement, ports, waterways and coastal security, and response missions. The Office of Shore Forces took notice. Plan organizers took valuable insights and feedback from the field on how our reservists could be used, and how they can all have a common standard of training across the Coast Guard. Enter the SFRMP, which threads common teams of 18 RESERVIST � Issue 1 • 2022 reservists across all of our Sectors, notably, those sectors with reserve staffs larger than 30. We polled and collaborated with the experts from the field units, and throughout Coast Guard Headquarters, to develop a common set of competencies that are more achievable by reservists over drill weekends. Shore Forces reservists now have clearer paths for advancement, and also know that they’re training the same, in rating, as their shipmates across the country. For example, a first class maritime enforcement specialist at Sector North Carolina will attend the same C-schools and have the same competencies as an ME1 at San Diego. The reservists’ competencies were built around filling a sector’s Incident Management Team, which is staffed using people with Incident Command System (or ICS) qualifications. This team comprises 20 positions with competencies many reservists (especially those in shore forces) are familiar with or even currently trained in A filled slate would give each sector a reserve IMT—a qualified team, comprised of reservists who have trained together at their sectors, that can plug and play when called up to respond. The Shore Forces Reserve Management Plan serves two purposes. First, it establishes structure and clarifies the role of the Shore Forces Reserve Workforce, and second, it enables its capability, competency, readiness and availability to respond to national, regional, and local maritime security and safety incidents. The clarified role is important to both the reservists and the command. It helps the command understand what kind of training their reservists need, what metrics they can be measured using, and what kind of bench strength the command has for contingencies. Similarly, the reservists have standardized expectations from their units, no matter which unit they’re assigned to. Beyond that, this helps rating
