Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Boehmer, the mentoring program manager and a Coast Guard reservist, received praise from the MCPOCG for his leadership in overseeing the development and implementation of the new program. Newly launched Coast Guard mentoring program helps with retention Story by Jessica Manfre, courtesy of Military Families magazine The Coast Guard recently launched its first online mentoring program in May 2021. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Jason Vanderhaden shared his excitement for the opportunity and growth the program is projected to create. “This new mentoring program is based on an app, a civilian app, used by Fortune 500 companies and tailored for the Coast Guard,” he said. “It’s almost like a matching algorithm that takes one person’s history, background, experiences, and desires or goals for their future and then matches it with someone else… creating a best fit and an ideal mentor/mentee relationship.” The free mentoring program is now being offered to all active, Reserve, and civilian employees. It offers four mentoring strategies that hit a range of need levels. The options include one-on-one time with senior leaders, peer-run networking groups, emerging leadership connections, and flash mentoring, which is quick, on-the-spot mentoring for immediate or one- issue-based needs. “We’ve never had anything quite like this,” Vanderhaden said. “The mentoring program of the past was really a grass roots effort by a group of dedicated and caring individuals because they wanted to help the workforce.” Coast Guard leadership began to recognize the increasing need and saw the visible and measurable influence of the boots- on-the-ground mentoring initiative, Vanderhaden said, and the mission to create a sponsored program began. Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Boehmer, the mentoring 8 RESERVIST � Issue 4 • 2021 program manager and a Coast Guard reservist, received praise from the MCPOCG. Boehmer’s leadership, including overseeing the development and implementation of the new program, brought it to launch day. “The launch of the new Coast Guard mentoring program is exciting, because it’s completely changing how our workforce connects with one another while supporting personal and professional growth,” Boehmer said. “I look forward to serving our members and continuing to grow the program.” Boehmer also revealed that, since the mentoring program release, he’s now working with other branches of service who are looking to recreate what the Coast Guard has done for their own service members. Mentoring to improve retention In recent years, the military as a whole has become laser focused on meeting the needs of both its troops and their families. The collective agreement among branch leadership is how vital the approach is for improving retention while lowering continual training spending, but ultimately, in the end, assuring a more robust, mission-ready armed forces. “With the military, there are a lot of dynamics in your career … they all create variables that change your life. Something like this mentoring program can kind of give you the long view,” Vanderhaden explained. Retention struggles for the Coast Guard tend to mirror those
