Coast Guard Leadership Development: Leveraging JPME to Approach Operational Complexity

The US Coast Guard (USCG) is the only military branch of service with neither mandatory Professional Military Education (PME) nor Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) completion requirements. As a result, multiple USCG studies over the past 18 years have found gaps between actual and required leadership competencies within the officer corps. In 2014, the USCG Midgrade Officer and Civilian Transition Course (MOCTC) was successfully established for O3/O4s and GS12/GS13s. However, the course is not available to 100% of the target audience because of staff or funding limitations. The USCG Leadership Development Framework manual specifically lists JPME as a method of gaining leadership competence, yet the service sends less than 1% of its midgrade officers to the course because its generally viewed as advanced education rather than leadership development. Given the USCGs gap in leadership development, its vital role in joint operations, and emerging threats in the maritime environment, the USCG needs to increase participation in JPME until the service develops another way to meet the training and educational needs of its 21st century officers.