April 2024 Update: RFMC

Posted byCoast Guard Culinary Specialists Leave a comment on April 2024 Update: RFMC

Culinary Specialists,

Good morning from Base New Orleans. We have a couple Vested Crews members getting ready for A School here. SN Micheal Herman and SN Dane Smith. They tell me Chief John Ross and his Galley team are doing a great job preparing them for life as a CS. I’m headed to Galveston tomorrow. Sorry I missed you in PR this week, the trip was canceled, the Dauntless had a change of plans so I wasn’t able to hop onboard in PR. I may see you soon in PR if I sail with Eagle for Phase 2. Phase 2 might be embarking the Eagle in PR.

The CS leadership department April updates have been released at https://www.coastguardculinary.com/:

Upcoming RFMC Schedule: 

  • APR 8th – 11th New Orleans – New Hybrid Concept and Vested Crew Member Review  
  • APR 11th – 12th Galveston, TX Site Visits 
  • APR 14th – 15th SDP/AP Panel 
  • APR 21st – 27th Japan High School Recruiting Event 
  • MAY 6th – 8th Enlisted 2025 WPT Panel  
  • MAY 13th – May 17th Chicago – Rednour Awards and CS of the Year 
  • JUN 10 – 17 Puerto Rico Site Visits 
  • JUN 18th – July 22nd Underway CGC Eagle 

Ongoing- RTAC/RFMC/Program/Product Line collaborations: 

  • River Tender Round Up CSB in Paris Landing, TN April 8th-12th.  
  • Jack of the Dust (JOD) Name change – Purchasing and Inventory Manager (EPM/AO Master Chiefs) 
  • 2024 Pro Start/Skills USA event recruiting (PROGRAM, RKM) 
  • OMR for OPC staffing models – 7 CS is the latest 
  • Telesupport/video training qual sign off started for independent duty CS (RKM) 
  • Researching the possibility of FRC Stores Hub/Support Center/CSA concept galley that SPL/Program would like to initiate as a test (Boston) for implementation LA/LB, PR, Key West, Miami, Boston
  • More Hybrid Model Galley Possibilities – Base New Orleans, San Diego  
  • Creating Advancement Competencies for the CS Rating (Program) 
  • Realigning Sea-Time requirements for the CS Rating (Program) 
  • 2024 World Food Show Upgrade – Military Chef Challenge (RKM, AO) 
  • CS A School Revamp – Remove the Operational Requirements (Program, A School) 
  • Menu Advisory Board Form (Program, CSB) 
  • Military Chef of the Month Program (CG PAs, Program) 

Recently Completed- RTAC/RFMC/Program/Product Line collaborations (at the bottom): 

  • APR 1st – 5th ACF Instructor Certification Week at TRACEN Petaluma (Program, School House) 
  • MAR 25th – 28th Silver Badge Conference 
  • MAR 18th – 22nd LA/LB Cutter Round up (RKM) 
  • MAR 14th – 18th Underway on CGC Waeche 
  • MAR 13th – 14th Bay Area Site Visits/CS rating review kickoff 
  • MAR 12th CSA Alameda Site Visit 
  • MAR 11th Kick-off the CS rating review process (RTAC/RKM) 
  • MAR 11th TRACEN Petaluma – Quarterly Student RFMC Intro Visit 
  • MAR 7th – 8th Culinary Team Senior Leadership/Awards Ceremony Visit Fort Greg Adams (Program, AO, SCA) 
  • FEB 10th Guam FRC Visits 
  • JAN 19th – MAR 9th RFMC WEST PAC onboard CGC BERTOLF https://www.instagram.com/p/C4GAiZsLyse/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== 
  • Jack of the Dust new CS-19 competency is now available in Direct Access (Program) 
  • Jack of the Dust Course Code Obtained (School House) 
  • Submitted the MCAP CS Career Guide https://uscg.sharepoint-mil.us/sites/psc_spo/psc-epm/epm- 1/Boards%20and%20Panels/SiteAssets/SitePages/Master-Chief-Advancement-Panel/CS-MCAP_Career-Guide-Highlight.docx?web=1 
  • PAC Area Payment solutions for meals/food for Cutter international ComRel events 
  • New resilience coordinators roles in better nutritional practices for our galley and sailors (Program)  
  • AMIO CS Procedures PI/PVA Lant/PAC Alignment (Program, SPL, CSB) 
  • Culinary Programs ACF Certification push is working: CS “A” 04-24 became the first class in history to graduate with the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Certified Fundamentals Cook certification. 13 CS3s and 4 Philippines Coast Guard (PCG) members earned this industry leading certification. (Program, A School) 
  • CS recruiting efforts are working “A” School graduated 17 members, tied for the largest graduating class in the history of the CS rating. (Program, A School) 
  • Attended Program brief with LANTAREA Commands on station galley closures (Program) 
  • Attended Program brief with Deputy Principals Council on station galley closures (Program) 
  • Realign Culinary School LOIs to E4 for better results (Recruiting Command) 
  • CS of the Year Selection Board (Program) 

Message from the RFMC,

Hello Culinary Specialists! Your CS Senior Leaders have been busy traveling around the Nation Recruiting, Training and Mentoring. It is heart warming to see all the interactions and results from all your hard work and Senior Leadership support. Our recruiting numbers are up but our retention in down. I know you all told me this but now the numbers are confirming your concerns. Please review the following submission to the Work Force Planning Team:

CS Ongoing Challenges
The CS Temporary Duty (TDY) Crisis, combined with the persistent critical status of the rating, are leading to a considerable decline in CS personnel. Recent statistics indicate a distressing trajectory in attrition rates, particularly among CS3s and CS2s. CS3s are enduring a 17.3% attrition rate, demonstrating a 63% uptick from the preceding year, and surpassing the Coast Guard E-4 average by 69%. We are losing CS2s at a 16.2% attrition rate, a 44% increase since last year, and 67% above the Coast Guard’s average for E-5s. Overall, we are currently short by 96 positions and our Rating strength is at just 92%, attrition rates have spiked to 14.5%, which represents a 38% increase from the previous year. This unsettling trend is a cause for concern, not just for retention efforts but also for its potential impact on the operational readiness of the Coast Guard. To maintain the long-term health and efficacy of the CS rating, it is crucial that we implement effective strategies to address this crisis.

Additionally, the anticipated increase in the number of afloat billets (we are over 50% afloat), particularly tied to the introduction of new assets, is set to further distort the already imbalanced Sea to Shore ratio. Without the necessary funding for more ashore positions, this issue is likely to worsen.

We are still critical and need to continue the push to recruit more CSs. The pronounced deficit of 117 CS3 billets, especially over 80% in afloat roles, is seriously jeopardizing the culinary program’s objectives and the retention of our current CS workforce.

What Can We Do?
Considering these conditions, the continuation of reenlistment incentives, particularly Selective Reenlistment Bonuses (SRBs), serves as an effective mitigation strategy for CS personnel retention.

Also, we are experiencing gradual recovery from recruitment shortcomings, TMX/Commandant Intent based efforts including Lateral Entry, Letters of Intent (LOIs) with educational institutions, and vigorous recruiting complemented by social media campaigns have yielded marked improvements in ‘A’ School admission. To change our current bonuses (specifically the 70K Certificate EB and $75 Culinary Degree EB) would nullify existing LOIs and potentially reduce our partners desire to allow us to participate at highly effective recruiting venues/events and may also damage relationships constructed with industry partners such as Skills USA, ProStart, the National Restaurant Association, and the American Culinary Federation due to changes to promised incentives. 

Our projections appear optimistic; however, the task remains incomplete. It is imperative to uphold the momentum and see through these Commandant/TMX talent management initiatives that have been set in motion.

What can we do? We did it: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dU6IOG2Ngv0 . We need to do it again.

In Closing
Following an increase in recruitment numbers, we have proposed to voluntarily reduce certain CS recruiting incentives, potentially amounting to losing millions in decrease CS bonus funding. Having invested this money and significant effort into recruiting CSs, it is essential that we now focus on retention. The reduction in recruitment initiatives should provide us with the flexibility to bolster retention support.

Although retention has become the priority, our TMX based recruiting initiatives, including Lateral Entry and Letters of Intent (LOIs) with educational institutions may be jeopardized by recruiting incentive reductions. While our projections appear optimistic, the task is not yet accomplished. We still need recruiting support.

We worked so hard to obtain these recruits and effective initiatives, now we must keep them.

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A couple quick updates from RKM and SC Toler:

-Upcoming Transfer Season 2024? Check your Emails! Senior Chief Eric Toler says Greetings, In case you were not aware, on 06MAR24 the Purchase Card team released new versions of the Credit Card Holder and Approving Official agreements.  The Citi bank application has not changed. Click here for more: https://coastguardculinary.com/2024/04/10/upcoming-transfer-season-2024-check-your-emails-senior-chief-eric-toler-says/

-Master Chief Justin Reed, our Rating Knowledge manager (RKM) was able to lock down a 1 year memberships for all Culinary Specialists for the Butter Book ($200 value). All you need to provide is your name and CG Email.  An email was sent to you (search outlook for butter book). These courses can earn you Continuing Education Hours (CEH) for ACF certification and all content is accessible CG network. The Butter Book was created by the French Pastry School founders. The system guides you through the foundational skills needed to master proper pastry, BREAD (bread is the most important product on a boat besides the protein) and cake decorating. Butter Book tracks the number of completed categories in both lessons & courses, checks for lessons in progress, lists recipe favorites, and logs activity of the cooks over time. Please see attached code and https://coastguardculinary.com/2024/01/29/check-you-emails-rkm-master-chief-justin-reed-gets-us-the-butter-book/ for more info.

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Many people are asking about the Hybrid concept. Please review my Memo for Base Boston:

Introduction and Support for the Hybrid Concept
The innovative hybrid Regional Support Galley concept proposed by Base Boston represents a scalable, agile, and cost-effective solution, poised to significantly benefit Culinary Specialists (CSs) across the Coast Guard. This initiative has my full endorsement. By integrating contracted line cooks and mess attendants into our ashore galleys, we can extend high-quality galley services to more locations, reducing the reliance on CS manpower and diminishing overall costs. This hybrid model not only delivers exceptional value but also transforms the role of CSs from Contracting Officer’s Representatives to Food Service Officers (FSOs), enhancing their professional scope and impact

Operational Benefits and Professional Development:
The envisioned Regional Support Galley serves as a pivotal “hub” for supporting afloat galleys, especially those aboard patrol boats. The presence of an in-rate Chief Culinary Specialist on shore, actively engaged in similar tasks as those in afloat galleys, goes beyond mere advisory roles. This hands-on approach fosters professional development and operational efficiency. The integration of the EZ Supply system, prime vending, and the strategic shift of rations represent a significant advancement in our logistical capabilities, adding resilience and efficiency to our operations. For years we’ve asked our CSs to be flexible in support of operations, this innovative solution enables us to provide flexibility in return.

In summary:
The hybrid Regional Support Galley concept is a forward-thinking approach that promises to revolutionize the support structure for our Culinary Specialists, enhancing both operational efficiency and professional development within our ranks. The successful implementation of this concept at Base Boston could serve as a model for similar initiatives across the Coast Guard, marking a significant step forward in our continuous pursuit of excellence in service support and personnel development.

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We are slowly healing as a rating. There is much more to do. SPL, CSB, RFMC and Program will be sending out combined guidance on how to work within these new CS environments. Thank you for everything you do. It is inspiring visiting you and hearing/seeing your passion for this rating. We are a very impressive group of humans. Keep on shining.  

-Master Chief Swenson

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