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Coast Guard Acquisitions: Formal Criteria Needed to Ensure Project Manager Qualifications

RCED-90-178 Published: Jun 19, 1990. Publicly Released: Jul 19, 1990.
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Highlights

GAO assessed the Coast Guard's actions to increase the qualifications and tenure of acquisitions personnel.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status Sort descending
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Commandant of the Coast Guard to formalize the selection criteria regarding prior experience and education to ensure that, along with management skills necessary to ensure effective performance, all future project managers selected have acquisition experience or acquisition training.
Closed – Implemented
Formal criteria for selecting project managers has been developed. These new criteria are based on a Coast Guard study regarding what knowledge, skill, and abilities project managers should possess.
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Commandant of the Coast Guard to institute a formal requirement that, once selected, all project managers have relevant training, consistent with their educational background and acquisition experience, before their tours begin.
Closed – Implemented
The Coast Guard's project manager screening notice of September 11, 1992, requires that selectees attend a 20-week acquisition course prior to assuming their project manager responsibilities. The agency also has established training positions for project manager selectees.

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Topics

Career planningCoast Guard personnelContract administrationContracting officersEmployee trainingLabor forceMilitary procurementPersonnel managementQuality assuranceMilitary forces