ALCOAST 297/08 COMDTNOTE 1510 SUBJ: ENLISTED RATE TRAINING COURSE PROCEDURES UPDATE A. CG INSTITUTE NON-RESIDENT TRAINING EOCT MANAGEMENT SOP, VOL. I B. TRAINING AND EDUCATION MANUAL, COMDTINST M1500.10 (SERIES) C. PERSONNEL MANUAL, COMDTINST M1000.6 (SERIES) 1. THIS MESSAGE PROVIDES A SUMMARY OF PROCEDURES AND INTERIM GUIDANCE FOR ENLISTED PERFORMANCE QUALIFICATIONS (EPQS) AND PERFORMANCE QUALIFICATION GUIDE (PQG) RATE TRAINING COURSES. IT SERVES TO CLARIFY USAGE OF TERMS AND FACILITATE THE NON-RESIDENT TRAINING PROCESS. THESE CHANGES WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO REF (A) AND (B). 2. EPQS. FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRACTICAL FACTORS, EPQS SERVE AS THE FOUNDATION OF THE ENLISTED OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY TRAINING SYSTEM. THE OFFICIAL LOCATION FOR CURRENT EPQS IS NOW THE COAST GUARD LEARNING PORTAL LOCATED AT HTTPS://LEARNING.USCG.MIL. A STUDENT ACCOMPLISHES BOTH THE EPQS AND PQG COURSE AT THE SAME TIME. EPQS ARE SYNONOMOUS WITH THE TERMINAL PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES (TPOS) FOUND IN THE PQG. THE REVISED STANDARD EPQ RECORD (FORM CG-3303C) MUST BE COMPLETED TO QUALIFY FOR THE RATING EOCT AND TO ADVANCE IN RATE. PER REF (C) PARA 5.C.7.A., AN EPQ CANNOT BE WAIVED. IT MAY, HOWEVER, BE DEFERRED AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CO/OIC DUE TO LACK OF RESOURCES ONLY AFTER ALL MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH A SINGLE EPQ HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED AND MUST BE COMPLETED AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE. DEFERRED EPQS MUST BE RECERTIFIED, SIGNED, AND DATED PRIOR TO EACH EPQ COMPLETION DEADLINE TO REMAIN ELIGIBLE FOR SWE COMPETITION. 3. COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVANCEMENT IN CERTAIN RATINGS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO REF (C). WHEN APPLICABLE, A DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS IS APPENDED TO THE EPQ FORM. COMPETENCIES CANNOT BE DEFERRED. A SUPERVISORS SIGNATURE OF COMPLETION OF ALL EPQS AND COMPETENCIES FOR EACH PAY GRADE LEVEL IS REQUIRED ON PAGE 2 OF FORM CG-3303C. 4. PQG. THE PQG COURSE FORMAT PAIRS ON-THE-JOB TRAINING THROUGH THE ASSIGNMENT OF A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COACH (PDC). THE PDC IS DESIGNATED BY A UNIT BASED ON PAY GRADE, PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND LEADERSHIP ABILITY. THE GOAL OF THE PDC IS TO ACCELERATE STUDENT LEARNING. THE PQG IS DESIGNED TO INCREMENTALLY AID STUDENTS IN MASTERING EACH EPQ FOR ADVANCEMENT. SIGNATURES ON CERTIFICATION GUIDE PAMPHLETS AND MONTHLY TRACKING SHEETS (MTS) TO TRACK STUDENT PROGRESS ARE OPTIONAL. TO BETTER ALIGN WITH EPQ SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS, THE PQG SIGNATURE TRACKING PROCESS IS AMENDED TO END WITH THE SHOP CHIEF/DIVISION OFFICER. THE CG INSTITUTE BI-MONTHLY STUDENT STATUS REPORT MAY BE USED AT HIGHER LEVELS TO MONITOR OVERALL STUDENT ACTIVITY. PQG AND OTHER RATE TRAINING COURSES CAN BE FOUND IN CG CENTRAL:LEARNING:NON-RESIDENT COURSES. 5. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. A. ESO - MUST COMPLY WITH REFERENCE (A) AND ALL PROCEDURES DIRECTED BY THE CG INSTITUTE. ENROLLS THE STUDENT AND ORDERS APPROPRIATE PQG RATE TRAINING COURSE MATERIAL FROM THE CG INSTITUTE. ENCOURAGES THE STUDENT TO STUDY AND SEEK GUIDANCE FROM HIS/HER PDC, CHIEF OR SUPERVISOR. VALIDATES PAGE 2 OF THE APPROPRIATE FORM CG-3303C TO ENSURE EPQ COMPLETION PRIOR TO ADMINISTERING ANY RATE TRAINING EOCT. REQUIRED RATING EOCTS ARE LISTED UNDER "EOCT TEST INFORMATION" ON THE CG INSTITUTE WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.USCG.MIL/HQ/CG1/CGI/. FOLLOW THE LINK TO NON-RESIDENT TRAINING. AS A REMINDER, REF (C) PARA 5.C.8.G, OUTLINES AND SPECIFIES THE 21/7 DAY RE-TESTING POLICY. PROCEDURES FOR ADMINISTRATION OF OPEN BOOK EXAMINATIONS ARE POSTED ON THE CG INSTITUTE WEBSITE. B. CHIEF, DIVISION OFFICER OR SENIOR SUPERVISOR (MAY BE A CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE) - MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PDC ASSIGNMENT. FACILITATES OJT OPPORTUNITIES FOR EPQ/PQG COMPLETION, CERTIFIES COMPLETION OF EPQS ON PAGE 2 OF THE FORM CG-3303C. C. PDC - THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COACH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRACKING STUDENT PROGRESS TO MASTER ALL PQG ENABLING OBJECTIVES AND PQG/EPQ TERMINAL PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PDC IS TO ACCELERATE STUDENT LEARNING BY MEANS OF EXPLAINING, DEMONSTRATING, GUIDING PRACTICE SESSIONS, AND PROVIDING CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING AND PQG TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION. UNITS ARE ENCOURAGED TO DESIGNATE PDC TRADE EXPERTS/ROLE MODELS IN WRITING FOR EACH TRAINEE. THE PDC MAY FURTHER REFER THE STUDENT TO TASK SPECIFIC EXPERTS FOR DETAILED ENRICHMENT AND BROADER PERSPECTIVE. MEMBERS MUST RECEIVE AUTHORIZATION FROM THEIR IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR TO HAVE SOMEONE OUTSIDE THEIR NORMAL CHAIN-OF-COMMAND SIGN OFF PERFORMANCE QUALIFICATIONS. ELIGIBLE MEMBERS ARE E-5 LEVEL OR ABOVE AND AT LEAST ONE PAY GRADE HIGHER THAN THE STUDENT. THE PDC SHOULD BE ASSIGNED FROM WITHIN THE MEMBERS OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY IF AT ALL FEASIBLE AS THEY POSSESS THE REQUISITE TRADE EXPERTISE. THE PDC MAY BE ASSIGNED EXTERNALLY FROM A DIFFERENT UNIT. COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES, AND MEMBERS FROM OUTSIDE A MEMBERS RATING MAY BE DESIGNATED AS A LAST OPTION. THE STUDENTS PDC, SUPERVISOR, OR AN AUTHORIZED TASK EXPERT MUST SIGN OFF EACH ACCOMPLISHED EPQ ON FORM CG-3303C AS THIS IS A PREREQUISITE TO TAKE THE RATING EOCT AND TO ADVANCE IN RATE. D. STUDENT - ENGAGES IN CONTINUOUS LEARNING FOR ADVANCEMENT. SEEKS OUT THE UNIT ESO TO ENROLL IN THE RATE TRAINING COURSE. STUDIES THE MATERIAL PRESENTED IN THE COURSE, DEMONSTRATES PERFORMANCE OF ENABLING OBJECTIVES LISTED IN THE PQG CERTIFICATION PHAMPLET, AND WHEN CONFIDENT, DEMONSTRATES PERFORMANCE OF THE EPQ TERMINAL PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE. OBTAINS PDC SIGNATURES ON FORM CG-3303C. WHEN ALL EPQS FOR THE APPLICABLE PAYGRADE HAVE BEEN SIGNED, OBTAINS SIGNATURE ON PAGE 2 OF CG FORM 3303C FROM THE SHOP CHIEF OR DIVISION OFFICER CERTIFYING EPQS FOR EOCT AND ADVANCEMENT ARE COMPLETE. PRESENTS THE SIGNED CG-3303C TO THE ESO PRIOR TO TAKING THE RATING EOCT. THE REQUIREMENT TO PRESENT SIGNED EPQS FOR TEST ADMISSION APPLIES TO ALL PQG AND LEGACY CORRESPONDENCE COURSE RATING EOCTS. 6. GENERAL GUIDANCE ABOUT ENLISTED RATING COURSE ENROLLMENT OR TESTING IS AVAILABLE FROM ESOS. QUESTIONS REGARDING ESO PROCEDURES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE CG INSTITUTE. QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RATING EPQS SPECIFICALLY, OR PERSONNEL ADVANCEMENT REQUIREMENTS, SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE RATING FORCE MASTER CHIEF OF THE OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY. QUESTIONS REGARDING PQG AND OTHER COURSE CONTENT SHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE SUBJECT MATTER SPECIALIST OF THE OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY. SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE ENLISTED TRAINING SYSTEM MAY BE E-MAILED TO MARK.A.PLANITZ(AT)USCG.MIL. 7. RDML D. R. MAY, DIRECTOR OF RESERVE AND TRAINING, SENDS. 8. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.