Overview
“The fundamental mission of the Coast Guard
acquisition enterprise remains: to deliver the systems, products and services
that provide our customers (the operating forces) with the best means to
accomplish their missions in the nation’s service.”
—RADM Gary T. Blore, Former Assistant Commandant for Acquisition (CG-9)
The Coast Guard marked a major milestone in how it develops and acquires cutters, aircraft and mission systems with the establishment of a new Acquisition Directorate (CG-9). The directorate stood up on July 13, 2007 to become the second largest staff element at Coast Guard Headquarters.
Who We Are
In 2006, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Thad W. Allen, outlined his strategic vision for the service in 10 Commandant’s Intent Action Orders, or modernization and transformation initiatives. The first CIAO called for the consolidation of the acquisition directorate, “to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of [the Coast Guard’s] total acquisition system.”
The Coast Guard’s newly formed Acquisition Directorate stands at
the leading edge of the Commandant’s effort to create a full-service
mission support organization by 2009. As part of the mission support organization,
the Acquisition Directorate consolidated:
• Office of Acquisition
• Program Executive Officer,
Integrated Deepwater System (G-D)
• Office of Procurement Management
• Office of Research, Development and Technical Management
• Research and
Development Center
• Head of the Contracting Activity
(HCA)
Blueprint for Acquisition Reform
In support of the Commandant’s vision, the acquisition community developed the Blueprint for Acquisition Reform. Approved by the Commandant as the Coast Guard’s “capstone strategic document for reshaping our acquisition and contracting capabilities”, it represents a major step forward in empowering the Coast Guard to organically acquire assets and services.
The Coast Guard's Acquisition Directorate has released the latest version of the Blueprint for Continuous Improvement Version 4.0, the strategic plan for the continuous improvement of the Acquisition Enterprise. After two years of the acquisition reform, the objective of the updated Blueprint for Continuous Improvement is to make organization and business process changes permanent so that the Acquisition Directorate continues to deliver the assets that meet the requirements of Coast Guard in the 21st century.
Acquisition Directorate Organization
CG-91 Head of Contract Activity
The Director of Contracting and Procurement, designated as the Head of the Contracting Activity, is aligned within the Acquisition Directorate to manage contracting policy for the entire Coast Guard. The Commandant directed more effective relationships be forged among acquisition professionals –including contract specialists and program managers– to ensure program requirements, laws and regulations, executive orders, and other procedures are met in program and project contracts. CG-91 includes the offices of contract operations and procurement policy & oversight.
CG-92 Director of Acquisition Services
The Director of Acquisition Services/Deputy Assistant Commandant for Acquisition is responsible for supporting program management processes, including new-starts, cost estimation, risk assessment, financial management, corporate outreach, training & certification, and other tasks for each program or project. CG-92’s organization includes offices for acquisition workforce management; international acquisition programs; acquisition support; strategic planning & communications; resource management; and research, development test & evaluation (which includes a field activity, the R&D Center).
CG-93 Program Director
The Director of Acquisition Programs serves as the Program Executive Officer and is responsible for overarching project management and execution. CG-93 includes the acquisition programs (also called product lines) and project managers, who oversee the development and delivery of assets and systems that address Coast Guard and DHS requirements in all functional domains, including aviation, surface, C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Surveillance, Reconnaissance), and logistics.