The U.S. Coast Guard has missed its recruiting targets for the fourth fiscal year in a row, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Titled, “Recruitment and Retention Challenges Persist,” the report revealed that the Coast Guard “is about 4,800 members short” of its target total force, as the branch marks the fourth year in a row it has come up short of its recruitment goals. This shortfall encompasses the branch’s active duty, reserve, and civilian workforces, according to the Coast Guard’s fiscal year 2024 congressional budget justification.
“The Coast Guard has also faced recruitment and retention issues within its cyberspace workforce, specialized forces, and marine inspectors,” the GAO report reads. “Competition with higher paying jobs in the private sector, limited opportunities for promotion, and long work hours have made it challenging to recruit and retain these personnel.”
Factors contributing to such retention issues include quality of health care and housing costs, according to the GAO. Coast Guard personnel stationed in remote locations, for example, could have trouble accessing quality medical care. Regarding housing costs, GAO found that the Department of Defense — which “determines [housing] allowances for all the services” to help service members with housing costs — has failed to rely “on quality data to set accurate allowance rates.” In other words, the agency has failed to adjust its housing allowances to match fluctuating housing costs.
As a possible solution to its ongoing recruiting crisis, the Coast Guard is purportedly considering “part-time”
