Coast Guard employees are required to update their work contact information in MilConnect, as part of the ongoing transition from the Commercial Virtual Remote (CVR) version of Microsoft Teams to Coast Guard Teams. Trying to find a coworker’s contact information when you send an email remains exactly the same, but the place that the contact data is stored is shifting.
The Global Address List (GAL) found within Microsoft Outlook – commonly referred to as “global” – will move from the Enterprise Directory Management System (EDMS) to the MilConnect portal.
The Defense Manpower Data Center’s MilConnect allows employees and military family members to update personal and work contact information, health care eligibility, personnel records, and other information from one reliable, centralized source.
All Coast Guard employees to include military (active duty and reserve), civilian personnel, members of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) detailed to the Coast Guard, affiliated volunteers (including Auxiliarists) who are issued a Logical Access Card (LAC), and all contractors who are issued a Common Access Card (CAC) while supporting the Coast Guard, must log in to MilConnect and update their “work contact info” (outlined in red in the screenshot below) by the end of March.
The user guide provides members a step-by-step process to follow to complete the update. There are specific ways to format the job title field information depending on your employment status.
Civilian Employees:
- Civilians GS-12 and above will use their GS Grade value (e.g. GS12). Civilians GS-11 and below, may use their GS Grade value but it is not required (e.g. GS or GS9).
Military Members:
- When you update your MilConnect profile, be sure to include rating and specialty information ((e.g. YN2, MK3, ISM4, etc.) in the job title field as instructed in the user guide. Specialty or rating information will not be displayed in the GAL “Job Title” field unless updated by the member.
Auxiliarists:
- Auxiliarists may enter “AUX”.
Contractors with CAC access:
- Update your job title to reflect your role (e.g. CTR).
Deployed members and reservists will have additional time to complete the MilConnect update.
By mid-April, rating and warrant officer specialty (MK2, BOSN4, etc.) information will no longer populate in display names in emails, Skype, CVR or CG Teams. For instance, MK2 and BOSN4 will instead display as PO2 and CW4, respectively. Commissioned officer rank will not be affected.
Military members will no longer be able to update their rank in EDMS after March 31, 2021, and rank changes are not allowed by end users in MilConnect. However, rank changes will update automatically within MilConnect and the GAL within 48 hours after they occur in Direct Access.
EDMS will remain available for members to update their “manager” field in the GAL and administer any security or distribution groups they manage.
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