The Coast Guard recently announced it was creating an incentive to encourage more Boatswain’s Mates (BM) to go through board certification to become Officers-in-Charge (OIC). Any BM1 who does this and successfully passes the board, will automatically earn 20 Servicewide Exam (SWE) Points. This would essentially put them at the top of the Servicewide Advancement list, so it’s a huge boost in terms of advancement. To learn more about the thinking behind it, we talked with the man who dreamed it up: MCPO Grant Heffner, Rating Force Master Chief (RFMC) for the BM rate.
MyCG: What prompted this incentive?
RFMC Heffner: Necessity. We’ve seen a steady decline in OIC Board participation. If we, BM’s, want to continue having the opportunity to command, we need to lean into the challenge. I weighed a couple options – carrot or stick – the stick being a mandatory core competency requirement for advancement. I’m trying to use the carrot and inspire high performers to step up. In Assignment Year 2025 there were 28 OIC and senior BM assignments unfilled after the slate was completed. I fear that if we don’t maintain a healthy pool of candidates, we will lose the opportunity to command. The mission will continue. It has to. I’m hopeful though. I’ll be curious to see what our numbers are in the fall. I think they’ll go up.
MyCG: Who do you hope to reach/entice with these incentives?
RFMC Heffner: I look at our eager 1st class petty officers – those high performing BM1’s who really want to step into that leadership opportunity. The advancement from E6 to E7 is the hardest one to achieve. So, I thought how can I advantage these members, and inspire others to follow?
MyCG: Why do you think fewer BMs are challenging the OIC boards?
RFMC Heffner: Well, historically roughly 60 percent of people who attempt the board, earn their final certification. So, it isn’t easy. I’m sure that’s part of it. I also feel that the OIC boards have had a stigma – it's not what you know, it’s who you know. I have worked tirelessly to align fleetwide expectations for board conduct; primarily evaluating the candidates’ leadership, professionalism, and ethics. At the end of the day, BMs should aspire to command. That’s the expectation of our rating. Instead, I sometimes see a sense of entitlement. People are eager to advance, but they don’t want the responsibility that accompanies advancement.
MyCG: What would success look like to you?
RFMC Heffner: I’d like us to get to a point where every BMC has at least one OIC certification. That’s just better for higher caliber leadership. Imagine if every instructor, every RFO Chief, every Chief Boatswain Mate you worked with, had their OIC certifications. How much stronger would our Coast Guard be?
MyCG: Was it difficult to sell your idea to leadership?
RFMC Heffner: It was hard to push through. Having the data to support the need certainly helped the narrative. Organizationally this is different and new. But I think this sets a precedent to lean into a future state of competency-based advancements. As BMs, we are no strangers to this concept. We already have many Core Competency requirements, like coxswain and deck watch officer. This re-affirms the service expectations of our senior BMs. You don’t just get to advance – you have to perform. We’re going to elevate the expectations of the rating and elevate performance.
MyCG: What else should members know about these incentives?
RFMC Heffner: This incentive is for BM1 testing for BMC, not for BMC’s testing for senior chief. It’s a two-year beta test – impacting the 2026 and the 2027 OIC Boards – to evaluate the efficacy of the policy change. If we see the increase in board participation that I expect, that will be great. It is important to note the SWE score is still important. You’re not going to just advance because of the extra points. If 151 members earn OIC certification and the cutoff is 110, you still need to make that cut.
MyCG: Any final thoughts?
RFMC Heffner: I think the overarching message I want to remind the fleet of is that it is the expectation of Boatswain’s Mates to ascend to command positions. Some feel like command is losing its allure – that they’re just managers and sectors tell them what to do. I say, “When in command, command.” I ask two things of the rating. I ask BMs to be leaders. All eyes are on BMs at all times. When challenges arise, everyone looks to the BMs. I ask them to be the leaders their people deserve – the leaders that they wish they had coming up, and to be a force for good. The other thing I ask the rating to do is drive a boat. If we produce world class leaders and world class boat drivers, our service is positioned to do anything our Country asks of us.
Questions? Please contact RFMC Heffner with additional questions about OIC certification and this beta test at Grant.D.Heffner@uscg.mil
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Resources:
- ALCOAST 150/25 Incentivizing the Officer in Charge (OIC) board candidate participation for the active-duty Boatswain Mate (BM) rating