A data quality review of DD-214 forms exposed ongoing issues with the content of block 11, Primary Specialty Number, Title and Years and Months in Specialty. The data quality review showed that Competency Codes were mistakenly being entered in the block.
For officers, block 11 will only contain Officer Specialty Code(s), titles and years and months assigned. Although Officer Specialty Codes and Competency Codes are both stored in Direct Access under the Person Profile as "competencies", they are not the same. A Competency Code is not an Officer Specialty Code.
SPOs will follow the guidance in the SPO Manual, Part VI, Chapter 6, for DD-214 completion. The Block 11 instructions are repeated below:
Block 11. Primary Specialty Number, Title and Years and Months in Specialty.
For enlisted personnel, enter "N/A" in the Description field and leave the Competency, Year Acquired and Last Used fields blank (Ref: COMDTINST M1900.4 (series), Para 1-E).
For CWOs, enter the specialty (e.g., For "PERS" enter "Personnel Administration").
For Officers, the instructions in COMDTINST M1900.4 (series), Para 1-E, are no longer valid because the Officer Experience Indicators were removed from the Register of Officers (COMDTINST M1427.2 (series)) and are no longer available. The Coast Guard transitioned to a new Officer Specialty Management System (OSMS) (See http://www.uscg.mil/psc/opm/Opm3/opm-3OSMS.asp for more information and status updates). The majority of O-4s and above as well as many Direct Commission Officers and CWO-LTs of all paygrades have OSCs assigned. If any OSC is assigned to the officer in DA, enter it (Code and Description) in Block 11. If no OSC is assigned the officer should contact PSC-OPM-3 directly and they will address the initial assignment.
Valid OSCs are listed in the "Competency Dictionary" (Second tab of the worksheet). Do not enter any competency code in the block 11 fields. Only Officer Specialty Codes are valid for block 11. The system (DA) pulls in the assigned code IF one is assigned.
Questions:
Direct questions regarding DD-214 policy to Commandant (CG-1331), Ms. Teresa Marshall, phone - (202) 475-5391, E-mail - Teresa.Marshall@uscg.mil.
Direct questions regarding Officer Specialty Codes to the appropriate point of contact listed on the OSMS web page (http://www.uscg.mil/psc/opm/Opm3/opm-3OSMS.asp) or the OSMS Program Manager, Mr. Brandon Chittum, CG Personnel Service Center, Officer Evaluations Branch, (OPM-3), phone - (703) 872-6467, E-mail - Brandon.F.Chittum@uscg.mil.
Direct questions regarding Direct Access procedures and issues to PPC Customer Care.