Executing at Speed: What FD28 Looks Like from the CWO Deck Plate
Force Design 2028 is reshaping the Coast Guard at a pace the Service hasn’t seen in
years. The intent is clear: sharpen operational effectiveness, expand capability, and
keep up with rising mission demands. At the strategic level, the momentum is visible in
expanded presence and measurable mission gains.
Life on the deck plate tells a more complicated story. Chief Warrant Officers across the
fleet aren’t questioning the direction of FD28, they’re describing what it feels like to
execute that direction under sustained operational pressure.
Sustained OPTEMPO and the Execution Gap
Operational tempo has shifted from periodic surges to a near-constant state of demand.
Units are juggling multiple mission sets with shorter turnarounds, fewer reset periods,
and more cross unit tasking than ever before.
Independent assessments echo what the fleet is experiencing. A recent Government
Accountability Office report noted that since 2022, the Coast Guard has been operating
in a prolonged surge environment, reallocating people and assets under tight
constraints. Those adjustments come with tradeoffs, and the strain is felt most acutely at
the unit level.
For crews, this isn’t a theoretical challenge. It’s the daily reality of trying to maintain
readiness while the margin for recovery continues to shrink.
Capacity Isn’t Matching Demand
The Service is growing its workforce, and that growth is essential. But new personnel
don’t immediately translate into operational capacity.
Developing a fully capable operator takes time; time for training, supervision, and
experience. That responsibility falls largely on midgrade leaders who are already
carrying heavier operational loads. Meanwhile, units are absorbing additional
administrative and readiness requirements tied to onboarding.
The result is a widening gap between the number of people assigned and the number of
people who can execute at the level the mission requires. The issue isn’t the decision to
grow; it’s the lag between accession and capability, and the fact that units are absorbing
that lag in real time.
Burnout as an Operational Risk
The combination of sustained OPTEMPO, increased administrative requirements, and
constant training demands is creating real strain across the workforce.
Midgrade professionals, those who lead operations, maintain systems, and develop
junior members, are carrying the heaviest load. Over time, that cumulative pressure
erodes margin for error and increases operational risk.
This trend isn’t unique to the Coast Guard. A May 2025 article in the NCO Journal
highlighted similar challenges across the military, noting that prolonged high OPTEMPO
affects readiness, retention, and overall wellbeing.
In this environment, burnout isn’t a quality-of-life concern. It’s a readiness concern.
Speed of Change and Technical Friction
FD28 is designed to move quickly, and that speed is producing results. But rapid
change also creates friction where policy, doctrine, and execution meet.
Across the fleet, CWOs are seeing the same patterns:
Missions evolving faster than doctrine
Policy updates arriving faster than units can absorb
Qualification pathways that don’t always match current tasking
Units continue to adapt, as they always have. But persistent misalignment increases
inefficiency and risk, especially in technical fields where precision and standardization
are essential.
The CWO Role: Translating Intent into Execution
Chief Warrant Officers sit at the intersection of policy and practice. They are the
Service’s technical experts, responsible for ensuring that platforms, procedures, and
requirements can be executed safely and effectively.
CWOs understand not only what needs to be done, but what it takes to do it and how
long it takes, what resources are required, and where competing demands create
friction. Their perspective is distinct from strategic leadership and enlisted force
management because it is grounded in execution and technical feasibility.
That perspective has always made CWOs trusted advisors. In today’s environment, it is
indispensable. The question isn’t whether CWOs are contributing. It’s whether their
expertise is consistently integrated into how the Service executes at speed.
A Throughput Problem, Not a Feedback Problem
The Coast Guard has multiple avenues for collecting feedback, including
program specific tools and the FD28 SharePoint link. Access isn’t the issue.
Throughput is.
Technical insight from the field, especially from CWOs, isn’t always aggregated or
applied quickly enough to inform enterprise level decisions. As a result, trends that are
obvious at the unit level may not be recognized until they’ve already created friction.
This isn’t a structural failure. It’s an opportunity to better connect the systems already in
place.
Recommendations for Operational Alignment
Feedback from the fleet points to several practical steps:
Align priorities with available capacity to support consistent decision making
Measure workload alongside output to better understand operational limits
Strengthen aggregation of technical feedback, particularly from CWOs
Accelerate alignment between doctrine and execution through solution focused input
Reduce single points of failure through deliberate crossqualification
Moving Forward
Force Design 2028 is delivering results and positioning the Coast Guard for longterm
success. Feedback from the field clarifies the cost at which that success is being
achieved.
CWOs have long been valued for their technical expertise and operational judgment.
That voice remains essential, but it is not always fully integrated into decision making at
scale.
The gap isn’t in contribution. It’s in connection.
If the Coast Guard is going to sustain its current tempo, it must ensure that the technical
insight of those executing its most complex missions is not only heard but applied.
Strengthening that link will reduce friction, improve alignment, and help ensure that
operational success remains sustainable.
The Service is moving fast. The opportunity now is to ensure the experience and
expertise of its CWO corps move with it, and help shape the way ahead.
CWO3 Melissa Polson
VP of Active Duty Affairs
