Coxswain Core Course Evaluation

Background

Organization

The evaluation was conducted for the United States Coast Guard (USCG), a military, multi-mission, maritime service that safeguards the nation's maritime interests both domestically and abroad. Within the USCG, Training Center Yorktown (TRACEN Yorktown) plays a vital role in developing operational readiness by providing foundational and advanced training to Coast Guard personnel, particularly in boat operations. TRACEN Yorktown serves as a central hub for shaping the technical and leadership skills of members assigned to the community responsible for operating the USCG’s small boats, called Boat Forces and Cutter Operations branch (BFCO) , which perform missions such as search and rescue, law enforcement, and port security. The Coxswain Core Course, the focus of this evaluation, represents a targeted effort by the organization to streamline coxswain qualification timelines, thereby enhancing fleet capability while easing the training load on operational units.

Program and Stakeholders

The Coxswain Core Course (CCC) is a three-week, platform-specific training program designed to prepare United States Coast Guard (USCG) personnel for qualification as coxswains. Coxswains are the individuals responsible for operating small boats under 65 feet. Focused on individuals with no prior coxswain certification, the course covers over 100 distinct procedures and tasks tied to operational proficiency on four primary boat types: the RB-S II, RB-M, CB-L, and OTH-IV. These platforms represent the most commonly used vessels for initial coxswain qualification, with the vast majority of Coast Guard coxswains certifying on one of them first. The CCC was developed in response to a performance gap identified through a needs assessment: the prolonged time it traditionally takes Boatswain’s Mates (BMs) to become coxswain-qualified. By reducing this timeline, the CCC enhances unit readiness, allowing more personnel to support mission execution rather than prolonged training cycles. Since its pilot in Fall 2023 and formal launch in Spring 2024, the CCC has operated at full capacity, offering nine iterations annually with twelve students per class.

The key stakeholders in the CCC include Coast Guard leadership at TRACEN Yorktown, who oversee course implementation and quality; the Boat Forces community, which relies on a steady pipeline of qualified coxswains to sustain operational capacity; and the parent units of course participants, who benefit from receiving personnel that are more quickly and effectively trained. Additionally, the students themselves are central stakeholders, as they represent the target population for the course’s objectives and outcomes. Their successful completion of the CCC not only supports their own career development but also contributes to the overall effectiveness of the Coast Guard’s small boat mission set. Broader organizational stakeholders include Force Readiness Command (FORCECOM), which supports training initiatives Coast Guard-wide, and program evaluators, who assess the course’s impact and alignment with strategic performance goals.

Evaluation Request

Prior to this effort, the Coxswain Core Course (CCC) had not been formally evaluated to determine whether it was meeting its primary objective: reducing the time required for Coast Guard personnel to qualify and certify as coxswains. In response to this gap, the Boat Forces Center of Operations (BFCO) requested support from members of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Human Performance Technology (HPT) graduate education programs to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the course.

A kickoff meeting was held with the client to initiate the evaluation process. During this meeting, the goals and intended outcomes of the CCC were clarified, with a particular focus on the course’s role in improving qualification timelines and operational readiness. It was also established that the evaluation would be summative in nature, aiming to assess the effectiveness and impact of the course after its implementation, rather than shaping the course during development. This agreement ensured that the evaluation would provide actionable insights into the CCC’s performance and inform future decisions regarding course delivery and potential expansion.

Methods

The methodology for this evaluation was guided by Chyung’s 10-Step Evaluation Methodology, which provides a structured framework for conducting thorough and practical evaluations in instructional and organizational settings (Chyung, 2019). This method is divided into four macro-level phases: assessing feasibility and risk factors, the identification phase, the planning phase, and lastly the implementation phase.

The evaluation team, through collaboration with subject matter experts and upstream stakeholders, identified four key dimensions for analysis, each chosen for its relevance to the goals established in the original needs assessment.

Dimension 1 supports a Kirkpatrick Level 3 evaluation, as it involves direct measurement of learned behaviors through demonstration of task mastery. Dimensions 2 and 3 aim to capture Kirkpatrick Level 4 outcomes, reflecting broader organizational impact, such as improved staffing and operational efficiency. Dimension 4 seeks to identify systemic communication barriers that may hinder the CCC’s effectiveness in transferring results to parent units. While some stakeholders initially framed certification outcomes as Level 4 impacts, the evaluation team clarified that the actual demonstration of skill proficiency aligns more closely with Level 3 criteria, since the certification process remains an individual, performance-based assessment rather than a direct measure of organizational results.

Dimensions 2 and 3—Time Freed Up for Operations and Number of Qualified Personnel at Unit—were further analyzed through follow-up interviews with training officers at stations that demonstrated the most successful outcomes. Using Brinkerhoff’s Success Case Method (2006), the evaluation team identified high-performing units and conducted targeted interviews to understand the conditions and practices that contributed to their success. These interviews provided qualitative insights into how the CCC impacted operational capacity and staffing levels, revealing not only the measurable benefits but also the contextual factors—such as the timing of the unit's training requests and the number of requests submitted—that amplified the course’s effectiveness at the unit level.

Results

The evaluation of Dimension 1—Time to Certify as Coxswain—revealed a measurable and meaningful reduction in the qualification timeline for graduates of the Coxswain Core Course (CCC). Using data from CGBI, Direct Access, and supplemental advancement lists, the evaluation team found that CCC graduates achieved coxswain certification an average of 77 days sooner than their peers who did not attend the course. This acceleration not only validates the CCC’s effectiveness in developing early-career Boatswain’s Mates but also translates to significant operational benefits for Coast Guard units. Despite a temporary three-week training absence, each CCC graduate returns with an average of eleven weeks of usable coxswain-level capability, enhancing unit readiness and relieving operational strain.

Dimension 2—Reduced Training Burden—was evaluated through interviews with unit representatives and extant data analysis. The results demonstrated that the CCC significantly decreases the training demands placed on parent units. On average, units saved 103 hours of training time per graduate, indicating the course’s efficiency in preparing members for qualification. Additionally, units expressed strong satisfaction with the course, giving it an average rating of 4.25 out of 5. These findings underscore the CCC’s value in not only accelerating certification but also alleviating the workload of unit training staff, leading to improved resource allocation and readiness.

In Dimension 3—Increase in Number of Qualified Coxswains—the evaluation focused on the impact of the CCC on the overall qualification rate and operational staffing. Units with CCC graduates reported a slightly higher qualification rate (64%) compared to units without graduates (62%). Overall, this dimension saw no significant benefit derived from the CCC in District 9, the district studied by the evaluation team.

Dimension 4—Unit Acceptance of Task Completion Report—explored how the course’s documentation practices affect qualification processing at the unit level. Unlike other training programs that input task completion directly into qualification records, CCC instructors use an administrative remarks record (CG-3307), which require parent-unit personnel to transcribe the information. Feedback on instructor trust was mixed: some stations preferred direct instructor input and conducted proficiency spot checks, while others were comfortable relying solely on the record of task completion on the CG-3307. The utility of the CG-3307 was clear, however, due to recent organizational changes to qualification and certification software updates. No changes to the current method of task completion were found to be necessary.

References

Chyung, S. Y. (2019). 10-step evaluation for training and performance improvement. Sage.

Brinkerhoff, R. O. (2006). The success case method: Find out quickly what's working and what's not. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

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