The organization served in this project was the United States Coast Guard, specifically District 9, which oversees operations in the Great Lakes region. This region is vital to North American commerce, as it facilitates the movement of large merchant vessels—some up to 1,000 feet long—through icy waters during winter. The Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission ensures that these vessels can safely navigate despite the seasonal presence of lake ice, particularly through narrow and complex channel turns that require precise coordination and ship handling.

The challenge arose after three consecutive mild winters, which led to a significant reduction in ice thickness and severity. As a result, Coast Guard icebreakers across the Great Lakes were not called upon to perform escorts through narrow channel turns. This interruption in operational tempo created a training gap, as crews were unable to gain hands-on experience performing a highly technical and infrequently executed maneuver. Compounding the issue, crew rotations meant that some cutters no longer had any personnel with real-world experience executing a channel turn escort. This was a serious concern for mission readiness and maritime safety.

Recognizing this growing capability gap, District 9 identified the urgent need for instructional media that could complement the existing policy manual. The goal was to create a training solution that would simulate the operational thinking, planning, and execution of an icebreaking channel turn escort, using established doctrine and expert knowledge. By developing this media, the Coast Guard could preserve institutional knowledge, standardize training across platforms, and ensure readiness regardless of fluctuating weather patterns. This proactive instructional design effort was not only timely but critical to maintaining the Coast Guard’s ability to fulfill its statutory duties in protecting commerce and ensuring safe winter navigation on the Great Lakes.

The goal of this project was to develop effective instructional media that could reliably train Coast Guard personnel in the critical task of icebreaking through turns to escort large merchant vessels. Due to limited opportunities for hands-on training in recent years, the instructional solution had to work within the established operational environment of 140' icebreakers, where time, space, and resources are constrained. To achieve this, a systematic instructional design approach was required; one that ensured the training aligned with industry-proven learning theories, operational performance standards, and the practical realities of shipboard execution. 

    One of the most successful aspects of this project was the time invested in performing a thorough task analysis at the outset. By breaking down the operational steps involved in Coast Guard icebreaking escorts, we were able to identify precise learner needs and develop training materials that were tightly aligned with necessary performance. This early effort paid dividends throughout the design process, allowing the team to create focused learning objectives and assessments that reflected the complexity of the task. It also helped streamline stakeholder reviews by demonstrating clear alignment with operational doctrine.

    Looking back, one area that could have gone more smoothly was the process of formatting the instructor guide to match the client’s specific template requirements. While the content itself was solid, transferring it into the proper layout took more time than anticipated. This could have been mitigated with more frequent, shorter check-ins with the client throughout the development phase. These brief touchpoints would have helped clarify formatting expectations earlier and reduced rework, ultimately saving the instructional design team time during the final production phase.

    The most challenging part of the project was developing training for the communication and planning that takes place before the escort operation even begins. This phase involves a high degree of coordination between the icebreaker, the escorted vessel, harbor management, and Vessel Traffic Services. All of this must be carefully synchronized to ensure safety and efficiency. Capturing these layered interactions in a way that was both doctrinally accurate and easy to train required a careful approach, identifying critical signals and ensuring learners could apply this knowledge under operational pressure.