Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Quarterly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security
Issue link: https://uscgreservist.epubxp.com/i/674506
Servicewide exam questions on the history of the Coast Guard Reserve typically address the heroic moments in the component's 75-year history: Dates of wartime mobilizations, number of personnel recalled for oil spills, names of flooded rivers. But the last three-quarters of a century has also had record of less dramatic moments: An equally but quietly successful story of workforce evolution so reservists are ready to make that testable history. Reserve units have been formed and disbanded, for example, and ratings have been added in support of new initiatives. This year's Reserve Diamond Jubilee coincides with another noteworthy internal change, this time for its engineering departments. Following a successful pilot program, new Reserve Maintenance Assist Teams (R-MAT) will soon work as part of active duty Coast Guard Naval Engineering Departments (NED). Reserve machinery technicians (MK), damage controlmen (DC), and electrician's mates (EM) will be assigned to these teams to better develop their skills, their careers and the Reserve's ability to respond to daily challenges and historic moments. The R-MAT was a product of a 2014 occupational analysis of the machinery technician rating and a by-product of the Boat Forces Reserve Management Plan. The findings revealed a gap in the training of the Reserve's engineering workforce. Most personnel were not afforded the opportunity to work on multiple platforms, the knowledge of which was necessary to advance and to maintain the skills needed in case of mobilization. "Prior to this, on drill weekends we weren't doing what the active duty" usually did during their workday, says DC1 Phil Prisco, one of the first personnel assigned to the R-MAT pilot at Base Portsmouth, Va., in November 2014. R-MATs poised To chAnge how ReseRve engineeRing RATings TRAin sToRy by pA2 eMAiA Rise And pAc John d. MilleR, 5Th disTRicT public AffAiRs ReseRvist Magazine UsCgR: 75 yeaRs of seRviCe The wRench RevoluTion: 28 RESERVIST � Issue 2 • 2016