United States Coast Guard Sector Northern New England (SNNE) hosted a pilot-test of a unit-sponsored Incident Management Team (IMT) Workshop on February 8-9, 2023 near Portland, Maine to reinforce knowledge gained during online and virtual Incident Command System (ICS) training. This two-day, in-person workshop enabled both SNNE IMT members and representatives from seven agency partners to combine formal mid-level ICS 300 training with immersive role playing for each ICS Operational Planning Cycle meeting using a realistic marine oil spill response scenario.

Over recent years, the Coast Guard’s ICS training delivery has transitioned from annual in-person, unit-based, 4-day ICS 300 classes combined with in-person, weeklong position-based ICS courses to online, self-paced ICS 300 training and facilitated virtual position-specific ICS courses. This transition has resulted in significant cost savings and reduced travel requirements. However, it has also reduced Coast Guard members’ opportunities to gain hands-on practical ICS skills and eliminated opportunities for key port partners and agency representatives to participate in Coast Guard hosted foundational ICS 300-level training. This has led to a marked degradation of ICS skills across the marine incident response community. Unit-sponsored IMT Workshops, delivered by qualified ICS instructors from the local District, can augment the excellent tri-annual Coast Guard national Incident Management Assist Team (IMAT) provided IMT Workshops to fill this training void. These unit sponsored IMT workshops enable Coast Guard Sectors to maintain a fully qualified IMT and assist port partners reach a high-level of ICS proficiency.

The US Coast Guard’s national Incident Management Assist Team (IMAT) provides high-quality 2.5 day IMT Workshops at approximately eleven of the 37 Coast Guard Sectors annually, typically in preparation for major, full scale exercises. The IMAT is not sufficiently staffed to provide each sector an IMAT sponsored IMT workshop more frequently than once every three years. Providing formal in-person ICS training every three years is not sufficient to enable USCG sectors to maintain a fully qualified IMT or provide adequate in-person ICS training opportunities to enable port partners to maintain a high-level of ICS proficiency.

SNNE hosted the unit-based prototype IMT Workshop in February, 2023 to fill this training void. ICS instructors and practitioners from SNNE, Sector Boston, the First Coast Guard District and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy provided refresher training on ICS fundamentals covering the full instructional curriculum from the traditional Coast Guard unit-hosted Intermediate ICS 300 course. A Tier 3 major oil spill scenario was threaded between instruction units to fully engage participants in role playing their specific Incident Management Team positions as they worked their way through the Operational Planning Cycle to develop a fully vetted Incident Action Plan. ICS coaches were employed during breakout sessions to highlight the roles and responsibilities of specific ICS positions at each stage of the Operational Planning Cycle. This training led to the completion of ICS position qualifications for over a dozen members of SNNE’s Incident Management Team and forged stronger working relationships with critical port partners.

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