1625-new_SS_r2_2018

CG-523

12 Jan 2017

Supporting Statement

for

GOCOASTGUARD.COM PROSPECT QUESTIONNAIRE, CHAT NOW QUESTIONNAIRE AND THE OFFICER PROGRAM APPLICATION

OMB No.: 1625-new

COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS: Instruction, CG-1130, CG-1131 and CG-1132

A. Justification

1. Circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.

Collection of information is required to initiate enlistment of US Coast Guard enlisted personnel and commissioned officers. 14 USC 468 authorizes the United States Coast Guard to recruit personnel for military service. The information requested on the gocoastguard.com web site is collected in accordance with Section 503 of Title 10, United States Code, and may only be used to identify and process individuals interested in applying for enlistment or commission in the United States Coast Guard or Coast Guard Reserve. Records are maintained at USCG Headquarters in Washington, DC and recruiting offices.

2. Purpose of the information collection.

Information is initially requested from applicants in the Coast Guard recruiting website, gocoastguard.com Prospect Questionnaire or Chat Now Questionnaire or via the Officer Program Application and flows to the Coast Guard Direct Access system. Coast Guard Recruiting Command, Marketing Division manages the website. The purpose of the forms is to collect qualifying information and initiate the recruiting process, by providing this information to our recruiters so they can begin a vetting process to select qualified personnel to serve in the Coast Guard. The difference between the Prospect Questionnaire and the Officer Program Application are the target audience and the timing. The Prospect Questionnaire is an initial effort and more general in nature. It is primarily focused on gathering the minimal information necessary to begin the enlisted screening and application process and complete enlisted accession paperwork. The Officer Program Application gathers the necessary information to screen, provide commissioning board information and the commissioning process. It is usually administered after a Recruiting Office identifies the prospect as a viable officer candidate. Most prospects first complete the Prospect Questionnaire and later complete the Officer Application, after they have an initial discussion with a Recruiter and find that they may qualify for the Coast Guard’s officer programs. This information populates recruiting forms which are used by Military Entrance Processing Command and United States Coast Guard to initiate pay and personnel records. Since our target audience responds to our online advertising, and uses the internet and social media, these forms provide an electronic means to communicate with and collect data from the general public we recruit.

3. Considerations of the use of improved information technology.

The collection on gocoastguard.com is electronic, but the website also allows the public to call or email Coast Guard recruiters to initiate the screening and recruiting process. For site navigation purposes only, cookies are used in a limited manner. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to a user’s computer's hard disk for record-keeping purposes. Cookies make the website more useful by storing information about users preferences on a particular site. The use of cookies is an industry standard, and many major websites use them to provide useful features for their customers. Cookies in and of themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user's computer. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. If a user prefers, browsers are able to refuse cookies, but this may result in not being able to take full advantage of website capabilities. GoCoastGuard.com uses clear GIFs, or pixel tags, provided by CG ad-serving company to help manage online advertising. These clear GIFs allow our ad-serving company to recognize a browser's cookie when a browser visits this site. This allows CG to learn which banner ads bring users to our Web site. The information we collect and share through this technology is not personally identifiable (it does not include name, address, telephone number or email address).

4. Efforts to identify duplication.

Coast Guard Recruiting Command completed a review of all CGRC recruiting forms and is in the process of eliminating Recruiting Office duplicate screening forms, while complying with MEPCOM and USCG enlistment and commissioning requirements. The Prospect Questionnaire collects all of the minimal information necessary to begin the enlisted screening and application process and complete an enlisted paperwork. The Officer Program Application reduces the number of required forms for officer applications from 23 to 1. The Chat Now Questionnaire requests minimal information to assist both chat recruiters and prospects to explore relevant enlisted and officer programs without burdening the prospect for more detailed information that will later be collected in the Prospect Questionnaire and/or Officer Program Application.

5. Methods to minimize the burden to small business if involved.

This information collection does not have an impact on small businesses or other small entities.

6. Consequences to the Federal program if collection were conducted less frequently.

Without collecting this information, Coast Guard recruiters would not have the minimal information, they need to begin the recruiting process, and achieve their mission requirements to support the US Coast Guard with the personnel needed to accomplish its organizational mission.

7. Special collection circumstances.

• Requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

• requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• In connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;

• requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

• requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secret, or other confidential information

unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the

information's confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

This information collection is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320(d)(2).

8. Consultation.

A 60-Day Notice (See [USCG-2017-0129], July 19, 2017, 82 FR 33140) and 30-Day Notice (October 23, 2017, 82 FR 49039) were published in the Federal Register to obtain public comment on this collection. The Coast Guard has not received any comments on this information collection.

9. Provide any payments or gifts to respondents.

There is no offer of monetary or material value for this information collection.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality is provided to respondents.

There are no assurances of confidentiality provided to the respondents for this information collection. This information collection request is covered by the Direct Access (PIA) and the Military Pay and Personnel System, Federal Register, Volume 76 Issue 209 (Friday, October 28, 2011) System of Records Notice (SORN). Link to the SORN is provided below:

• https://www.dhs.gov/publication/dhsuscgpia-024-direct-access

• https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-10-28/pdf/2011-27881.pdf

11. Additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature.

There are no questions of sensitive language.

12. Estimates of information collection burden.

• The estimated annual number of respondents is 50,000.

• The estimated annual number of responses is 50,000.

• The estimated annual hour burden is 25,000 hours.

Approximately 50,000 prospects and/or centers of influencer (parents, guidance counselors, coaches, etc) who may influence prospect’s recruitment decision, visit U.S. Coast Guard recruiting website gocoastguard.com for information about U.S. Coast Guard enlisted and officer opportunities. The burden is estimated through sampling of recruiters completing the Prospect Questionnaire, the Chat Questionnaire and Officer Program Application.

13. Estimates of annualized capital and start-up costs.

There are no capital, start-up or maintenance costs associated with this information collection.

14. Estimates of annualized cost to the Federal Government.

There is no annualized cost to the Federal Government

15. Reasons for change in burden.

This is a new collection.

16. Plans for tabulation, statistical analysis, and publication.

USCG does not intend to employ the use of statistics or the publication thereof for this information collection.

17. Approval to not display expiration date.

The Coast Guard will display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.

The Coast Guard does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

This information collection does not employ statistical methods.

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