Coast Guard: Actions to Address Sexual Misconduct Underway but Incomplete

Executive Summary

The Coast Guard’s multi-year problem with sexual misconduct — highlighted by the 2020 “Operation Fouled Anchor” review, a November 2023 internal report, and GAO follow-up — has forced the service into a sustained reform effort. The Summary shows the Coast Guard identified 49 reform actions (36 reported complete as of August 2026), developed a workforce feedback tool (June 2026), and provided an updated implementation plan (August 2026), but has not finished key steps such as defining goals and measures for assessing cumulative impact. Statutory and oversight drivers are explicit in the Summary, including a GAO reporting provision in Pub. L. No. 119-60 (FY2026) and the Coast Guard’s annual reporting obligation under 14 U.S.C. § 5112.

For contractors, this creates near-term demand drivers across the listed market segments (Training and Education Services; Human Resources Consulting; Sexual Assault Prevention and Response; Organizational Culture Reform; Victim Support Services; Management Consulting; Survey and Assessment Services). Agencies named in the input (DHS (Department of Homeland Security), USCG) are the principal customers. Contractors should pay attention now because the Coast Guard is moving from diagnosis toward implementation (feedback tools, implementation plan) but lacks complete performance measurement and persistent mechanisms for workforce feedback and reporting; those gaps map directly to services the listed segments provide. Specific solicitations, contract vehicles, and procurement timelines are not provided in the Summary and are therefore TBD pending solicitation language.

Impact Matrix

Training and Education Services

• Risk Level: High
• Opportunity: Implementation of curricula and recurring training to support the Coast Guard’s reform actions and cultural change. Relevant NAICS codes (from tags): 611430, 611699. Specific opportunities TBD pending solicitation language.
• Timeline: Coast Guard reported completing 36 of 49 actions as of August 2026; training-related actions are among those identified.
• Action Required: Prepare trauma-informed, evidence-based training packages tailored for a military maritime service; assemble delivery models (in-person, blended, online) and evaluation plans aligned to eventual Coast Guard performance measures.
• Competitive Edge: Offer measurable learner outcomes, rapid baseline assessment tools, and a clear plan to link training completion to the Coast Guard’s eventual performance metrics.

Human Resources Consulting

• Risk Level: High
• Opportunity: Advising on policy revision, staffing (new positions), investigations process design, and two-way communications strategies in support of the implementation plan. Relevant NAICS codes: 541612, 541611. Specific opportunities TBD pending solicitation language.
• Timeline: GAO recommended developing an implementation plan and reconstituting the implementation team in January 2026; Coast Guard provided an updated implementation plan in August 2026.
• Action Required: Be prepared to support implementation planning, change-management, and staffing analyses; propose templates for role definitions and sustaining organizational processes.
• Competitive Edge: Demonstrate approaches for embedding sustainment (e.g., governance, metrics, feedback loops) that map to existing Coast Guard actions and GAO recommendations.

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response

• Risk Level: Critical
• Opportunity: Direct services to prevent sexual misconduct, support prevention programming, and improve handling of allegations. NAICS codes that can be relevant: 624190, 541990. Specific opportunities TBD pending solicitation language.
• Timeline: The Coast Guard committed to reforms in June 2023 and identified actions in November 2023; as of August 2026 many actions remain incomplete.
• Action Required: Prepare trauma-informed prevention curricula, response protocols, and measurable implementation plans that align with the Coast Guard’s identified reform actions. Ensure offerings can support immediate gaps in prevention and adjudication processes.
• Competitive Edge: Provide validated prevention and bystander-intervention programs with mechanisms for confidential reporting and outcome tracking to support the Coast Guard’s need for demonstrable progress.

Organizational Culture Reform

• Risk Level: High
• Opportunity: Support comprehensive culture-change initiatives that tie policy, training, leadership development, and incentives together. Relevant NAICS codes: 541611, 541612. Specific opportunities TBD pending solicitation language.
• Timeline: Ongoing reform effort with actions identified in November 2023 and additional actions later; partial completion reported as of August 2026.
• Action Required: Offer integrated change-management plans, leader coaching, and methods to institutionalize new behaviors; include two-way communication designs to engage personnel.
• Competitive Edge: Propose measurable, phased culture-change roadmaps that can be aligned to the Coast Guard’s implementation plan and to the feedback tool the service developed.

Victim Support Services

• Risk Level: Critical
• Opportunity: Expand or improve victim advocacy, counseling, and case-management supports for affected personnel. NAICS relevance: 624190, 541990. Specific opportunities TBD pending solicitation language.
• Timeline: The need is ongoing; GAO noted prior mishandling and current reform steps through 2026.
• Action Required: Prepare trauma-informed, confidential service models and metrics for service utilization and outcomes; coordinate with HR and prevention programs to close service gaps.
• Competitive Edge: Emphasize survivor-centered, trauma-informed protocols with data collection that can feed into the Coast Guard’s eventual performance assessments and statutory reporting.

Management Consulting

• Risk Level: High
• Opportunity: Systems integration, program management, and oversight support to help implement and sustain the Coast Guard’s 49 reform actions and GAO recommendations. NAICS relevance: 541611, 541612, 541990. Specific opportunities TBD pending solicitation language.
• Timeline: GAO formal recommendations in January 2026; Coast Guard actions and updates through June–August 2026.
• Action Required: Offer program management offices, implementation-plan development, and performance-measure design services to fill the Coast Guard’s identified gaps.
• Competitive Edge: Provide end-to-end program-management approaches that include measurable milestones, workforce feedback integration, and reporting-ready dashboards suitable for oversight and statutory reporting.

Survey and Assessment Services

• Risk Level: High
• Opportunity: Design and deliver baseline assessments, recurring surveys, and analytic tools to measure reform impact; the Summary highlights that the Coast Guard has not developed a full performance plan and has yet to define goals and measures for its tool. NAICS relevance: 541990, 611699. Specific opportunities TBD pending solicitation language.
• Timeline: GAO noted absence of a performance plan as of testimony in March 2024; as of June 2026 the Coast Guard was still developing goals/measures for its tool.
• Action Required: Prepare validated survey instruments, analytics plans, and integration strategies to produce baselines and track change over time; offer methods for collecting and protecting workforce feedback.
• Competitive Edge: Deliver secure, validated survey platforms with analytics that can produce oversight-ready summaries to support the Coast Guard’s statutory reporting obligations.

Cross-Segment Implications

• Survey and assessment outputs will drive training content, HR policy changes, and organizational culture programs; quality assessments are foundational to effective training and victim support.
• Management consulting and HR consulting are interdependent: successful implementation plans require both policy design and program-management discipline to move the Coast Guard from identified actions to measurable outcomes.
• Victim support and prevention services must be coordinated operationally and legally with HR processes and reporting systems to ensure that assistance does not conflict with investigative or oversight reporting requirements.
• The Coast Guard’s reporting obligations (14 U.S.C. § 5112) and GAO oversight (Pub. L. No. 119-60 provision) create demand for contractors that can both implement reforms and generate metrics and documentation suitable for congressional and public reporting.