Commandant
2100 Second Street, S.W.
United States Coast Guard
Washington, DC 20593-0001
Staff Symbol: G-WP
Phone: (202) 267-1717
COMDTINST 12351.2B
APR 22 1999
COMMANDANT INSTRUCTION 12351.2B
Subj:
COMPETITIVE AREAS OF THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
1. PURPOSE. For purposes of reduction in force (RIF), this Instruction sets policy governing the
establishment of competitive areas in the U.S. Coast Guard for civilian employees. The
intended users are civilian personnelists, employees, their supervisors, and managers.
2. ACTION. Area and district commanders, commanders of maintenance and logistics commands
(MLCs), commanding officers of headquarters units, assistant commandants for directorates,
Chief Counsel, and special staff offices at Headquarters shall ensure compliance with the
provisions of this directive.
3. DIRECTIVES AFFECTED. Competitive Areas of the United States Coast Guard,
Commandant Instruction 12351.2A is canceled.
4. COVERAGE. The provisions of this Instruction apply to competing employees as defined in
paragraph 5 below. It does not apply to employees paid from nonappropriated funds, or to the
Senior Executive Service (SES).
5. DEFINITIONS.
a. Co-located commands or units are those which share a common commuting area.
b. A competitive area defines the organizational and geographic boundaries in which civilian
employees compete in a RIF.
c. A competing employee is defined as an employee, subject to RIF procedures, whose tenure
is either in group I (Career), group II (Career Conditional), or group III (indefinite, term,
and status employees), with the exception of those having a written decision under