Coast Guard Watch Bill / Duty Section Worksheet
Build a unit or cutter watch bill: watch stations with required qualifications, a day-by-day assignment grid, reliefs, and a crew-rest check so no watchstander is scheduled past the unit's fatigue limits.
What this worksheet covers
Name, rank, and unit prefill from your service profile.
Bill data
- Unit / cutter
- Period covered
- Bill type
- Prepared by (name, rate, billet)
- Crew-rest standard applied
Name the limit you are checking against (unit crew endurance plan, BOAT Manual boat-crew limits, Command Center watch length). Limits vary by unit type, so cite your unit's.
Watch stations
- Watch stations and required qualifications
Assignments
- Assignments
One row per watch. Use 24-hour times. Note break-in watchstanders and approved swaps.
Approval
- Remarks (swaps, qualification notes, crew-rest exceptions)
- Approved (name, rank, title)
- Date
How to fill out the Worksheet
A planning sheet for the watch bill that the command approves and posts. The Coast Guard has no servicewide watch-bill form; cutters derive watches from the Watch, Quarter and Station Bill and stations from their duty section rotation. This worksheet keeps the qualifications and crew-rest checks in one place. When: When drafting the next week or month of watches, after a qualification change, or when the unit's operating schedule changes (patrol, dry dock, surge).
Step by step
- List every watch station and the qualification it needs (e.g., OOD, Coxswain, Boat Crew Member, Communications Watchstander, EOOW).
- Pull the current qualification list so only qualified members (or break-in watchstanders under supervision) are assigned.
- Fill the grid day by day and name the standby or relief for each watch.
- Check crew rest against the unit's crew endurance and BOAT Manual limits, then route for approval.
What a strong one looks like
- Pair each break-in watchstander with a qualified one and note it in remarks.
- Rotate the worst watches (mid-watch, weekends, holidays) fairly and track it across bills.
- Publish the bill early and keep one owner for swaps. Every swap is approved and annotated.
Common mistakes
- Assigning an unqualified member without a qualified watchstander present.
- Back-to-back duty that breaks crew-rest limits after a long case.
- Posting changes that were never approved.