Fellow NOAA Corps officers,
I hope this message finds everyone and their families safe and adapting to the effects of this current health crisis. Team CPC is dedicated in continuing to assist the NOAA Corps, active duty and retired, in all personnel actions while being 100% remote telework. We are focusing on critical personnel issues such as preparing for a surge in PCS executions once the PCS hold is lifted and diligently managing any issues to avoid impact to officer pay. We also continue to take care of other important processes here at CPC, such as awards processing, personnel boards, OER management, personnel actions, recruiting, and policy. Some of these require new ways to approach due to the telework situation but we are working our best to take care of you all.
As mentioned in the CPC Director's Message of March 24:
Our NOAA Corps Payroll Unit continues to work with the USCG Pay and Personnel Center to ensure no disruptions to NOAA Corps pay. We also maintain close relationships with other services to help inform our personnel decisions and prepare for possible issues. The 13 ensigns of BOTC 135 will be graduating early, on April 13, and we are working with the USCG on how the health crisis will affect BOTC 136. Our primary path of recruiting at college fairs has been critically impacted this spring. With most school systems moving to online classes, now is a great time for NOAA Corps officers to reach out to local schools and alma maters to see if you can give a NOAA/OMAO/NOAA Corps presentation.
Please take care of your families and yourselves.
CAPT Devin Brakob, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center
| 13 Apr 2020 | BOTC 135 Graduation |
| LT David Reymore | 13 May 2020 |
| CAPT Elizabeth Kretovic | 01 Jun 2020 |
| LCDR Kevin Doremus | 17 Jun 2020 |
| CAPT David Zezula | 01 Jul 2020 |
| CDR Justin Kibbey | 01 Jul 2020 |
| CDR Nicole Cabana | 01 Jul 2020 |
| LT Nikita Manougian | 01 Aug 2020 |
| LTJG Tyler Fifield | 17 Aug 2020 |
| LT Hadley Owen | 01 Sep 2020 |
BOTC 135 is continuing their training at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and OCS/BOTC is currently the only active program on the CGA campus since the cadets were shifted to distance learning for the remainder of the spring semester. Finishing OCS/BOTC has been deemed mission critical and the curriculum has been accelerated in order to get the newest USCG and NOAA ensigns out to their units as fast as possible while meeting key training objectives. OCS/BOTC graduation will be on April 13 when the USCG officially finishes their program. The NOAA curriculum requires a few more weeks of training and BOTC will end on May 5. To keep a sense of normalcy, both USCG and NOAA ensigns will graduate together. Unfortunately, given the current state of affairs, no families or guests will be able to attend graduation but a live stream link will be available closer to the date.
Billet Night was held on Tuesday, March 24. If you'd like to watch the event, please go to https://livestream.com/cga/ocs220-botc135-billet-night
Photo from Billet Night
Congratulations to BOTC 135 on their assignments!
| Name | Assignmnet | Location |
| ENS Alice B. Beittel | NOAA Ship Rainier | Newport, OR |
| ENS Matthew J. Chonka | NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson | Norfolk, VA |
| ENS Tyler J. Houck | NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter | Pascagoula, MS |
| ENS Abby W. Letts | NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer | North Kingstown, RI |
| ENS Luke E. McConville | NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette | Honolulu, HI |
| ENS Mark J. Meadows | NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson | Norfolk, VA |
| ENS Luke T.C. Petzy | NOAA Ship Nancy Foster | Charleston, SC |
| ENS Jesse A. Pierce | NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown | Charleston, SC |
| ENS Christine R. Sealing | Pilot Training | Lakeland, FL |
| ENS Jessica S. Spruill | NOAA Ship Fairweather | Ketchikan, AK |
| ENS Karl D. Wagner | NOAA Ship Rainier | Newport, OR |
| ENS Kelly M. Wooten | NOAA Ship Fairweather | Ketchikan, AK |
| ENS Anthony J. Zoller | NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer | North Kingstown, RI |
The Medical Affairs Branch had such an overwhelming response to their All Hands Q&A yesterday that we would like to host a second one on Thursday, April 9th from 1400-1500.
The current pandemic is affecting the operations of our Branch, and requiring us to be flexible as we work with our partner organizations. We are aware these changes affect you individually, and as a group.
Please take this opportunity next Thursday to call in, listen, and put any questions you have to our team. There will be the opportunity to submit questions ahead of time.
We will have capacity for everyone to call in this time. Further information with a meeting link will be sent via email.
As DOC and NOAA employees, we are required to complete numerous mandatory training courses on a yearly basis. These courses cover important topics including veterans hiring, travel, and IT security among others. These mandatory training courses are not included in your Officer Personnel Folder (OPF). Please do not submit this type of training to your OPF as it will be rejected. The staff at the Officer Career Management Division (OCMD) is working hard to make sure all officer documentation is properly reflected in their OPF. Submitting these types of training slows the process down immensely. A list of the mandatory training can be found at the following link: https://www.corpscpc.noaa.gov/careermgmt/training.html.
Also, the following two courses were recently added to the required list:
Please feel free to contact OCMD at cpc.training@noaa.gov if you have questions.
There are program problems with the end of month pay cycle, causing a shutdown of some pay entitlements. Mainly what we have seen is the stopping of OCOLA and Dive Pay as of 15 March 2020, and then deducting it from the officers pay.
The Coast Guard Pay and Personnel Center (PPC) is aware of this and programmers are working tirelessly to get the entitlements back up and running as well as return pay that has been deducted. NOAA Payroll is in contact with the Coast Guard folks and expect there is a quick solution.
To help accommodate the unusual schedules officers have been subjected to, the EOYP opportunity has been extended. Please access this system through OPF Online no later than Sunday, April 12, 2020, at which point it will close for the year.
For any questions, please email LCDR Laura Gibson at laura.gibson@noaa.gov.
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) is looking for a self-motivated individual with current experience in small boat operation and interest in supporting monitoring and research of the Chesapeake Bay. This billet provides officers the opportunity to engage in different areas within the office's missions, while supporting the office's vision of a healthy and productive Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. NCBO conducts operations in habitat mapping, oyster restoration, fisheries research, and observational buoys. In addition to supporting the office's field operations missions, the officer will play a key role in vessel and facility safety and office emergency planning. An officer assigned to this billet would be expected to fulfill the following duties: small boat operator, Vessel Operations Coordinator (VOC), Office and Field Team Safety Officer, support data collection and analysis, and conduct outreach and education. Desired qualifications for this position include: NOAA Small Boat Operator, working knowledge of hydrographic survey software, ability to work long hours in the field, and have good written and oral communication. This billet will be available in January of 2021. For more information please contact the position's supervisor, Kevin Schabow at kevin.schabow@noaa.gov or the incumbent, LTJG Tyler Fifield at tyler.p.fifield@noaa.gov.