Shipmates,
This past Wednesday marked the observance of the 8th Annual International Women's Day, an event that traces its origin back to the early 1900s with the critical debate and social unrest surrounding long working hours, better pay, and voting rights for women. Today, the day is intended to drive societal change that will: help women and girls achieve their ambitions; challenge conscious and unconscious bias; call for gender-balanced leadership; value women and men's contributions equally; and create inclusive flexible cultures. From raising awareness to concrete action, organizations around the world have rallied their people to pledge support to help forge gender parity on International Women's Day and beyond. The strength of society is dependent on our ability to value, include, and leverage all aspects of human diversity. On a smaller scale, the strength of our own organization hinges upon our ability to create and sustain command climates of inclusivity which nurtures and promotes these principles.
Politicians, corporations, governments, interest groups, and internet and social media platforms observed the day in myriad ways. While reading random International Women's Day news stories and posts, I stumbled across this open letter on LinkedIn by an Apple senior executive to her daughters. The letter resonated with me and I felt compelled to share it with you for a variety of reasons.
First, the advice offered was geared toward her daughters, but it is truly applicable to any gender person. Her advice has served her well in her success as a corporate leader and is also applicable to any leader. Her points – be present, read the signs, stay in your lane, and never back up more than you need to - are simple and directly pertinent to the basics of leadership, leading self. I won't bore you with my personal application and self-reflection on the advice she offered to her daughters, but I highly encourage you to take a quick read and see how the letter resonates with you, your leadership style, and the aspects of your human diversity that you bring to the table.
Semper serviens,
CAPT Amilynn E. Adams, NOAA
Director, CPC
| 05-25 Mar 2017 | REFTRA |
| 07 Apr 2017 | BOTC 129 Billet Night |
| 01-05 May 2017 | CO/XO Immersion |
| LT Loren Evory | 01 Apr 2017 |
| ENS Christopher Pickens | 01 Apr 2017 |
| LCDR Jason Appler | 01 May 2017 |
| LT Jon Andvick | 01 May 2017 |
| LT Marc Weekley | 01 May 2017 |
| LT Linh Nguyen | 01 May 2017 |
| ENS Kaitlyn Seberger | 07 Jul 2017 |
| CDR Brian Parker | 01 Aug 2017 |
| CDR Peter Siegel | 01 Aug 2017 |
| CAPT Robert Kamphaus | 01 Aug 2017 |
| CDR Matthew Wingate | 01 Aug 2017 |
A few months shy of the halfway point of NOAA Corps' 100 years of existence, the USC&GSS OCEANOGRAPHER departed Jacksonville, Florida, on March 31, 1967, on its second major expedition: the Global Scientific Expedition with Vice Admiral Arnold H. Karo, ESSA Corps retired, as cruise director. This cruise marked the beginning of a new era of ocean exploration within the then Coast and Geodetic Survey. It also marked the first truly modern integrated ocean expedition conducted by the C&GS with water column observations, plankton tows at the request of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, weather observations and upper air balloon launches for the Weather Bureau, and marine geological studies in cooperation with university and government scientists. The first leg of the expedition netted the survey of a Mid-Atlantic Ridge fracture zone named the Oceanographer Fracture Zone. Monaco was visited where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier visited the ship. The ship transited the Mediterranean, visited the Russian port of Odessa on the Black Sea, passed through the Suez Canal and on into the Indian Ocean. Prince Desta, son of Emperor Haile Selassie, visited the ship at a stop at Massawa, Ethiopia. Thence on to Bombay, India; Penang, Malaysia; Fremantle and Sydney, Australia; and Auckland, New Zealand. Crossing the South Pacific, the ship then made stops at Valparaiso, Chile; Callao, Peru; San Diego; and finally Seattle, its new homeport. The trip took eight months, arriving on December 11 after completing a 44,937 nautical mile global trip that took it over mid-ocean ridges, three major trenches, and three of the five oceans of the world. This cruise set the stage for NOAA oceanographic efforts of today.
CPC is currently working with the USCG to evaluate the capability of the Direct Access system to see what expanded functionality the NOAA Corps can use to improve customer service and modernize paper based processes like leave and PCS orders. If the evaluation is positive and an agreement can be reached, we will target the transition to occur in this calendar year.
The Recruiting Officers would like to thank everyone who played a role in the recruiting process for BOTC 130 from attending recruiting events, conducting interviews, and preparing application files for the Selection Board. We had 75 completed applications and the Selection Board convenes in mid-March to select new officers.
The last Cyberflash edition had the deadline for exception (special) OERs for officers being considered by selection board for promotion with a conflicting date and day. The correct deadline for these exception OERs are at CPC by COB EDT on Friday, March 17, 2017.
Effective May 1, 2017, United Concordia Companies, Inc. (United Concordia) will assume responsibility for administering the TRICARE Dental Program, replacing the outgoing dental contractor, MetLife. Monthly premium rates may change and the need to find a new dental provider. For more information about premium rates, benefit information and changes, and to find out who is in the provider network, please visit www.tricare.mil/tdp and www.uccitdp.com.
If you have any questions, please contact LT Downey, CPC Medical Administration Branch.
Check the PDF document whether you can receive the group emails.