Message from the Director

I am pleased to be filling in as Director of CPC! To say that I missed it may be an exaggeration, but I have always been proud to play a role in the lives and careers of the officers and I am glad to be able to do that in an official capacity again. I am grateful to my supervisor, Zach Goldstein, NOAA's CIO, for allowing me the opportunity to serve in this detail and thankful for the support of the excellent Homeland Security Program Office staff which makes my time away from that office possible.

It was nice to come back to CPC and see familiar faces, new faces and to connect with the team that works day in and day out to support our officers around the nation. I will continue to stress communication, customer service and consistency in my time here and look forward to working with all of them, and all of you!

I am honored to be working with RADM Silah as he starts his tenure as Director, NOAA Corps, and I appreciate his trust and the opportunity to return to CPC.

In just a few days here, I am reminded that an open mind and a positive attitude are necessary in the face of any challenge. This quote is attributed to a proverb, "anonymous" and Winston Churchill, in any case, I like it!

"Your day will go the way the corners of your mouth turn"

Thanks for all that you do every day. Please be safe, and be kind to yourself and those entrusted to your care.


CAPT Anne K. Lynch, NOAA
Director, CPC

On the Horizon

05 Oct 2017 OREGON II 50th Anniversary Event
09 - 27 Oct 2017 REFTRA 83
13 Oct 2017 BOTC 130 Billet Night
21 Nov 2017 BOTC 130 Graduation

Approved Resignations, Separations and Retirements

CDR Matthew Wingate 01 Oct 2017
LT Refael Klein 13 Oct 2017
RADM David Score 01 Nov 2017
LCDR Denise Gruccio 01 Nov 2017
CDR Mark Sweeney 01 Dec 2017
ENS Kaitlyn Seberger 15 Dec 2017

NOAA Corps Promotions

It is with great pleasure that CPC announces the upcoming promotions of the following officers which will be effective October 2, 2017:

TO BE CAPTAIN

  • Michael F. Ellis
  • Joe C. Bishop
  • David J. Zezula
  • Arthur J. Stark, Jr.
  • Kristie J. Twining

TO BE COMMANDER

  • Lindsay R. Kurelja
  • Patrick D. Didier
  • Christopher M. Kerns
  • Jason R. Mansour
  • Briana W. Hillstrom
  • Amanda L. Goeller
  • Patrick L. Murphy
  • Sarah K. Duncan

TO BE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER

  • Jeffrey G. Pereira
  • Russell A. Quintero
  • Matthew M. Forney
  • Matthew J. Nardi
  • Adam R. Reed
  • Adrienne L. Hopper
  • Ryan A. Wartick
  • Nicholas C. Morgan
  • Timothy C. Sinquefield
  • Aaron D. Maggied
  • David B. Cowan

TO BE LIEUTENANT

  • Chelsea D. Boone
  • Richard C. DeTriquet
  • James R. Europe, IV
  • Cherisa L. Friedlander

TO BE LIEUTENANT (cont):

  • Elizabeth R. Mackie
  • Gavin D. Chensue
  • Hadley A. Owen
  • Jason C. Clark
  • William J. Carrier, Jr.
  • Ryan A. Belcher
  • Casey S. Marwine
  • Douglas W. Pawlishen
  • Rosemary P. Abbitt
  • Jessica Senzer
  • David A. McVay, Jr.
  • Andrew P. Reynaga
  • Rachel L. Pryor
  • Carmen R. DeFazio
  • Stephen R. Moulton
  • Steven R. Solari
  • Benjamin E. VanDine
  • Billy J. Bonner

TO BE LIEUTENANT (JUNIOR GRADE)

  • Terril P. Efird
  • Lydia A. Ames
  • Jeffrey J. Douglas
  • Keith D. Hanson
  • Lauren B. Jarlenski
  • Shelley T. Devereaux
  • Matthew B. Sharr
  • Dylan A. Kosten
  • Frank J. Centinello, III
  • Max P. Anderson
  • Christopher J. Licitra
  • Justin N. Boeck
  • Bryan R. Brasher
  • David P. Reymore, Jr.
  • Timothy J. Brown

Congratulations on your well-deserved advancement!

OPF Online Outage

OPF Online will be unavailable on Saturday, September 23, 2017, from 11:00 AM till midnight for server relocation.

Maximum Leave Carryover

Officers have until September 30, 2017, to use any accrued leave in excess of 60 days. On October 1, 2017, anyone with a leave balance exceeding 60 days will have their balance reduced to 60 days. Endorsed leave slips for periods of leave taken prior to September 30, but received by the Payroll Unit after October 1, will be applied appropriately to FY17 leave balances.

Many of you may be aware that the USCG authorized a special leave accrual, increasing the carryover limit to 75 days for FY17. This was done in response to USCG participation in Hurricane Harvey response operations. The effect on NOAA Corps officers varied significantly from that of the USCG and as such, the decision was made to maintain the 60 day limit for the NOAA Corps.

It is imperative that each officer work within their chain of command each year to plan leave accordingly and use leave that would otherwise be lost. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the NOAA Corps Payroll Unit at noaacorps.payrollunit@noaa.gov.

Training Requirements

CPC has recently been informed that over 700 classes are set to be retired on CLC at the end of this month. Forty of the classes identified, were on our list of required classes for promotion. Thanks to Mr. Scott Tessmer, we have worked with CLC and all 40 of our required classes will remain online until April 30, 2018. This extension will get us through the current promotion cycle to next year's promotion boards.

With the large number of classes being retired, CPC will take some time and go back and evaluate the entire set of promotion training requirements. Officers in the 2018 promotion zone are still required to complete the current portfolio of classes required for their rank. Once dates for the promotion boards are set, CPC will notify officers when training will be due to their OPF, not necessarily April 30th. Officers not in the zone will lose access to these classes on April 30 and if their portfolio is not complete they may need to complete any new requirements set forth by the promotion training requirement review. Please reach out to CDR Jeff Shoup (chief.careermgmt.cpc@noaa.gov) if you have any questions.

NOAA Corps Rifle Team

On July 26th through the 30th of 2017, NOAA's first ever marksmanship team competed in the 56th Annual Interservice Rifle Competition at Marine Corps Base Quantico in northern Virginia. This event was established in 1962 by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to encourage development of Marksmanship skills among the uniformed services, and has been held annually with only a few exceptions during the Vietnam War time period.

The events happened over several days. The majority of the courses of fire followed the National Rifle Association's "Service Rifle" rules. This included shooting from a variety of positions (Standing, Sitting, Prone) from 200, 300, and 600 yards utilizing AR-15 style rifle. There were also long-range events held at 600 and 1000 yards using either AR-15 or bolt action style rifles.

Entirely self-funded, the team was the brainchild of US Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Hembrook, the Director of the Cyber Security division for the Office of the Chief Information Officer. He had fired in the event the previous two years, and not seeing a NOAA team on the field, sought to change it. "I saw the logo with 5 services, Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force, and I thought 'Where are NOAA and Public Health Service?' With NOAA participation this year, one more service was added to the event." Other team members were LCDR Mark Blankenship from NOAA's Ocean Exploration program, LCDR Jonathan Taylor from the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) and Mr. Steven Dregits from OMAO.

The competition provided a good opportunity to represent NOAA to the other uniformed services, and for NOAA Corps members to network and build bridges with the other services who may not have had a clear understanding of NOAA's mission or even that the NOAA Corps is a uniformed service. It was also a good opportunity to just generally spread good will amongst the uniformed services which, given the global nature of all of our missions and the number of interagency agreements we hold with each other, is always worth the effort.

While the NOAA team may not have finished in the top positions, it was an overall positive experience for everyone involved. NOAA participated across numerous events, had a safe competition, and improved on basic skills which are always useful, even if they are not a core competency of the NOAA Corps at this time. The support and inclusiveness of the entire military competition shooting community was apparent, and made NOAA's first ever entry a smooth and enjoyable event.

History: Psychological Preparedness

In the spring of 1911, then sub-assistant and later Captain Thomas Maher was put ashore with a camp in Goodnews Bay on the west coast of Alaska. This was his first Alaskan shore camp and he described his experience:

"I was placed in camp on the south spit of Goodnews Bay to make astronomical observations for the determination of latitude, longitude, azimuth and magnetic variation, a plane table survey of the shore line, and in spare time a preliminary survey of the channel over the bar. Of course it was never thought that these Great Expectations would be realized, as it rained about fifty percent of the time and blew gales the balance. The ship party dumped our camp equipment and instruments on the beach and then departed immediately. That was part of the psychology underlying large scale surveying operations. Get away before the shore party finds out what they have been handed. I was a victim on numerous occasions, but the knowledge thus absorbed was very useful when I became Chief of Party...."

For more observations from Tommy Maher, check out excerpts from his autobiography at https://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/maherala1.html and https://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/maherphi1.html.

Want to add the NOAA Corps Centennial Graphic to your email signature block?

  • Go to https://www.omao.noaa.gov/find/media/images/noaa-corps-centennial-graphic
  • Right-click on image and select "copy" (no need to click on the "Download Image" button)
  • Open Gmail and go to "settings"
  • Under "general" scroll down to "signature"
  • Place cursor under name, address and such and right click to "paste" image
  • Click on image again and select "medium" to scale
  • Scroll to bottom of page and click on "save changes"

Enjoy and congratulations on "celebrating a century of service"!