We are now hearing of more cancellations of routine medical appointments for the need to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Many of you have emailed us concerning this issue and Medical Affairs will be granting a 60 day medical requirement extension due to this uncontrollable process.
Also, in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 disease, Medical Affairs request that any NOAA Corps officer report symptoms they themselves are experiencing, as well as symptoms of anyone in their crew.
These symptoms include, but are not limited to:
Medical Affairs will provide referral resources and case management of these flu-like symptoms.
For any questions, please contact Medical Affairs Branch at noaacorps.medical@noaa.gov.
| 16 Mar- 03 Apr 2020 | REFTRA 88 |
| 24 Mar 2020 | CO/XO Command Advisory Board |
| 26 Mar 2020 | BOTC 135 Billet Night |
| 01 Apr 2020 | Officer Assignment Board - O-4/O-5 Shore Assignmentst |
| CDR Ryan Kidder | 01 Apr 2020 |
| 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 |
| LT Nikita Manougian | 01Aug 2020 |
| LTJG Tyler Fifield | 17 Aug 2020 |
In the face of the agency response to the COVID-19 virus, planned personnel boards are to remain as scheduled until further notice. This includes but is not limited to Officer Assignment Boards, Command Advisory Board, and the Promotion Boards scheduled for next month. All officers are encouraged to continue preparing for the personnel boards unless instructed of a delay. All board members should prepare as well. Any special instructions will be provided to the necessary parties.
Promotion season is in full swing at Commissioned Personnel Center. Preparing for the Promotion Boards is one of our biggest yearly projects. With the boards a month away, OCMD will limit processing documents to the officers who will be evaluated for promotion. With the volume of documents that come through the office, it is necessary to prioritize these officers to provide them the best opportunity to be selected for promotion. CPC will audit all OPFs of the officers in the zones. We encourage you to review your OPF as well for inclusion and content. If you are missing a file, please let us know (please do not resubmit an OPF addition if you have not received a closed case status). If you find someone else's files, please let us know as well. The staff here are committed to serving all of our officers in the best manner possible. If there is a specific issue that you have, please do not hesitate to reach out. I wish you all the best of luck.
Officer Candidates climbing the mast on the USCGC Eagle - by CAPT Michael Levine
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BOTC 135 has reached Senior Status and just returned to the barracks from an abbreviated cruise on the USCGC Eagle. The class is eagerly awaiting Billet Night set for Thursday, March 26th. They will have to maintain their academic concentration, however, as they begin Rules of the Road classes on Monday, then ENAV, ARPA, and FRB in the next few weeks.
EOYP will close on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Currently CPC has submissions from over 85% of NOAA Corps officers; many updates and modifications to CPC systems have resulted from these officer reviews. It is your responsibility to ensure your records are accurate. Take advantage of this guided process to consider how you look on paper.
For any questions, please email LCDR Laura Gibson at laura.gibson@noaa.gov.
An Officer Assignment Board (OAB) for O-4/O-5 shore assignments will be held on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. The OAB will be prepared to look at potential O4/O5 officers and assignments up to 18 months from now. If you are due to rotate to a shore/ground assignment in the next 18 months, please ensure your assignment preferences are up to date, discuss potential assignments with the appropriate liaison officer and contact the assignment coordinator, CDR Stephen Kuzirian, with any questions at 301-713-7694 or assignmentbranch.cpc@noaa.gov.
The U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) is a world leader in high latitude domain awareness and is the exclusive source of operationally-focused snow and ice products for U.S. government customers operating in and near ice infested waters. With contributions from NOAA, the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), USNIC provides global to tactical scale products to a wide range of customers including intelligence agencies, USN submarines, USCG icebreakers, NOAA, National Science Foundation (NSF), and UNOLS research vessels, as well as numerical weather prediction and climate research communities.
The NOAA Corps officer at USNIC serves as the Deputy Department Head of the Science (N9) Department and as the Transitions and Initiatives (T&I) Officer. As the T&I Officer, (s)he develops essential project management skills and leads cross-departmental science-to-operations activities that focus on the evaluation and implementation of new products, data sources, and organizational processes. In this capacity, the officer will be exposed to foreign and domestic space operations, remote sensing R&D, GIS software, and IT infrastructure. The officer also serves as a program manager for the U.S. Interagency Arctic Buoy Program and the U.S. Interagency Program for Antarctic Buoys. In this capacity, the officer works diligently to maintain a healthy network of floating buoys at the poles and can expect to participate in buoy deployments along with a variety of other mission support activities in the polar environment.
As part of a multi-agency team, the NOAA Corps officer establishes an extensive working relationship with service members from the USN and USCG while developing a firsthand understanding of USN organization and processes. With the recent realignment of the NOAA component from NESDIS to NWS, the forthcoming NOAA Corps officer will also see expanded opportunities within the National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
Interested officers rotating on or about December of 2020 should contact LT Bryan Brasher, the incumbent at bryan.brasher@noaa.gov, CAPT Stephanie Koes at stephanie.koes@noaa.gov or the Assignment Coordinator for more information.