Good afternoon, fellow NOAA Corps officers,
Welcome to April!
I would like to congratulate all of the officers whose promotions become effective April 15, 2021 (NOAA Corps Promotion Effective April 15, 2021 for names and ranks). It is certainly a highlight of this position to be able to announce such good news and I hope it finds everyone well.
I would like to focus my message in this Cyberflash on the subject of earned leave and granted liberty. Over the past few weeks, I have spoken with a number of officers in various assignments who have expressed concerns with the negative perceptions of requesting and or using their earned leave. This is certainly unfortunate and is counter to the intent of leave and the position of NOAA and OMAO leadership. As an operational service, there are plenty of times, while working hard to meet the mission requirements of our various positions throughout NOAA, when using leave just isn’t feasible. However, once we reach port, return from deployment, or complete a major project, it is imperative that we allow ourselves the chance to recharge and recuperate. I urge my fellow senior officers to lead by example and take and grant leave when possible in order to actively balance the competing demands of mission and personnel readiness. I also encourage junior officers to request earned leave when you feel you need it, and to not get into a situation where you may lose leave at the end of the fiscal year; or worse, become so mentally or physically fatigued that you become a risk to yourself or those around you. While many of use enjoy traveling abroad, the benefits of taking leave may be equally achieved by a domestic vacation in the U.S. or even a "stay-cation" of similar length at home.
Take some time and review Chapter 6 of the NOAA Corps Directives to understand our leave and liberty policies. Using your earned leave, and allowing subordinates to use their leave, contributes to improved performance, morale, and increased motivation of the workforce.
Now to prove my point, after this message was written on Wednesday, I went on leave for the remainder of this week, spending some time with my family on a mini-"stay-cation" and un-plugging from the office. What you decide to do with your time off is your choice and should have very little bearing on the approval of your requested leave. It's your time - take a walk, visit a museum, travel, stay home and read your favorite book - the law does not comment on what you can or can’t take leave for. That is your choice. I hope everyone can enjoy some time off in the near future. Don't worry, the ship/hangar/office will still be there when your leave ends or liberty expires.
Stay healthy,
CDR Douglas MacIntyre, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center
| Early Apr 2021 | Officer Assignment Board |
| May 03 2021 | BOTC 137 Graduation |
| CDR Paul Kunicki | 01 May 2021 |
| LTJG Lyle Robbins | 01 May 2021 |
| LTJG Sarah Donohoe | 25 Jun 2021 |
| LTJG Tyler Fifield | 30 Jun 2021 |
| LTJG Jackson Vanfleet-Brown | 30 Jun 2021 |
| RDML Shepard Smith | 01 Jul 2021 |
| LT Calandria DeCastro | 01 Jul 2021 |
| LT Michael Silagi | 01 Aug 2021 |
| CAPT Anne Lynch | 01 Sep 2021 |
| LT Danial Palance | 20 Sep 2021 |
CPC is happy to announce that several promotions have been approved by Secretary Raimondo and will become effective on April 15, 2021. Personnel packages are now moving efficiently and swiftly so please join me in congratulating the following officers on their well deserved and overdue promotions.
TO BE LIEUTENANT COMMANDER:
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TO BE LIEUTENANT (JUNIOR GRADE):
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Captain Harold Bruce Arnold, NOAA (Ret.) |
Captain Harold Bruce Arnold, NOAA (Ret.), passed away on February 13, 2021. He was commissioned into the NOAA Corps in April, 1972, after serving in the U. S. Navy, where he was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal as well as the National Defense Service Medal. Highlights of his distinguished career with the NOAA Corps include serving as the Chief of Party, Airport Surveys, Commanding Officer, NOAA Ship DAVIDSON and the Acting Director, Pacific Marine Center. CAPT Arnold served several years as the NOAA Liaison to the National Reconnaissance Office and to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space prior to his retirement in 1998. He is survived by two sons, his sister and two grandchildren.
RDML Hann was able to join BOTC 137 during Billet Night Festivities. Photo - LTJG Michael Fuller |
BOTC 137 is making a strong push towards the finish line of the program. The class, along with their USCG Officer Candidate School classmates and 15 members of the USS Constitution's crew, completed a two-week training cruise aboard the USCGC Eagle that included a 3 day port call in Charleston, SC. BOTC 137 assisted in providing over 3,000 pier side tours to members of the local community while moored in Charleston, which was the first time the vessel was able to conduct tours in over 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a fantastic underway training, it was back to the barracks for the class and a shift in the program to more hands-on trainings. The class wrapped up Rules of the Road coursework and is moving on to fast rescue boat, shiphandling and radar training. Billet night, one of the most highly anticipated events of the program, was held on March 25th and the class now knows where they will begin their NOAA Corps careers after their May 3rd graduation.
| Name | Assignments | Location |
| ENS Sarah Cozart | Aircraft Operations Center | Lakeland, FL |
| ENS Austin Gearty | NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer | Newport, RI |
| ENS Cara Geiger | NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson | Norfolk, VA |
| ENS Connor Healy | NOAA Ship Fairweather | Ketchikan, AK |
| ENS Caroline Jahn | NOAA Ship Rainier | Newport, OR |
| ENS Daniel Lucas | NOAA Ship Nancy Foster | Charleston, SC |
| ENS Aaron Macy | NOAA Ship Pisces | Pascagoula, MS |
| ENS Christopher Mehta | NOAA Ship Rainier | Newport, OR |
| ENS Shellyann Rofrits | NOAA Ship Henry Bigelow | Newport, RI |
| ENS Sarah Rollings | Marine Operations Center- Pacific | Newport, OR |
OC Macy takes a sight reduction with a sextant, a nautical instrument used to navigate via celestial bodies. OCs on the Eagle were exposed to navigating with a sextant learning how to use the instrument, take sightings of the sun and stars, and input their sightings into a celestial program called STELLA that assists in calculating the vessels Latitude and Longitude from celestial observations.
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The buddy / mentoring program set up for BOTC 135 and 136 has been widely successful, and many involved have expressed a desire to see this initiative carried forward with future BOTC classes. Feedback we have received from the previous pairings is that these relationships have afforded the Ensigns a valuable fresh perspective about life in the NOAA Corps from an officer outside their immediate and chain of command.
As BOTC 137 officers have just received their ship assignments, we are looking for officers in the rank of LTJG and LT that would like to volunteer to serve as a mentor / buddy for a BOTC 137 Ensign. Ideally, we will look to pair the Ensigns with an officer that served on the same ship or assignment during their first assignment following BOTC. BOTC 137 officers have received orders to the following units:
Selected mentors / buddies would be expected to engage with the Ensign they are paired with during the later stages of BOTC, and would ideally continue this relationship after the Ensign has reported to their first assignment.
If you are interested in becoming a buddy / mentor, please contact chief.careermgmt.cpc@noaa.gov.
The NJAC wanted to pass along a training opportunity for women, the 2021 Mini-Officer Women Leadership Symposium (Mini-OWLS). Mini-OWLS convenes women leaders in the military and veteran community, experts, innovators, and thought leaders to explore emerging trends, strengthen skills, and transform observations into actionable insights to lead positive change.
Registration and Additional information: https://www.militaryowls.org/owls
The three part symposium will be held over three days, over the next 6 months. The events will be held 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM EST:
The first event will be held in two weeks, 13 April, 2021 – 11:30-3:30pm EST, and is centered on Leading Self. "This theme speaks to your personal ability to influence your own thinking, feelings, and actions towards your goals. By being open to feedback, gaining self awareness, and skillfully managing your behaviors, you can better align your intentions with the impact you want to have as a leader."
OMAO HQ will support 20 officers for this great opportunity, and officers are also encouraged to reach out to their respective Line Offices for support. Contact the OMAO Training Division (omao.training@noaa.gov) if you need HQ to cover your registration and if you have any questions.
The NOAA Association of Commissioned Officers (ACO) administers the annual Junior Officer of the Year, Science, and Engineering awards. The ACO recognizes the wide range of accomplishments and contributions of NOAA's uniformed personnel, and encourages all commands to consider nominating officers for these honors. Nominations for the 2021 awards are due by April 26, 2021.
Nomination Procedure: A nomination for a NOAA ACO award shall consist of at least two pages. The first page shall be a cover memo addressed to the National ACO, stating the name, grade, billet title, and job description of the nominated officer. The following page(s) shall be the personal comments of the nominator, which reflect the basis for the nomination. Nominations should include a detailed description of the officer's duties and accomplishments, and the positive impact of those achievements on the Agency and the Service. All commands and field offices are encouraged to submit officer nominations for these awards. Candidates for Junior Officer of the Year may be nominated by any supervisor in their chain of command or any NOAA Corps officer senior in grade to the nominee. Science and Engineering award nominations may be made by any supervisor under whom the nominee is serving, or any commissioned officer.
Submit nominations or questions via e-mail to noaacorpsdcaco@gmail.com, by COB April 26, 2021. In the nomination email please have the supporting files attached as .PDF or readable by Microsoft Word.
The subject line of the nomination email should be "Junior Officer of the Year Nomination", "Science Award", or "Engineering Award" as appropriate. This will assist the selection committee with accurate tracking and sorting of the nominations. Junior officers with civilian supervisors are encouraged to forward them this information. For more information on the awards, please refer to the NOAA Corps Directives on Awards (Chapter 12 part 7).
On April 16, 2020, the Department of Defense authorized the Special Leave Accrual in recognition of the impact of the Department's response to COVID-19 on service members' ability to take leave and properly manage their leave balances for the remainder of fiscal year 2020. On April 28, 2020, the Director of NOAA Corps issued a letter to authorize the same benefits for officers and retain such unused leave until the end of fiscal year 2023.
The Special Leave Accrual (SLA) limits are set based on the officer's earned leave balance as of September 30, 2020 (maximum of 90 days), reflected in the officer's payslip. If an officer had less than 60 days leave earned on September 30, 2020, their maximum carryover will remain 60 days. Any days earned after September 30, 2020 are not protected by this authority and are subject to expire under the normal end of fiscal year 60-day rules.
If an officer had a leave balance in excess of 60 days (e.g. 90 days; 30 days over annual carryover limit) on September 30, 2020, the SLA authority will allow the officer to carryover the 30 additional days until September 30, 2023. Those 30 days of earned leave will be marked as "carryover balance" on your payslip. If that same officer has 100 days of annual leave on September 30, 2021, the officer will lose 10 days of leave under this 2020 authorization.
Officers can view their SLA balance on their payslips (Leave & Earning Statement) in Direct Access (Peoplesoft) in the lower box of the leave summary section at the line titled, "End Special Leave Carryover Balance". Please actively plan for and use your leave throughout each fiscal year to the extent that you are able to do so. While use of leave is highly encouraged, the granting of leave is still subject to supervisors' approval and mission requirements. Therefore, please understand that a single last-minute request for excessive amounts of consecutive days may not be granted based on mission requirements.
NOAA's Unified Messaging Service (UMS) policy allows for users to "store and transmit Sensitive, non-public information within Google Drive and Gmail, provided that that information is not shared with anyone outside of the noaa.gov domain." This means that as long as you are sending information and files from a noaa.gov account to another noaa.gov account, you do not have to use Kiteworks. The policy is linked here.
Effective immediately, CPC encourages the submission of all OERs to oer.cpc@noaa.gov via regular email attachment instead of through Kiteworks. Kiteworks is still available for use should you need to share documents containing PII with individuals not using a noaa.gov email account.
PLEASE NOTE: Officers still need to use OPF Online to upload other personnel and medical documents to their OPF.
If you have any questions about OER submissions or OER policies, please contact CDR Ryan Wattam at chief.careermgmt.cpc@noaa.gov