BOTC 138 Graduation

BOTC 138 has reached graduation! The class will be graduating on November 8th at 1000. The ceremonies can be viewed via livestream at Military Honors Ceremony (0830 EST) and BOTC 138 / OCS 1-22 Graduation (1000 EST). Following graduation the class will be headed to the United States Maritime Resource Center in Middletown, RI for Bridge Resource Management, ECDIS, and Watchkeeping before detaching from NCOTC on November 24th and heading to their respective ships.

Call for Volunteers: BOTC 140 Interviews

NOAA Corps Recruiting is looking for motivated Officers (O2-O4) who are willing to complete interviews for BOTC 140. To improve consistency, Recruiting is asking each interviewer to conduct a minimum of 3-5 interviews.

Officers will conduct all interviews virtually via Google Meet. Interviews can be scheduled as early as the second week of November, with all interviews completed by January 7th.

This interview process is your chance to have a direct hand in shaping the future of the NOAA Corps. Please email LT Picard at noaacorps.recruiting@noaa.gov if you are interested. Thank you for your consideration!

OPFOnline Improvement Questionnaire

The Commissioned Personnel Center (CPC) is planning to upgrade the OPFOnline application. As part of that process, we are requesting feedback from all NOAA Corps officers on their experience with the application and eliciting suggestions for improvements. Please take a few minutes and fill out this 11 question survey and provide as much information as possible.
Link to Survey

Please note that this is NOT an appropriate place for personal queries; it is for suggestions for improvement of the OPFOnline application. Personal queries (i.e., about your specific PCS orders) should be made through the OPFOnline application or by contacting the appropriate CPC staff member by phone or email, as listed on the CPC Contacts page.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Temporary Waiver Information

As an employee of the federal government, you may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which provides loan forgiveness for federal student loans. This program will forgive the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for NOAA. Traditionally, to qualify, you must have Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan) and repay your loans under an income-driven repayment plan.

However, the Department of Education recently approved a limited waiver opportunity which may allow you to receive credit for past payments made on federal loans that would not have otherwise qualified under traditional requirements. Under the new rules, any prior payment may count as a qualifying payment regardless of loan type, repayment plan, or whether the payment was made in full or on time. This change will apply to those with Direct Loans, those who have consolidated into a Direct Loan, or those who consolidate by 31 OCT 2022.

To qualify, you must either have a Direct Loan or consolidate into a Direct Loan. Additionally, you must submit an Employment Certification. You can use the PSLF Help Tool to help you understand if you qualify; however, the tool will automatically fill out the form with US Coast Guard as your employer. Instead, please fill out the blank PSLF Certification & Application form manually. Enter the EIN from your W-2 but enter “NOAA” as the employer name. Completed forms can be sent to Katherine Raymond at katherine.raymond@noaa.gov for certification. Please note that certificate (CAC) signatures are not allowed (you can go here to see valid signature options).

JO Volunteer Request: Scribes for MOLS, December 6-10, 2021

Marine Operations Leadership Summit (MOLS) 2021 will be the capstone event for the NOAA Fleet and will be held December 6th through the 10th. This project will incorporate strategic discussions, future planning, and execution for NOAA Professional Mariners, civilian and commissioned, and shoreside support leadership. Attendance will be approximately 220 people divided between 80 in person and 140 virtual. MOLS 2021 event has the opportunity to rise above previous years.

MOLS is designed to get ship and shore side personnel together to discuss topics related to Marine Operations. It is a time for the marine personnel (new and current) and shore personnel to meet and learn what one another does. It creates contacts for people to quickly solve problems in a time sensitive operational environment. Marine Operations also uses this event to discuss and implement their vision of a Respectful Workplace and review the annual Safety Climate Survey.

With supervisor’s permission, Marine Operations is looking for at least 15 Junior Officers from ship or shore assignments to support session facilitation as scribes. You will virtually sign into a designated session, take notes on a template, and post the notes to the MOLS 2021 website. This is a great opportunity for early career officers to gain organizational insight and learn Marine Operations leadership priorities.

Interested officers should contact ENS Timothy Montera, the MOC-A Operations Manager, at opsmgr.moa@noaa.gov. There will be a one or two hour familiarization session for scribes scheduled during the week prior to MOLS 2021.

Issues with Promotion Training for LT

It was brought to CPC’s attention that three CLC courses in the NOAA Corps 2: LT Promotion curriculum were broken or unavailable. These courses were:

• Safety Training For Supervisors & Test
• Introduction to Labor-Management Relations (NOAA Supervisor Series)
• COTR Training Introduction

The first 2 courses have been replaced with the following courses, respectively:

• NOAA Supervisor Roles and Responsibilities (Safety)
• Managing in a Union Environment (OHCS/HR Webinar for Supervisors) RECORDED

The COTR Training Introduction course was removed from CLC due to the information in the course being out of date and inaccurate. No existing CLC or AGO course currently exists to serve as a suitable replacement. CPC is actively working with CLC and AGO to generate a new course to introduce contracting and the COR certification process to junior officers. We hope to have this course generated, available on the CLC, and inserted into the LT curriculum by early January. We appreciate your patience as we generate this content.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce the newest member of the CPC team, LT Diane Perry. LT Perry will report on 08 November as the Leadership Coordinator within OCMD. If you have any questions regarding required training for promotion, please contact LT Perry at cpc.training@noaa.gov. Welcome aboard, Diane!

Calling all Officers to Update Their NOFA Contact Information

The NOAA Officers Family Association (NOFA), in conjunction with the Association of Commissioned Officers (ACO), is asking for your help in updating our online directory of all Active Duty and Retired officers. One of NOFA's roles is to keep in touch with officers and their families throughout the year for social events held near their duty station. The ACO uses this list for social event invitations and planning as well. Occasionally we are also asked to provide non-personal information to advocacy groups such as the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and National Military Family Association (NMFA). MOAA and NMFA never request personal details but may use regional NOFA and ACO population data to help support their advocacy efforts toward legislative goals. Please know that we do not sell or distribute your contact information to anyone outside the NOAA Corps community.

If you already have an account at https://www.nofaweb.org/, please log into the Member area and update your profile. If you do not remember your password, you can use the Forgot your password link to reset it. If you don’t have an account at https://www.nofaweb.org/g, please fill out this Google form to request one.

We ask that all officers please update their information yearly, and we will typically send a reminder email in September or October. Please update your rank, local address, email address (non-NOAA address preferred), as well as your spouse's information. If you have any questions, please contact NOFA at board@nofaweb.org and/or the ACO at noaacorpsdcaco@gmail.com.

From the Assignments Desk: Billet #6900 – Executive Officer, Satellite Products and Services Division

The NESDIS is looking for a motivated officer to take on the responsibilities of Executive Officer in the Satellite Products and Services Division (SPSD).

The officer will be an active member of the SPSD User Services Team, which is the front line for users of NESDIS satellite data. Opportunities to collaborate with the Satellite Analysis Branch on acquiring external data sources allowing the officer to interact with NOAA General Council, Supply Chain Risk Management team, and NESDIS leadership. The possibility to help plan and execute the NOAA Satellite Conference, known as the "Collective Madison Meeting" in August 2022.

The officer will gain experience in risk management, customer service, COOP and safety activities, and interagency coordination.

This assignment is expected to be vacant around March 2022. Officers interested in this assignment should update preferences, and contact the incumbents LT Daniel Helmricks at daniel.helmricks@noaa.gov or LT Kelsey Jeffers at kelsey.e.jeffers@noaa.gov and the Assignment Coordinator at assignmentbranch.cpc@noaa.gov to learn more.

Learn more about the newest NOAA satellites at https://www.goes-r.gov/ and https://www.jpss.noaa.gov/.