Greetings, Colleagues,
It’s safe to say that Spring is in full effect here in the DC area and indeed throughout the country, which translates into a lot of change. The steadily warming weather allows people to shift their daily routines more towards the sunshine and the excitement of enjoying outside activities. Additionally, with “April showers'' comes the emergence of lush greenery and floral blooms, adding a full spectrum of outdoor color enhancements, but also igniting the allergies of many sufferers such as myself, resulting in an element of stress.
Similarly, CPC is hosting promotion boards next week, and as such this may be an exciting and/or stressful time for the CPC team, board members, and officers who are in-zone. A concrete representation of our opportunity for growth and advancement, the promotion board season provides us all a reminder of our original call to service, when we, “solemnly swear (or affirm) that [we] will support and defend the Constitution of the United States… without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.…” While we faithfully work side by side with our federal civil service and wage marine colleagues everyday, we are also set apart from them as a uniformed service, on active (full-time) duty to NOAA and the United States; our insignia and workplace garb provide visible reminders to others and ourselves of this fact.
As this Spring season progresses, I encourage you to join me in reflecting on our service and personal journeys toward growth and advancement, understanding that we as NOAA Corps officers are all connected through our selfless commitment, providing invaluable services to our agency and the Nation.
I wish you all warmer weather, and hope you will continue to be kind to yourself and those around you.
Best Regards,
Captain Chris van Westendorp, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center
| 26 Mar - 15 Apr 2023 | REFTRA 94 |
| LT Joshua Fredrick | 01 May 2023 |
| LTJG Jeffrey Calderon | 01 May 2023 |
| ENS Daniel Stofka | 01 May 2023 |
| LTJG Iris Ekmanis | 15 May 2023 |
| CAPT Todd Bridgeman | 01 Jun 2023 |
| CAPT Timothy Gallagher | 01 Jun 2023 |
| CAPT Stephanie Koes | 01 Jun 2023 |
| CAPT Mark Van Waes | 01 Jun 2023 |
| LT Linda Junge | 01 Jun 2023 |
| LT Alexandria Andonian | 30 JUN 2023 |
| LT Jacquelyn Putnam | 01 JUL 2023 |
| LT Nathaniel Park | 01 JUL 2023 |
| LTJG Logan Dodson | 01 JUL 2023 |
| LT Christopher Dunn | 31 JUL 2023 |
| CAPT James Crocker | 01 AUG 2023 |
| LTJG Stefanie Coxe | 01 AUG 2023 |
Captain James Grunwell, NOAA (Ret.), passed away on March 02, 2023, at the age of 91. Captain Grunwell was born on July 22, 1931, in Caracas, Venezuela. He attended the University of Florida with advance studies in Mathematics and the Armed Forces Staff College. Prior to his appointment in what was then the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, Captain Grunwell served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for over 11 years. During his time with NOAA, he served in many assignments including Executive Officer of the NOAA Ship Researcher and Commanding Officer of the NOAA Ship Surveyor. Additionally, he served as the Chief, Ship Facilities Division, and Chief of the Engineering Division in the NOS Office of Fleet Operations. Captain Grunwell concluding his career as the Deputy Associate Director of the NOS Office of Fleet Operations. He served over 30 years of active service and was awarded the Department of Commerce Silver Medal and a NOAA Unit Citation.
 Photo Credit: LT Dustin Picard |
The NOAA Corps Recruiting Branch attended the National Society of Black Engineers Annual Conference in Kansas City, MO last month. LT Dustin Picard, Chief of the NOAA Corps Recruiting Branch, spoke to hundreds of guests about a career in the NOAA Corps and how aspiring engineers could use their degrees across NOAA.
The NOAA Corps Recruiting Branch is currently planning our summer and fall event schedule. If you are interested in volunteering or have an event you think we should attend, please reach out to LCDR Andrew Reynaga at noaacorps.recruiting@noaa.gov
The CPC HR Action Request Ticketing System is now live, and available for NOAA Corps Officers to create HR action requests! To access the system, select ‘Open Action Request’ on the Overview page of your OPF. Remember, this new ticketing system is now the primary avenue for submitting questions or action requests to CPC. It is highly recommended to generate tickets for any outstanding issues so that they can be properly tracked moving forward. This is not an OPF document management tool. It is for HR actions and questions only.
To check the status of a ticket, please look at ‘My Ticket History’ in your OPF, and look for the automated emails that are generated when actions have been completed. Please utilize this tool so that we may best assist you!
The necessary USCG system updates needed to pay out Administrator Awards have been made and testing is complete. The Payroll Unit is processing the awards and all Administrator Awards should be paid out not later than May 31, 2023. Please direct any questions to Katherine Raymond,
Payslips are available in Direct Access (the USCG Pay System) on a bi-monthly basis. This is a reminder to login and review your payslips routinely, especially after a PCS or promotion. While the USCG system serves us well, there are glitches that occur in the system despite personnel actions being processed correctly. Officers must ensure that their pay is correct and bring any questions or concerns to the Payroll Unit. All updates to pay and entitlements are notated in the remarks section of the payslip. Please direct any questions to Katherine Raymond, katherine.raymond@noaa.gov.
Pet expenses will be reimbursable effective January 01, 2024. One household pet is reimbursable which can be a cat or a dog. Reimbursement for CONUS PCS move is $550 and $2,000 for OCONUS travel. Once again this reimbursement is not effective until January 01, 2024. More information will be posted in the Joint Travel Regulations around the end of the Calendar year.
If you have any questions, please contact Jerrard baker at 301-713-7728 or Jerrard.baker@noaa.gov
The ACO Scholarship team is STILL looking for a new volunteer to support the scholarship process. This role has been generously filled by CAPT (Ret) Dave Peterson since 2003 (wow!) and he is ready to pass the baton. CAPT (Ret) Peterson has offered to stay on for another cycle to help train his replacement and I’m also willing to bet there is some delicious food somewhere in the mix as Dave is well known for his skills in the kitchen. The scholarship also recently received a generous donation from one of our retired officers which makes the offering even more exciting in 2023 as the ACO works to support America’s future leaders. Please reach out to CAPT (Ret) Peterson directly if you are interested (kmpdhp@comcast.net)