Good afternoon, NOAA Corps,
Earlier this week the Nation reflected on the 22nd anniversary of 9/11/2001, and once again, I found myself pondering our connection and responsibility as NOAA Corps officers to serving our country and fellow citizens.
At the time, I was LTjg van Westendorp (USN) attending a school at Naval Station Norfolk, and stared along with my classmates at the wardroom television, watching in confusion and horror as the World Trade Center towers collapsed and Pentagon burned. I particularly remember the thought for which I had prepared myself in my young career but never thought would come to pass, of, “Well, this is it. We’re going to war.” Truly the Nation and indeed the world changed, and the vast majority of us have vivid memories of that day. For some, it may have been the moment when we realized the gravity and importance of uniformed service, if not the actual call to join. And as NOAA Corps officers, much if not all of the work we do today contributes to the country’s security and/or defense, and the ways we do business may be traced back to some change resulting from that fateful day.
Regardless, 9/11 impacted every U.S. citizen, and as Tracey Peterson (CPC HR Specialist) reminded our team this week, that of course includes our friends and family members. She was working in the DC area in personnel support for DoD and found herself and her team working through intermittent phone service to conduct innumerable calls to/from service members’ dependents, including for those who perished on 9/11 and would be receiving decedent benefits. In many cases, service members had not updated their contact and/or beneficiary information, resulting in benefits being paid to individuals who may not have been a part of the members’ lives for many years.
Accordingly, and in addition to reflecting on our service while remembering those who have gone before us, I’m taking this opportunity to remind everyone to periodically review and update their contact, emergency, and beneficiary information such as for SGLI. In doing so, we ensure that should the unthinkable occur and we become incapacitated or worse, our loved ones are properly informed and receive the rights and benefits that we have earned in service to NOAA and the Nation.
As always, please continue to take care of yourselves and each other.
Best Regards,
Captain Chris van Westendorp, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center
| 4 Oct 2023 | Officer Assignment Board |
| 4 Oct 2023 | BOTC-142 Billet Night |
| 17 Nov 2023 | BOTC-142 Graduation |
| Late Nov - Early Dec 2023 | Aviation Advisory Board, Initial Flight |
| LT Diane Perry | 21 SEP 2023 |
| LCDR Hadley Owen | 30 SEP 2023 |
| CAPT Michael Levine | 01 OCT 2023 |
| CAPT Edward Van Den Ameele | 01 OCT 2023 |
| LCDR Richard DeTriquet | 30 Nov 2023 |
| LCDR Alan Hough | 30 Nov 2023 |
| LCDR Bryan Begun | 01 Dec 2023 |
| LT Lee Shoemaker | 01 Dec 2023 |
| LTJG Samuel Umfress | 15 Dec 2023 |
| CDR Lindsay Kurelja | 01 Jan 2024 |
| LTJG Tyler Aldrich | 31 Jan 2024 |
BOTC 142: OC Wibowo on the helm of the FRB |
Boat and ARPA Training
The class has eagerly anticipated this segment of their training since the outset. On Coast Guard Training boats and Fast Rescue Boats, the class has covered shiphandling, docking procedures, and man overboard recovery. While half the class learns to drive FRBs this week, the other half is at the United States Maritime Resource Center (USMRC) for ARPA training. The program featured parallel indexing exercises and radar scenario simulations. These activities equipped the candidates with the technical expertise needed to operate radar systems effectively, a crucial skill for their future roles in the NOAA Corps.
BOTC 142: OC Backman aboard the Twin Otter |
Flying High: Twin Otter Adventures
BOTC 142 had the privilege of interacting with pilots from NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center. The Officer Candidates want to thank the pilots for sharing their knowledge and experiences, and letting them take a flight aboard the Twin Otter. This encounter provided valuable insights into aviation operations and further fueled the candidates' passion for flying.
BOTC 142: OCs at T-Boat training |
Conquering Sea Trials
“All hands, abandon ship!” In a thrilling twist, BOTC 142 and OCS 1-24 faced the ultimate test during their “Sea Trials”. Awakened in the dead of night, they embarked on a series of intense evolutions that stretched from dusk to dawn. The trials commenced with a grueling workout designed to simulate the physical and mental demands of abandoning ship, setting the tone for a night of rigorous team-building activities. This event introduced an element of friendly competition as platoons from OCS and BOTC vied for supremacy at each station. In a remarkable feat, BOTC 142 clinched the pennant and secured the top rank among their Coast Guard peers for the first time in history!
As BOTC 142 prepares to set sail on Eagle on September 18th, their enthusiasm remains undiminished. Stay tuned for more updates as they continue in their NOAA Corps training.
Beginning October 1, 2023 all NOAA Corps Officers will upload medical readiness documents via the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal. MHS GENESIS is a secure website for 24/7 access to your health information. The CPC website will have a new tab labeled MHS GENESIS with detailed instructions that go through the steps of uploading medical documents. Also, Medical OPF functionality will be disabled, and officers will no longer upload medical documents to their OPF. Medical Readiness tracking will remain unchanged.
With the use of MHS GENESIS officers must complete the NOAA Privacy Act and Consent Form. This form will be required ANNUALLY by NOAA Corps Officers, and can be downloaded from the Medical Affairs MHS GENESIS tab on the CPC website. Any officer uploading a medical document for Medical Affairs to review must also have a current NOAA Privacy Act and Consent Form uploaded to MHS GENESIS within the last year.
Medical Affairs will begin uploading previously submitted medical records to MHS GENESIS in a phased approach, and we ask for your patience, as organizing and uploading officers' historic records will take time. We will be reaching out to officers individually as we upload their documents, and if a current NOAA Privacy Act and Consent Form has not been received, we will require one to be completed. For historic medical records that have not been turned into Medical Affairs, we ask that officers hold off on uploading them for the moment. Medical Affairs will update on the status of medical record uploads periodically.
As always if you have any questions please reach out to LCDR Zalno and LT Jones-Beatty at noaacorps.medical@noaa.gov.
CPC is pleased to announce RADM Hann's approval of the NOAA Corps Directive Chapter 4, Career Development and Promotion. This update to Chapter 4 incorporates changes to law made by the NOAA Corps Amendments Act of 2020, specifically a minor revision of officer personnel board authorities and membership composition, the allowance of temporary appointments and promotions in all junior grades, and codification within Chapter 4 of active duty service obligations, as prescribed in our recent rulemaking. This update also incorporates a change made by the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 that repealed the requirement that NOAA Corps ensigns be promoted at three years of service, so that the NOAA Corps now has maximum flexibility to promote ensigns at first opportunity. This chapter has also received numerous housekeeping and formatting updates.
The current tenure of the Uniform and Awards Board (UAB) is coming to an end and they are seeking new Co-Chairs and Membership for the next cohort of the UAB (January 2024 - June 2025).
Co-Chairs: Officers in the rank of O-5 or O-6 who wish to lead the 2024-2025 UAB are encouraged to submit a statement of interest by 13 October. Statements of interest can be in the body of the email and should not exceed a paragraph. The new Co-Chairs will have the opportunity to sit in on the November and December board meetings while assisting in the selection process of the next board membership.
Membership: Officers in the rank of O-2 to O-5 interested in serving on the next UAB are also requested to send a statement of interest by 31 October in order to be considered for the next board cohort. For those who have already expressed interest, we ask that you please re-affirm and re-submit your request.
Statements of interest for either the Co-Chair or Membership positions should be sent to the current Co-Chairs, CDR James Brinkley and CDR Dave Gothan, through the UAB email address: noaacorps.uab@noaa.gov.
Serving on the Uniform and Awards Board is a great way to help ensure that your fellow officers are recognized for the work they’re doing for NOAA and the Nation. All officers are encouraged to consider volunteering. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to CDR James Brinkley and CDR Dave Gothan.
The NOAA Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (OCAO) is looking for an enterprising Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander (including officers selected for those ranks) to embark on a 3-6 month full-time developmental detail with the OCAO front office, supporting NOAA facilities strategic planning and operational execution. Primarily focused on helping manage the NOAA Headquarters lease re-competition project, the detailed officer should expect to gain NOAA-level experience in project management, executive communication, and budget management; as well as exposure to and understanding and practical application of cross-NOAA senior leadership networking and collaboration. Temporary duty funding may be available for the detailee if permanently stationed outside of the Washington D.C. area, and the position will largely be located on-site at SSMC in Silver Spring with some telework available.
Interested officers must obtain their supervisor's approval and contact LCDR Joe Carrier at assignmentbranch.cpc@noaa.gov. Please contact Toni Parham, OCAO Chief of Staff at toni.d.parham@noaa.gov, for any questions related to the detail itself.
The OAR Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML) is seeking a junior officer to fill the American Samoa/South Pole Billet with a December 2024/January 2025 start date. GML operates four remote Atmospheric Baseline Observatories strategically positioned around the globe. The long-term datasets collected at these observatories track atmospheric constituents that drive climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, and baseline air quality.
The officer selected for this billet trains in Colorado for several months before spending 13 months in American Samoa running NOAA’s atmospheric monitoring instruments, managing the observatory facilities, and completing administrative tasking necessary to operate the station. Officers then spend 13 months at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica running a similar suite of instruments at NOAA’s South Pole Observatory, coordinating shipping logistics, and assisting with other station duties.
This challenging billet provides independent, self-starting, adventurous individuals with the opportunity to live in the tropical South Pacific, experience six months of light and six months of darkness in Antarctica, and earn the Chief of Party Pin, International Service Ribbon, and Antarctic Service Medal – all within one billet.
Interested officers should update their billet preferences and send their biographies and resumes by 30 September to Christy Smith at Christine.Smith@noaa.gov. Interviews will be held in October 2023.