UAB Solicitation of Interest

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.

BOTC 142: Sailing Into the Future

OC Berlinn and Mercer on the helm of Eagle. Photo Credit: OC Key

Eagle Cruise

The long-awaited USCGC Eagle cruise finally arrived! BOTC 142 got to experience life at sea on the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service. The Eagle was once a German training vessel during pre-World War II. While trying to out run Tropical Storm Ophelia, the crew experienced some heavy seas, eventually sheltering at anchor in Cape Cod Bay before continuing on to Boston. BOTC 142 showed resilience throughout and carried on with onboard training in firefighting, damage control, rigging the sails, and standing watch. After an extensive underway training, BOTC 142 was able to enjoy some liberty in Boston before heading back to the Coast Guard Academy.

OC Towers and OC Seibert with a CG shipmate. Photo Credit: OC Key

Billet Night

The atmosphere was filled with excitement as officer candidates waited to be called up on stage, learning where they’d be stationed. BOTC 142 cheered for their classmates as they opened their envelopes, keeping the morale high. Now BOTC is eagerly looking forward to the next stage of their officer career.

BOTC 142 dropping by an anchored Eagle during FRB training. Photo Credit: Captain John Kihm, USMRC

BOTC 142 with LT Kosten, LTJG Lesser, RDML Evans, and CAPT VanWestendorp at billet night. Photo Credit: OC Key

BOTC 142 Assignments:

ENS Rachel Backman	NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker
ENS Claudia Berlinn	NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
ENS Kathryn Bornarth	NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
ENS Emerson Cheney	NOAA Ship Pisces
ENS Brian D’Souza	Flight School, Vero Beach, FL
ENS Alexander Eden	Flight School, Vero Beach, FL
ENS Kathryn Elmer	NOAA Ship Fairweather
ENS Devynn Gately	NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
ENS Luca Grifo-Hahn	NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
ENS Brendan Herbert	NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
ENS Matthew Hicks	NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown
ENS PJ Lebel	NOAA Ship Oregon II
ENS Dylan Legus-Sleigh	Flight School, Vero Beach, FL
ENS Donovan Mercer	NOAA Ship Rainier
ENS Ghislain Ngangnang Ngangte	Flight School, Vero Beach, FL
ENS Amber Porter	NOAA Ship Elton Sette
ENS Emily Resendez	NOAA Ship Fairweather
ENS Alexis Rogers	NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
ENS James Seibert	Flight School, Vero Beach, FL
ENS Megan Sixt	NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada
ENS Sara Towers	Flight School, Vero Beach, FL
ENS Walburg Wibowo	Flight School, Vero Beach, FL

BOTC 142 Mentorship Program

O2s and O3s who have served with the following units as their first assignment:

NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown

NOAA Ship Nancy Foster

NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette

NOAA Ship Rainier

NOAA Ship Fairweather

NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson

NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

NOAA Ship Oregon II

NOAA Ship Pisces

NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter

NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow

Twin Otter AOC

Initial Flight Training

We are looking for volunteers to serve as mentors paired with a BOTC 142 mentee to share your experience and organizational knowledge. If you are interested please complete the following google form by next Friday, December 9th.

BOTC 142 Mentor Volunteer Form.

The BOTC Mentorship Program is separate from wider OMAO/NOAA Mentorship Programs in that it focuses on the common questions, preparations, and challenges faced during first assignments.

If you have any questions about the program please contact LT Ryan Musick at apply.noaacorps@noaa.gov

Direct Access Outage Alert

Direct Access is scheduled to be unavailable for any payroll functions due to maintenance between Friday, October 13, 2023 at 0600 EST, and Monday, October 16, 2023, at 0600 EST. This outage is necessary to avoid submission of self-service and Servicing Personnel Office / NOAA Corps Payroll transactions during the testing period, and will impact ALL NOAA CORPS ACTIVE DUTY AND RETIRED OFFICERS. For any questions concerning the outage, please contact Sherrita Irby, NOAA Corps Policy Program Manager at sherrita.irby@noaa.gov.

NCD Chapter 12 – Uniform and Awards: NOAA Corps Special Duty Ribbon (NSDR)

A recently approved award, CPC has received numerous nominations for the NOAA Corps Special Duty Ribbon, which we are happy is being embraced by Officers meeting the requirement. However, following the NCD change approval process, some discrepancies were identified in the eligibility language that require additional clarification, and a temporary hold has since been placed on current and future NSDR nomination reviews. CPC is developing corresponding changes to bring award eligibility requirements in-line with the original spirit and intent of the ribbon proposal as well as CPC processes. Please refrain from further NSDR nomination submissions until those changes are approved and implemented in the NOAA Corps Directives, which will be announced in a future Cyberflash.

NCD Chapter 12 - Uniform and Awards: International Service Ribbon (NCIS)

CPC is pleased to announce RADM Hann's approval of an update to NCD Chapter 12 (Uniform and Awards), Part 7, NOAA Corps International Service Ribbon (NCIS). This update to 12705(K)(1)(c) and 12705(K)(2)(c) authorizes expansion of the NCIS to officers in shore-based assignments with 21 cumulative days in a 12-month period in areas other than the U.S., its territories, or possessions. This particular award eligibility is retroactive for issuance to January 1, 2021.

Did You Know? – Process for Tendering a Resignation

Per NCD Chapter 8, Part 2, the following procedure will be observed when a NOAA Corps officer tenders a resignation request:

• All letters of resignation shall be addressed to the Director, NOAA Corps and forwarded through the chain of command, and Director, CPC, including the NOAA Corps officer’s line office liaison officer.
• Chain of command endorsements shall indicate whether the requested resignation date is compatible with the program office and the NOAA Corps officer’s assigned responsibilities and, if appropriate, recommend an alternative separation date.
• The NOAA Corps officer's immediate supervisor shall discuss with the NOAA Corps officer the reasons prompting the resignation, ensuring that the NOAA Corps officer is aware of all aspects of the proposed action. The fact that this counseling has been accomplished shall be noted by the supervisor's endorsement.

Additional information can be found on the CPC website in the NOAA Corps Directives.

Clarification and Reminder: Exception OER – Special (NCD 04410)

As we approach the end of the annual reporting cycle for Lieutenants and above, CPC would like to remind officers about the authorized uses for what is commonly referred to as a Special OER. Per NCD 04406, an annual or semiannual OER is required with only a few specific exceptions: Recent or upcoming detachment of reported-on officer -or- recent or upcoming change in reporting officer. The only other exception to an annual OER is an official waiver request authorized by the Director, CPC (NCD 04407).

A common question CPC receives is if a Special OER can be done right before an upcoming promotion board for an officer in zone in lieu of an Annual OER. While the intent is understandable (wanting to capture as much performance as possible before promotion evaluation) there is no authorization to do this within the Directives. CPC will return an Exception OER - Special if it does not have an authorized reason for the report. An Exception OER – Special is only authorized for the reasons listed in NCD 04410.D.

To address NCD 04410.D.2 (Exception OER – Special), a Special OER may be submitted in circumstances where an officer’s performance has been notably different from the previous reporting period and would result in a change in overall comparison or rating scale. Only the specific performance leading to the change in overall score would be captured in a Special OER in this circumstance. This is typically used to capture unacceptable performance that would result in a reduction in overall score; though, it can be used to capture an increase in overall score, it would be difficult to justify a positive change in such a short period of time. Special OERs cannot be used to move the end date of a rating period to skip an annual OER (even if the final rating is higher than the previous final rating).

Officers and supervisors that submit invalid Special OERs may find themselves in the position of having a returned invalid Special OER and having to quickly backtrack/backdate to an annual OER with a very short amount of time before a promotion board. CPC and OCMD are working to find potential changes to the Directives to allow for something like this in the future as any changes would need to apply to all officers.

Assistance with O-3 and below assignments

The “Assignment Coordinator” is not a “Detailer” like in other services. The position facilitates the assignment process and has the big picture on the needs of the service. They also need to make sure that the timing aligns and that officers are getting assignments in a timely manner. So, if you are looking at an assignment that does not match up with your rotation date, please check with the assignment coordinator before you put in a lot of effort!

To start the process, look at jobs that line up with your rotation date. Look at the billet description, but also reach out to the officer in the job. Sometimes billets slowly adapt into different responsibilities that aren’t captured on paper. When you find a job you are interested in, continue those communications with the incumbent, supervisor, and the Line Office Liaison.

All job recommendations come from the Line Office Liaisons. The Line Office Liaisons make those recommendations differently for each assignment. They might get a request from the billet incumbent or supervisor – this is common for jobs with high interest that hold their own interviews. They might make the recommendation themselves after talking to interested officers. Or, they might talk to the assignment coordinator to gauge interest or to see if the billet is listed in preferences.

The assignment coordinator is a great resource to help you along the process. If you have any questions, please reach out to, LT Melissa Trede at assignmentbranch.cpc@noaa.gov. And remember to keep your assignment preferences up to date.