Happy Friday, NOAA Corps,
So there I was, a newly-promoted LTjg and the Surface Officer of the Deck aboard my submarine. Transiting in a deep and narrow channel at full speed in late October 2002, through a complex grouping of Mediterranean islands, we had completed two extended high op-tempo national defense missions. My shipmates and I were salty, tired, but excited that our successful six-month deployment was coming to an end; we would all be home very soon. Standing at the top of the sub’s sail with only a lookout to keep me company, 99% of the rest of the officers and crew were down below and conducting an exercise with our carrier battle group, a final demonstration of our expertise for our submarine squadron command toward ship of the year consideration. The ship’s navigation situation was far from their minds.
“What’s going on up ahead?” I asked my lookout, seeing what looked like a small boat crossing the channel and a man doing a hula dance on top of the boat’s cabin. We both then saw through our binoculars that the boat, while slowly crossing the channel, had dragged a large gill net behind it; the fisherman aboard waving his shirt wildly above his head and yelling in Italian, begging us not to plow through the net and pull him and his boat down under the submarine’s 6200-ton hull. “ENGINE STOP, BACK EMERGENCY! CO to the Bridge!” I exclaimed into the ship’s intercom system. The ship began to slowly shudder as the engine room throttleman frantically closed the ahead and opened the astern throttle, the ship’s steam and nuclear reactor propulsion system straining under the rapid shift of energy demand. We ultimately came to a stop with about 50 feet to spare from the fisherman’s net, as he hauled it aboard his little boat with all of his might. The CO thanked me and the lookout for preventing a potential catastrophe, but we all knew that this was a near-miss, and connected directly to the ship’s end-of-season confidence, fatigue, and resulting complacency.
I know I mentioned safety in my message last week, but the CPC staff felt (and I confirm) that it’s never too soon to think about it again. So, as the fall progresses toward winter, I invite us all to keep safety awareness at the top of our minds, look out for ourselves and each other, and work towards an end of the year mishap-free.
Be Well,
Captain Chris van Westendorp, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center
P.S. Please join me in a hearty “CONGRATULATIONS!” to our newest appointed Ensigns on their graduation from Basic Officer Training Class!
| 23 Oct 2024 | Heavy Aviation Advisory Board (AAB) |
| 18-21 Nov 2024 | Biennial Review (O1-O5) |
| 04 Dec 2024 | Officer Assignment Board (OAB) |
| 11 Dec 2024 | Fleet Aviation Advisory Board (AAB) |
| CAPT Jason Mansour | 01 Nov 2024 Terminal leave: 04 Aug 2024 |
| LTJG Emma Strong | 13 Nov 2024 Terminal leave: 03 Sep 2024 |
| CAPT Daniel Simon | 01 Jan 2025 Terminal leave: 25 Oct 2024 |
| LTJG Kyle Vincent | 02 Jan 2025 |
| LCDR Steven Solari | 01 Feb 2025 |
| CDR Stephen Kuzirian | 01 Mar 2025 |
| LT Matthew Sharr | 31 Mar 2025 |
BOTC 144 with NCOTC and CPC staff at billet night. PC: USCG OC |
BOTC 144 Graduated this past Friday alongside their OCS 1-25 classmates. Thank you to Dr. Michael Morgan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, and RADM Cary for their attendance and support of the class. The four aviators from BOTC 144 are headed to AOC, while the remaining 16 mariners have four weeks of additional training at USMRC in Newport, RI. They will learn RADAR, ARPA and ECDIS, spend time in the simulators, and complete navigation briefs for their capstone project before departing for their first sea assignments on November 8th.
Congratulations to the following students on their exceptional performance in various aspects of the program:
You may have noticed in the “On the Horizon” section of the Cyberflash that a Biennial Review is scheduled about a month from now. Per the FY24 Officer Corps Management Plan (see approved Recommendation F.), this event is conducted to perform a review of all officers below the grade of captain to assess career progression, performance, assignments, training, and overall health of the NOAA Corps. All officers from O1 to O5 are encouraged to review their Official Personnel Files (OPF) to ensure they are complete and as up-to-date as possible, including OERs, awards, biographies, assignment history, etc. Please note that this review is explicitly for the reasons articulated in the OCMP, and is not related to lineal ranking or continuation/separation of officers. For any questions, please contact chief.careermgmt.cpc@noaa.gov.
After a few unforeseen delays, it is again time to share some more workforce, policy, personnel, and career management updates with our active duty members. Please join RADM Cary, RDML Goeller, RDML Evans, and CAPT van Westendorp for a NOAA Corps All Hands meeting on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at 3:00 pm EDT. Submit any topics or questions you’d like for us to address in the NOAA Corps All Hands question form linked here, as your input will guide a good portion of the webinar content. We will do our best to address as many questions as possible, and there will be an opportunity to ask additional questions on-the-fly during the webinar event. The meeting invitation will be added to officer calendars shortly.
For the first time in many years, the Surge Capacity Force (SCF), organized and managed by the Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has been deployed with staff from NOAA included. NOAA’s Office of Emergency Management (NOEM) is soliciting volunteers for the SCF to support Disaster Survivor Assistance efforts. FEMA SCF deployments typically last no longer than 45 days. Given the current situation following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, there is an ongoing need for support through the remainder of the 2024 hurricane season ending in November, and perhaps later. If interested, please consult with your supervisory chain, and contact NOEM at hspo.duty@noaa.gov and/or katherine.krushinski@noaa.gov for more information.
As we approach Officer Evaluation Report (OER) submission season for officers with the ranks of Lieutenant (O-3) through Captain (O-6), all Reported-On-Officers (ROO) are reminded to use the most recent version of OER forms. CPC notes that a number of NOAA Ships and shore duty stations reuse/recirculate "offline" blank OER versions instead of using the most up-to-date form with each submission. Over time, some of these files become corrupted and/or otherwise prevent the electronic validation process. With upcoming changes to the OER submittal process (planned release of November 1st), file sizes will be limited to 10MB or less. Any final signed OERs larger than 10MB will not be accepted into the OPF Online system and will require revision, new signatures, and resubmission using the most recent form. All OER instructions, procedures, and forms can be found on the CPC Officer Evaluation System webpage.