Message from the Director

Good evening, NOAA Corps,

The winter is slowly beginning to thaw, heavy coats are gradually transitioning to lighter jackets and sweaters, and many NOAA Corps officers are starting to perspire a bit while spending additional time pouring through their Official Personnel Files (OPFs); this can all mean only one thing – it is officially promotion board season! This is the time of year when officers who are notified of their promotion consideration to the next grade are busy ensuring that their files are in order, including most recent Officer Evaluation Reports (please note the OER article below), biographies, professional training, awards, and other relevant records for view by the Officer Personnel Board.

I’d also like to note that the pressure is on for those officers’ respective supervisory rating chains to provide detailed and accurate assessments of the officers, as well as appropriately document any award-worthy activities in a timely fashion. These actions will ensure that the considered officers’ OPFs will paint the most appropriate pictures, figuratively speaking, as records are reviewed by the promotion boards.

I’d like to thank all supervisors of NOAA Corps officers out there for their time and attention in supporting our promotion-eligible officers, as well as all of the Line Office Liaisons for their guidance and assistance to officers and their supervisory chains. This work is critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of the NOAA Corps, and enables the service to grow and thrive.

As we continue to serve our nation and remain mission ready, please remember, as always, to align all efforts with our core values of Honor, Respect, and Commitment. Be well, and please be sure to take care of yourselves and each other.

Best Regards,

Captain Chris van Westendorp, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center

BOTC 145 Updates

Congratulations to BOTC 145 on receiving their first operational assignments! Thank you to all who were able to tune in to watch the festivities last week - we appreciate your support!

Officer Candidates carrying out the tradition of Evening Colors. PC: OC Dahl

BOTC 145 is pleased to say they passed ROTR with a class average of 93.9% during a busy week filled with multiple colors evolutions and Billet Night. Everyone is excited about their billets and looking forward to getting out into the fleet. BOTC 145 is busy this week learning about positive supervisory skills and creating a healthy working environment through the Leadership and Management School (LAMS) taught at the United States Coast Guard Academy. They also visited Avery Point where they were able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to real world scenarios, ATONs, and vessel traffic. With only four weeks left at the USCGA, BOTC 145 is looking forward to starting their ship handling and firefighting training.

Request for Volunteers: USMRC Capstone Simulation Support

The NOAA Corps Officer Training Center (NCOTC) requests two Senior Watch Officers (SWOs) to support BOTC 145's post-graduation bridge simulator training and Capstone Simulation Exercises at USMRC from 24APR to 02MAY. There are two discrete portions of the training:

Routine Bridge Simulations: SWOs will provide bridge mentorship, coaching, and feedback to BOTC 145.

Capstone Simulations: During these simulations each ensign creates a voyage plan for their ship's home port, develops and presents a navigation brief, and executes the plan in a simulator while filling the role of OOD. During these exercises, selected SWOs will fill a role similar to the CO or SWO; allowing the OOD to do their job, while providing practical advice and stepping in to maintain safety of the ship.

Volunteers should ideally have familiarity with multiple NOAA home ports, as well as experience and enjoyment in coaching and mentoring junior officers. Travel costs will be covered by CPC/NCOTC (pending clearance and approval in compliance with any existing travel restrictions); selected officers will coordinate with CPC. Interested officers should contact LCDR Dylan Kosten (deputychief.ncotc@noaa.gov).

Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Selection Awardees!

After a thorough review of several outstanding and competitive nominations, we are excited to share that the 2024-2025 SAME award winners are LTJG Alexis Ferguson (Colbert Award) and the NESDIS Space Asset Protection Team (Karo Award)!

SAME will honor LTJG Ferguson for her contributions to the field of software engineering and computer sciences through her research, design, development, and implementation of individualized pilot programs, improving transfer of hydrographic data from geographically disparate acquisition platforms directly to NOAA’s hydrographic field units for remote processing.

For the SAME Karo Field Unit Award, the NESDIS Space Asset Protection Team will be honored for advancing the development of a NOAA-centric Candidate Protection Strategy using NASA guidelines to provide NOAA with improved security for our satellite networks. The secure and resilient operation of these satellites directly impacts the safety and well-being of communities across the U.S. by providing timely and reliable data for forecasts and warnings that can save lives, protect infrastructure, and help governments and organizations prepare for and mitigate the effects of disasters.

Awardees will be honored in person at the SAME Joint Engineering Training Conference Society Ball in Louisville, Kentucky on May 15, 2025. Thank you to all who nominated their colleagues for these awards. This year marks the second time in over a decade that NOAA Corps has participated in the SAME awards. The excellent caliber of accomplishments by all nominations should make all NOAA Corps officers and employees proud of the important work we accomplish together for NOAA and the Nation.

For questions about the SAME NOAA Awards or the conference, reach out to CAPT Sam Greenaway, SAME NOAA Service Principal and LT Alice Beittel, SAME NOAA Service Liaison. The next round of award solicitations will be announced in January 2026.

Updates to Officer Evaluation Reports (NF 56-6X)

In order to comply with recent Executive Orders (EO), new Officer Evaluation Report (OER) forms and Instructions will be released and made available in the coming days. Please keep an eye out for a Director, CPC message (anticipated late next week), and all forms will be updated on the CPC Intranet and AO Docs. This notice is intended for officers to make rating chain notifications in advance.

Requirement: Any OER with a period of performance end of report date on or after January 31st, 2025 will need to be transferred to new forms to be compliant. OERs with an end of report date before January 31st, 2025 do not need to be retroactively updated. Any OER applicable to the January 31st, 2025 or after date that has already been validated by CPC will be invalidated, content will need to be transferred onto the new applicable OER form, and the OER will require new routing (see OES Instruction Manual 10.A.2.a.H.11). OERs that have been submitted and are pending will be invalidated with instructions to transfer to the new forms. Officers that are in or above zone for promotion consideration will be prioritized and will be completed as soon as possible in the order received.

We recognize this is a potentially large effort for officers ahead of the promotion boards; know that CPC is committed to working swiftly and diligently to ensure complete OPFs, and will provide support and assistance as necessary.

Updated Travel Guidance for NOAA Corps Officers on Augmentation

In response to recent Executive Orders, updates have been made to the travel policy for NOAA Corps officers traveling for NOAA ship-specific augmentation. Please adhere to the following guidance:

• All augmentation requests and responses must comply with the guidelines outlined in the November 1, 2024, Cyberflash.
• Travel to and from the ship must be arranged as two separate trips —-- no exceptions.
• Only No Sail, Mission Critical, and In-Port Mandatory travel requests will be supported.
• All travel (arranged as separate trips for arrival and departure) must be submitted through the MO Invitational Travel Notification Form.

Regardless of line office, all travel for NOAA ship augmentation must be entered into E2 to generate an initial travel authorization number. Once a travel authorization has been created, but before supervisor approval, it must be reviewed and approved by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). After submitting the travel details through the MO Invitational Travel Notification Form, the request will be processed for CFO approval.

Once CFO approval is granted, you will be notified and may proceed with final travel approvals. If you encounter any issues during the approval process, please contact LCDR Jim Europe at james.r.europe@noaa.gov for assistance.

Thank you for your cooperation.

CPC Webinar Slides for 2024 VA Webinar Available

At long last, annotated slides from last year's webinar on VA benefits and services are now available for view in the CPC webinar library. For best results, we recommend you view the slides in a dedicated pdf reader such as Adobe rather than in your internet browser.

TRICARE Online Patient Portal

Beneficiaries are urged to download historic medical records from their TRICARE online Patient Portal by April 1st. The Department of Defense plans to take down the online portal to access old military health information due to the transition to MHS GENESIS.

Medical providers will continue to have access to these records but they will no longer be accessible online to patients/beneficiaries after April 1, 2025.

Follow these steps to download your data:

• Go to www.tricareonline.com and sign with a DS Logon, Common Access Card
• Go to the Tricare online page and click the blue “Health Record” tab
• Follow the directions for downloading
• You can download a PDF or XML continuity of care file to share with other providers, health care systems or family

The legacy electronic health record will only be those records (paper or electronic) BEFORE facilities transitioned to MHS GENESIS. Vice versa once switched over to MHS GENESIS those records will only be the records AFTER the transition.

NOAA Corps Awards Updates

The service award worksheets briefed in the January 24, 2025 Cyberflash have been approved for use. These forms have been added to the CPC intranet site, on the Uniforms & Awards page. The previous service awards worksheet has been removed, and local copies of that form should be deleted to prevent further use.

• The NF 56-19 Service Award Worksheet (Commanding Officers) is used by Commanding Officers, and in some cases, Officers in charge, to authorize sea service (NSSR), Atlantic service (NCAS), Pacific service (NCPS), and international service ribbons (NCIS). Once authorized, an awarded officer may immediately wear that ribbon, and the authorized form should be added to that officer's OPF with no further routing required. Authorizing officers must verify criteria in the NOAA Corps Directives are met, and consult with CPC for any unclear or potentially questionable criteria applications.
• The NF 56-20 Service Award Worksheet (Commissioned Personnel Center) is used to recommend service awards authorized by the CPC Director. This includes the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic service medal (ARCT), recruiting achievement ribbon (NCRA), special duty ribbon (NSDR), mobile duty service ribbon (NCMD), international service ribbon (NCIS), and national response service ribbon (NRSR). Worksheets should be submitted by the recommended officer via an HR Action request (“Awards and Insignia” category, and “General Questions” subcategory) for routing to the CPC Director for signature. Note that the CPC Director only authorizes NCIS awards for shore assignments; Commanding Officers and Officers in Charge authorize NCIS awards for sea and aviation assignments.

An OMAO Awards Matrix was developed and added to the Uniforms & Awards page. The awards matrix compiles all requirements, forms, processes, etc. for awards authorized by the NOAA Corps Directives.

The previous "Awards How-To" document has been superseded by recent NOAA Corps Directives changes and process changes for service awards. The guidance from the UAB in that document, including award criteria and examples, has been incorporated into the Uniforms & Awards page. Please delete any local copies of the previous how-to document to prevent confusion.

Please contact LCDR Chris Duffy for any questions, suggestions, or constructive feedback.

From the Assignments Desk: Billet#: 4060: Chief of Staff, National Hurricane Center

• Officer Grade: Senior Pilot or Post XO Level Preferred
• Rotation Date: Any

This a new, repurposed billet, at the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The NHC's mission is to save lives, mitigate property loss, and improve economic efficiency by issuing the best watches, warnings, forecasts, and analyses of hazardous tropical weather and by increasing understanding of these hazards. The incumbent for this billet will be a member of the Director's staff and will be assigned tasks that will require regular interaction and cross-functional team involvement with all NHC branches and staff. The selected Officer will gain tremendous insight into what is required to effectively operate and lead an operational center involved in domestic and international 24/7 operations. Additionally, they will interact with senior NWS officials (at the AA level) as well as interface with other federal agencies at the SES level.

Interested officers should contact the Aviation Advisor, CDR Kevin Doremus at kevin.g.doremus@noaa.gov for questions on the billet. Or contact the assignment coordinator, LCDR Melissa Trede at assignmentbranch.cpc@noaa.gov for how this billet will line up for their rotation.

From the Assignments Desk: Billet#: 7102: Deputy Chief, Remote Sensing Division

• Officer Grade: Senior Pilot or Post XO Level Preferred
• Rotation Date: December 2025 or later

The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is looking for a motivated senior LCDR/CDR to become the next Deputy Division Chief of NGS's Remote Sensing Division. The officer will be a member of the RSD leadership team and assume the duties of acting division chief when called upon. This billet provides senior-level experience in leadership, human capital management/supervision, HR/hiring, and budget execution. Duties encompass supervision of three branch chiefs, three staff personnel, and ~60 Federal Employees, Affiliates, and NOAA Corps Officers with budget execution authority over approximately $17M of annually appropriated, reimbursable, and supplemental funds across multiple funding lines. Further, the officer will oversee the execution and tracking of RSD's HR hiring actions as a hiring manager, contract execution from the RSD contracting team, and core government operational milestones for the upkeep of the national shoreline. Other duties in this position have included: NOS Representative to the Fleet Working Group, NOS Representative to the Aviation Working Group, Technical Representative to the NOS Liaison/Assignment Coordinator, RSD Property Custodian oversight, Incident Management Team (IMT) representative for NGS Program Office, Coordination with FEMA as part of national Emergency Response efforts. Continued operational support while assigned to RSD is possible as well.

Interested officers should contact the incumbent, CDR Brian Richards at brian.richards@noaa.gov for questions on the billet. Or contact the assignment coordinator, LCDR Melissa Trede at assignmentbranch.cpc@noaa.gov for how this billet will line up for their rotation.