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April 24, 2026

Message from the Director

Good afternoon, NOAA Corps,

This week we held the promotion boards for all ranks through CAPT here in Silver Spring. I have sat on many promotion boards over the years, and am always impressed by the thoroughness and dedication of each board member. They consistently approach the review of officers' files and the subsequent deliberation with a profound understanding of the gravity of this task. These boards are quite literally selecting the best qualified officers to lead at the next rank. To those of you that served on these boards this week, thank you for your dedication and service. 

For those of you that were in the zone, now begins the waiting game that many of you have experienced before. Since it isn’t always obvious or well communicated why these things take so long, I wanted to shine some light on the process.

Once the promotion boards make their recommendations, CPC and the board Chair brief the NOAA Corps Director on the recommendations. Once the Director concurs with the recommendations, CPC builds the promotion recommendation package to route to the President. This includes ensuring all selected officers are medically eligible for promotion, aan obtaining the necessary clearances from the Office of General Council and the Office of Human Capital Services. This process takes about 2 weeks. Once the package is ready for routing to the President, it is first sent through NOAA leadership to the Secretary of Commerce. This routing process takes anywhere from four to eight weeks. Once the Secretary signs the recommended promotion package, this is when CPC notifies officers who have been selected, or passed over, for promotion. This notification typically happens in late June to late July, but is very much at the mercy of the routing and clearance process. After the Secretary signs the package, it routes to the White House for the President’s approval signature. This takes around 2 months. Once the President signs the promotion package, CPC is then free to calculate how many vacancies we have at each rank, and route a package to the NOAA Administrator to effect the promotions. This typically happens around 01 October.

I hope this de-mystifies the process for what happens after promotion boards, and why it seems to take so long. If you have any questions about the process, please do not hesitate to reach out to CPC.

All the Best,

Captain Ryan Wattam, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center

Cyberflash Transition to GovDelivery

Starting this week, Cyberflash is undergoing a digital transformation to modernize the development of the Cyberflash messages, and to bring it in line with other OMAO distributed products. Historically, the MACC development team has had to code each individual Cyberflash in HTML. This takes valuable programming time away from other technically complex priorities, and requires us to host previous Cyberflashes on the outdated legacy CPC website. Transitioning to the new version will allow CPC staff to build the Cyberflash messages, ultimately making the process more efficient. 

CPC aims to ensure that every officer, whether retired, at sea, in flight, or on a shore assignment has consistent access to news and directives that impact their careers. Archived Cyberflashes have transitioned from the legacy CPC site, to the CPC intranet and can be found here.

Moving forward, past Cyberflashes will be hosted on a public-facing site for a three year period, and can be found here, before being archived to the CPC intranet. This will allow anyone without a noaa.gov address to continue to have access to these messages for the preceding three year period. Cyberflashes will remain on the legacy site until it is taken down. There will be ample warning prior to the legacy site going offline. 

We appreciate your patience as we make this transition to better serve the Corps. Please do not hesitate to contact LCDR Michelle Levano at michelle.levano@noaa.gov with any comments or questions.

Call for Interviewers - BOTC 149

The Commissioned Personnel Center is looking for motivated Officers (O2-O5) with at least three years of NOAA Corps service (as of today) willing to complete interviews for BOTC 149 applicants. We request each interviewer commit to conducting at least four interviews, which can be credited towards obtaining the NOAA Corps Recruiting Achievement Ribbon (see NCD 12705(E)).

All interviews occur via Google Meet and will be completed from June 15th - July 10th. The current interview format will pair two officers together to conduct joint interviews for BOTC applicants, to better capture a range of perspectives. This is an incredible opportunity to have a direct hand in shaping the future of the NOAA Corps.

Please use the NOAA Corps Interviews Google Form to indicate interest and times you are unavailable during the interview window.

For any questions, please reach out to the Recruiting Branch via apply.noaacorps@noaa.gov.

Payroll Reminder: Leave

As we transition into warmer weather, we encourage everyone to take leave whenever possible to rest and recharge.

When planning your leave, please keep the following administrative requirements in mind:

1. General Leave: Submit Form 56-12 to the NOAA Corps Payroll Unit within five days of your return. In the "Remarks" section, please specify whether the leave was entered via Direct Access (DA) - Member Self Service to ensure accurate accounting.
2. PCS Leave: Per NCD 06104 (B)(1), officers are encouraged to take leave during a Permanent Change of Station (PCS). If you choose to do so, please ensure the leave is annotated on your PCS NOAA Form 56-1. Please do not submit a leave request via DA before detaching, as it will be part of your Special Provision section in your PCS Orders.
3. PCS Orders: Once you report to your new duty station, make sure to submit your endorsed PCS Order to your Payroll team via HRMS, Self Service ticket, within five days of reporting. This will help avoid any debts, overpayments, or discrepancies with your benefits.
4. Payslip: This is a reminder for all officers to continue reviewing your payslip, but in specific the Remarks Section for any changes or updates regarding your pay during PCS, PCA, or any life event that impacts your pay. The payslip is usually available about 2 days prior to payday, and the Remarks Section can contain critical information, such as an officer's pay entitlements, deductions, incurred debt, or overpayments during the officer's career. Reviewing your payslip is critical, and reviewing the remarks section is important to identify discrepancies that could affect your pay and take action immediately.

USCG/Direct Access (DA) Update: Unavailable

Please be advised that the USCG Direct Access (DA) system will be unavailable starting at 1800 EST on Friday, May 1, until 0600 EST on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. This outage will affect DA Self-Service access for all active duty members, retirees, and annuitants.

Regarding payroll processing, all pay-related transactions received before May 1 will be entered prior to the system maintenance. Any transactions submitted during the outage will be processed as soon as the system becomes available on May 5. During this period, NOAA Payroll will continue to monitor HRMS tickets and respond to inquiries that do not require access to the DA system.

Upon the restoration of service on May 5, you may notice minor changes to the graphics and layout of certain sections within the system. Please note that all core functionality and data will remain unchanged.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this scheduled maintenance.

Nominations for awards for the May UAB

The next Uniform and Awards Board meeting will take place in mid-May. As a reminder, please submit all nominations by the end of the month, April 30th, to be considered at the May meeting.

From the Assignments Desk: OAR - Billet #3446/3447/3448 - American Samoa and South Pole Station Chief

The OAR Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML) is seeking a junior officer to fill the American Samoa/South Pole Billet with a December 2027/January 2028 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 spends 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 COB 22 May 2026 to Christy Smith at Christine.Smith@noaa.gov. Interviews will be held in June after the submission deadline.

On the Horizon 

Approved Resignations, Separations and Retirements

Cyberflash is a NOAA Commissioned Personnel Center publication for active duty and retired members, families and supporters of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. Questions? Contact noaacorps.policy@noaa.gov