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 August 14, 2026  

Message from the Director

Good afternoon, NOAA Corps,

First and foremost, I want to provide an update on the status of the promotion package. The package continues to route and we hope to be able to announce the results in the near future. I appreciate your patience and understanding.

In other news, the Biennial Review of NOAA Corps OPFs was held last week in Boulder, CO. I’d like to extend my sincere appreciation to the 12 board members that dedicated their week to this effort, and to the CPC team that planned and executed it! The board provided CPC with valuable insights and suggested process improvements focused on enhancing OER effectiveness, professional development, and recognition across the NOAA Corps. Additionally, the board explored numerous service-wide enhancements to boost operational efficiency, maintain parity with the other uniformed services, and advance overall quality of life for our officers. Next steps are to brief the results to leadership, develop an action plan, and share the initiatives we plan to move forward.

All the Best,

Captain Ryan Wattam, NOAA
Director, Commissioned Personnel Center

OPF Review - Cleaning up Unmatched Documents

After a great Biennial Review recently, it was noted that officers whose OPFs transitioned from the old platform to the new Human Resource Management System (HRMS) may still have unmatched documents that have not been properly filed in their OPF. If you joined the NOAA Corps after September 26, 2024, your documents should all be accurately recorded in HMRS. If you have been a NOAA Corps officer since before September 26, 2024, please take a look at your OPF and see if you find any Unmatched documents in your OPF Tabs including: Awards & Insignia, Designations,Training, OER, Assignments, TDY/Detail, Education, or General.

If you see anything like this...

To match these documents, select edit (the pencil icon) on the record in the Status: Accepted (From legacy without document, update recommended) (see below screenshot) and select add unmatched document in the editing window in the upper left.

If no document exists in your Accepted list for this document click the +Add button and select unmatched document from the drop down list and add the details about the document. 

If you need any assistance or guidance, reach out to CAPT Emily Rose at chief.careermgmt.cpc@noaa.gov.

Annual Leave; Use or Lose

As we approach the end of the fiscal year, CPC wanted to remind all active duty officers that the maximum carry over of accrued annual leave is sixty (60) days as of September 30, 2026. No special leave accrual exists to exceed the sixty day carry over limit for the NOAA Corps.

All active duty officers earn annual leave at the rate of 2.5 days per month/30 days per 12 month period. Officers are encouraged to check and verify the contents of their monthly payslips,including monitoring of their leave balances.  As of the latest NOAA Corps leave report (mid-July 2026) from the U.S. Coast Guard:

• 40% of officers have leave balance in excess of 60 days
• 80% of officers have more than 40 days of annual leave

Officers and supervisors are encouraged to work together to ensure that officers are not in a position to lose leave on 01 October while keeping operational needs met.

Join the NOAA National Water Center for a Winter Adventure!

The NOAA National Water Center is seeking enthusiastic NOAA Corps officers to serve as sensor operators on the King Air for the Soil Moisture and Snow Survey Program. Officers from maritime or aviation backgrounds are welcome to apply! The program is looking for officers for three opportunities.

• October 21st to November 7th, 2026
• November 1st to November 7th, 2026
• March 20th to May 5th, 2027 (This detail can be broken into smaller increments)

The ideal candidate is adaptable, an excellent communicator, and a team player. Interested officers must have command approval. Contact the Officer Assignment Branch at assignmentbranch.cpc@noaa.gov for more information and to apply. 

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