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Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on December 1, 2011 at 7:37am

 

Transition Benefits: "Shipmates to Workmates" Transitions Talent

Story Number: NNS111130-09 Date: 11/30/2011

From Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Now that the Navy has begun notifying the more than 3,000 Sailors impacted by Enlisted Retention Boards, six major Navy commands have started a program to aid transitioning Sailors compete for job opportunities as federal civilians.

The Shipmates to Workmates program - managed jointly by the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Facilities Command, Naval Supply Systems Command, Commander, Naval Installations, Space and Naval Warfare Command, and the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations - will provide information about career opportunities available at partnering commands and actively assist sailors prepare job applications and resumes.

The participating commands will steer separating sailors, command career counselors and transition assistance coordinators to a dedicated Shipmates to Workmates website to facilitate participation. This website will serve as a "one-stop shop" for sailors seeking to Navy-related employment.

"Finding out that you are being separated from the Navy, will be a significant blow," said Rear Adm. Clarke Orzalli, vice commander NAVSEA. "The Shipmates to Workmates program is an opportunity to do what we can to soften the blow, as well as continue to utilize their significant skills for the benefit of the Navy."

Through the website and other outreach programs, the effort will attempt to demystify the government service hiring process, match job supply to demand, link existing Navy and Defense Department transition support, and assist qualified sailors with local hiring processes.

"The Shipmates to Workmates program is simply good leadership - this program demonstrates our commitment, as leaders, to our sailors by assisting those being involuntarily separated," said Cmdr. Pat Sanders, NAVSEA's lead for the program.

Each of the participating commands will participate in job fairs and other hiring events for transitioning sailors. The first event is a career forum that will be held Dec. 3 from 1100 to 1400 at NSA Bethesda in the Fleet and Family Support Center, Bldg. 11, room 109. Future forums are scheduled at fleet concentration areas throughout the country, including a Dec. 6 forum in Norfolk.

For more information on the "Shipmates to Workmates" program as well as a full schedule of upcoming career forums, please visit the Shipmates to Workmates website at http://jobs.navair.navy.mil/sm2wm/.

 

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on August 18, 2011 at 11:47am

FY12 ENLISTED RETENTION BOARD page from Navy Personnel Command

 

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on July 13, 2011 at 10:36pm

hugely important news:

 

Navy Revises Career Paths to Emphasize Service at Sea

Story Number: NNS110712-05 Release Date: 7/12/2011 2:41:00 PM   1 1

From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy released a message announcing revisions to the sea/shore flow for enlisted career paths July 12. NAVADMIN 201/11 provides the Fleet with the updated sea shore flow for every rating. Thirty-six ratings will see an increase in sea time, and 18 will now be classified as sea intensive. Sailors in these ratings can expect to spend more than half their careers at sea. "Our nation knows the importance and effectiveness of our forward-deployed Navy, whether delivering aid to those in need, or hunting terrorists. The skills and capabilities of our Sailors are in great demand as an integral part of our national security and maritime strategy," explained Rear Adm. Cynthia Covell, director, Total Force requirements Division (OPNAV N12). "As a result, the Navy has increased the number of sea duty billets and decreased the number of shore duty billets since 2008." To meet the new sea/shore requirements, Navy Personnel Command may adjust some Sailors' projected rotation dates (PRD) based on the length of tour remaining. As a general rule, PRDs of March 2012 or earlier will not be adjusted, unless requested by the Sailor or if their commanding officer submits a request based on unit readiness or deployment needs. To maintain proper career progression, no sea tour lengths will involuntarily exceed 60 months for Sailors with less than 20 years of service (YOS) and 48 months for Sailors with more than 20 YOS. Sailors are advised to contact their community manager or detailer for information on the availability of incentives such as sea duty incentive pay for volunteering to serve additional time at sea. To read the complete list of enlisted rating career paths, visit the Navy Personnel Command website at www.npc.navy.mil.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on May 19, 2011 at 4:59pm

Retention Board Quotas Released

From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Initial enlisted retention board (ERB) quotas were published May 18 to provide Sailors a clearer picture of the competition in individual ratings, paygrades, and years of service-competitive categories.

"These initial quotas have been released to show Sailors how focused the ERB will be and to help them make informed career decisions," explained Rear Adm. Tony Kurta, director of military personnel plans and policy.

As a result of increased competition and reduced opportunity for strong-performing Sailors to reenlist caused by record high retention and low attrition, Navy announced the establishment of the ERB in NAVADMIN 129/11, April 14.

The main objective is to help the Navy achieve mandated end strength by eliminating overmanning in 31 ratings. Rebalancing Navy manpower will have many benefits in the Fleet, including improved Perform-to-Serve reenlistment approval and advancement opportunity in these ratings.

All 15,688 eligible Sailors will first be reviewed for adverse performance; no quotas have been established for this portion of the ERB. Retention quotas will then be applied to years of service (YOS) bands where overmanning is concentrated. These bands are focused by rating and paygrade, and are established to ensure a balance of seniority, skills, and experience necessary to meet current and future Navy requirements.

Since chiefs and senior chiefs in the designated 31 ratings are not currently overmanned in the 7-14 YOS bands, they will not compete for retention quotas, but will still be reviewed for adverse performance.

The quotas posted on the Navy Personnel Command website are first listed by rating and paygrade, with a "rating inventory" showing the total number in each category. This is followed by the total number of Sailors eligible for the ERB within that category. All of these Sailors will receive a performance review.

For example, when a Sailor looks at the quotas, they will see there are 491 ABF3s and 371 ABF2s in the Navy. Of this group, there are only 2 ABF3's with 7-14 years of service and 180 ABF2's with 7-14 years of service who are eligible for the ERB.

The second block of numbers is further refined and focuses on the number of eligible Sailors within each YOS band subject to the quota-based review. Not all YOS will be subject to quotas. The final block shows the total number of Sailors who will be retained.

Returning to the previous example, the quota-based portion of the board will review the ABF3s with 7-14 YOS, and ABF2s with 7-13 YOS (YOS 14 will not be reviewed for ABF2s). These populations are 2 and 176 respectively, equaling a total of 178 Sailors who will compete for the 101 retention quotas.

These initial quotas are only a snapshot of the current rating manning. Revised quotas will be developed based upon Sailor retention behavior and approved rating conversion requests in the intervening period. These final quotas will be released after the board convenes, following the same process as Enlisted Selection Boards.

To view learn more about the ERB, conversion opportunities and to view the complete quota list, visit http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/BOARDS/ENLISTEDCONTINUATION/P....

 

 

Comment by Ray Norberto on April 19, 2011 at 4:25pm

That seems about what the research showed me, in terms of your son's advisement from his superiors. The Navy seems to want more experienced sailors who are showing a desire to make a longer term commitment to the branch. Thanks for the link, it was one I had read too, and very good. It shows me that my son is thinking about more than the next generation of CALL OF DUTY game coming out!

Comment by Paige (Billy's mom) on April 19, 2011 at 3:37pm

Ray, the link that I attached below is for an article posted on the Navy New Service recently regarding the STA-21 program.  There is information in the article which may help answer some of your questions.  There is also a group here on the NavyDads site called STA-21.  You might check out the group page and read thru some of the posts.

My son was planning to submit his application this July also, but he was advised by his superiors it was best he wait at least one more year.  His chances of being selected will improve.  He already has quite a few college credits and outstanding evals, but he's only been active duty 3 yrs. come this July.  

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=59529

Comment by Ray Norberto on April 19, 2011 at 3:19pm

So my son Chris told us he's planning on filing an application for the STA-21 program. He's only been in the Navy since he entered RTC on November 16th of last year. I was researching the opportunity, and I found that most accepted sailors have not less than two years and in most cases more than four years. Will he be allowed to file his application - the deadline is July 1st - as such a newbie? And what would be the odds of his getting an acceptance?

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 15, 2011 at 8:27am

Record Retention, Shifting Missions Prompt Focused Navy Retention Board

 

From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy announced April 14 that it will conduct a focused enlisted retention board (ERB) in August for 31 specific ratings.

The ERB will be conducted as a result of record high retention and low attrition among active duty Sailors and to meet current and future planned end strength controls.

Currently, the Navy is overmanned in 31 of its 84 ratings, and as a result, many ratings have limited Perform-to-Serve (PTS) quotas available, resulting in increased competition and reduced opportunity for strong performing Sailors to reenlist. In order to enable the PTS program to work as designed to shape the force, Navy leadership has determined it is necessary to increase the opportunity for top performing Sailors to compete for a quota.

"Programs like Perform-to-Serve and selective reenlistment bonus have been effective tools at optimizing and stabilizing our force strength. Retention behavior, coupled with the shift of 6,800 billets back to sea and development of our capabilities in key areas such as ballistic missile defense (BMD), cyber and information dominance has necessitated the establishment of the enlisted retention board to meet congressionally mandated end strength and to rebalance the force," explained Chief of Naval Personnel, Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson.

The board will review the records of selected third class petty officers (E-4) through senior chief petty officers (E-8) in the 31 overmanned ratings with greater than seven but less than 15 years of cumulative service as of Oct. 1 2011, and will be conducted in two independent phases -- Phase I will review E-4 to E-5 Sailors and will convene Aug. 22, 2011. Phase II will review E-6 to E-8 Sailors and will convene Sept. 26, 2011.

The specific ratings identified include the following:

- Aviation Boatswain's Mate Fuels (ABF)
- Aviation Machinist's Mate (AD)
- Aviation Electrician's Mate (AE)
- Aerographer's Mate (AG)
- Aviation Structural Mechanic (AM)
- Aviation Support Equipment Technician (AS)
- Aviation Electronics Technician (AT)
- Aircrewman Mechanical (AWF)
- Aircrew - Tactical Helicopter (AWR)
- Aircrew – Avionics (AWV)
- Aviation Maintenance Administrationman (AZ)
- Builder (BU)
- Construction Electrician (CE)
- Construction Mechanic (CM)
- Engineering Aide (EA)
- Electrician's Mate Surface (EMSW)
- Equipment Operator (EO)
- Electronics Technician, Surface Warfare (ETSW)
- Fire Controlman (non-Aegis) (FC)
- Gas Turbine Systems Technician, Electrical (GSE)
- Machinist's Mate, Surface Warfare (MMSW)
- Mineman (MN)
- Machinery Repairman (MR)
- Operations Specialist (OS)
- Parachute Rigger (PR)
- Personnel Specialist (PS)
- Religious Program Specialist (RP)
- Ship's Serviceman (SH)
- Sonar Technician Surface (STG)
- Steelworker (SW)
- Utilitiesman (UT)

The board will exclude Sailors whose soft expiration of active obligated service (EAOS) date is in FY12 because they will be considered in PTS. The board will also exclude those who advanced to their current paygrade in cycles 208 (E-4/5/6), 209 (E-8/9), 210 (E-7), or 211 (E-4/5/6), are nuclear qualified, Joint Special Warfare Command enablers and those currently enrolled in the Navy's Safe Harbor program.

This quota-based board is anticipated to review roughly 16,000 records and will identify approximately 3,000 Sailors who will not be retained on active duty. In essence, this board will review roughly 6percent of the force to separate approximately 1 percent. Separation quotas will be developed by individual rating, pay grade and years of service, and will be published once the board convenes.

In an effort to provide maximum opportunities for conversion ahead of the board, eligibility requirements will be adjusted to allow eligible Sailors to convert to an undermanned rating prior to the board convening. Those Sailors approved for rating conversion prior to the board will be exempted. Procedures to apply for rating conversion will be published by May 1 and the applications must be received by June 15, 2011.

Those Sailors not selected for retention will need to separate by June 30, 2012, but qualified Sailors will be afforded the opportunity to compete for a Selected Reserve quota via PTS. The Career Transition Office (CTO) will be available to assist Sailors who desire to make this transition into the Reserve Component.

Sailors separated by this board will also have access to the Navy's transition assistance programs which includes the Transition Assistance Management Program (TAMP), employment assistance, relocation assistance for separating members stationed overseas, and other benefits for members who are involuntarily separated. Members will also be eligible for involuntary separation pay.

"Navy values the service of every Sailor. The decision to establish this board was made after careful consideration, and will allow Navy to keep our very best Sailors in these overmanned ratings, improve advancement opportunity, and enable PTS to maintain this balance into the future. We also strove to afford Sailors the opportunity to shift ratings prior to the board and to affiliate with the reserves should they not be continued on active duty."

To read the ERB announcement, NAVADMIN 129/11, visit www.npc.navy.mil.

To listen to Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Gary Roughead's comments on the ERB, visit www.navy.mil/navydata/cnoPlay.asp?id=4379.

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel, visit www.navy.mil/local/cnp.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on March 3, 2011 at 6:08pm

ok....let me try this again now that my posting problem is resolved:

 

9,000 jobs to go

Officials aim for end strength of 319,000 by 2015

By Mark D. Faram

mfaram@militarytimes.com

The Navy plans to cut end strength by 9,000 sailors over the next four years.

That would ratchet the service’s end strength — 328,271 as of Feb. 18 — even lower than planned for the recent drawdown, and lower than Navy officials believe they need to carry out the service’s post-war missions.

In fact, the plan — included in the Navy’s 2012 budget — puts the service on track to exceed the drawdown goal of 322,500 by fiscal 2013, dropping to 319,000 by the end of fiscal 2015.

Cuts started in earnest in 2003, when the Navy, with an end strength of 382,235, put into effect a plan to whittle the force.

Since then, more than 53,000 sailors have been shown the door.

Navy officials were able to con­vince Congress in 2009 to pause that drawdown, saying they just couldn’t go any lower and still meet all the Navy’s regular mis­sions — as well as provide nearly 14,000 active and reserve individ­ual augmentee sailors annually to serve with the Army and Marine Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson told Navy Times in a Feb 17 interview that those requirements are pro­jected to begin dropping off during fiscal 2012 and continue to drop into 2013.

Moreover, he said units assigned to Navy Expeditionary Combat Command are likely targets for cuts.

Though Ferguson acknowledged that the projected cuts are shown in this year’s budget documents, he said future end strength is far from settled.

“There’s some element of uncer­tainty in the out years, which is why I’m reluctant to say that’s exactly where we’re going to go,” he said.

That’s because demand for sailors in the war zones may not go away, he said. Also, he noted that ship-building schedules could change, which could cause planned decommissionings to slip. Both factors could give him ammunition to keep the Navy’s end strength higher.

But he said the biggest battle is out of his hands: The most impor­tant factor in determining the Navy’s future size will be “the fis­cal environment and what we’re going to face next year and the year after.” “I would say I’m absolutely cer­tain that 325,700 is the number for [fiscal 2012],” Ferguson said. “For [fiscal 2013], we’re in the middle of a new budget build, and a lot of these items are back on the table for discussion, because they’re kind of based on projections.” Ferguson said he and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead both believe that the Navy needs to remain roughly 325,000 strong, even post-war, to meet slated missions and man the current fleet as well as the ships of the future.

Ferguson said he believes fleet leaders will be able to argue against future cuts. But he also admits that their success will ultimately depend on available funds. If they are not successful, the service will need to make hard decisions.

War-related reductions

Ferguson said fiscal 2012 will be the first year Navy manpower won’t be inflated because of the war effort.

“All of our funding in this budget is the baseline for the active side,” he said. “There’s no supplemental funding as we had in previous years for end strength.” And as the war in Iraq winds down, he said some of the roughly 15,000 active-duty sailors at Navy Expeditionary Combat Command face cuts.

“There are some reductions in capacity in those areas. We will reduce some of the maritime expe­ditionary security squadrons, and there are some projections that we could take — not until [fiscal 2013] and out — some other NECC reductions” for units yet to be identified, he said.

Those initial cuts to the security squadrons, officials say, will result in going from six squadrons in the active force down to just to three while maintaining seven in the reserves.

Also, as many as three naval mobile construction battalions could go away in 2013 or beyond. There are nine active and 12 reserve battalions, each with roughly 600 sailors.

“Right now, we’re projecting that we will take two active battalions out in [fiscal 2013] from the nine we have today,” Ferguson said “But I will tell you that’s still on the table for debate.” Navy budget officials say projections for fiscal 2013 budget call for removing three battalions from the active force, although the Navy is expected to fight to keep that loss to two.

Yet to be decided is whether battalions go away for good, or switch to the reserve component.

“We’re looking at, is the right answer seven active and 14 reserve or seven active and 12 reserve?” Ferguson said Additionally, the projected Marine Corps drawdown of roughly 15,000 to 20,000 people will help the Navy cut more of what Ferguson calls “blue in support of green” billets.

“We contribute billets, such as corpsmen and chaplains and other personnel, in support of the Marine Corps,” he said. “So as Marine Corps reduces in size, those [billets] will start to reduce in the outer years.”

Finding savings

Since the post-Cold War draw­down began in 1990, the enlisted force has borne the brunt of man­power cuts.

The enlisted work force has been cut 47.8 percent since 1989, when the service hit its post-Vietnam high, while officers were cut by 28.3 percent over the same time frame.

The previous drawdowns, Fer­guson said, avoided cutting what he calls “overhead” — reducing the officers who were overseeing the work.

That’s why Ferguson turned to the officer corps first, seeking to eliminate or consolidate officer­heavy staffs.

“For example, we had a subma­rine squadron staff with four boats in it,” he said. “We’re now going to a squadron construct where they had eight or nine boats in it, as it was years ago — that’s an example of how when we took the strength out, we did not focus on the strength that was overseeing it.” From fiscal 2012 through 2014, he’ll consolidate staffs, with the goal of cutting 2,000 to 3,000 billets.

Those savings, he said, include the consolidation of 2nd Fleet with Strike Forces Atlantic Training and Fleet Forces Command.

Also being eliminated are a destroyer squadron staff, three sub­marine squadron staffs, an air wing staff and a carrier strike group staff. He also said he had identified 1,000 billets to be cut at Navy Installations Command, the sys­tems commands and Navy Recruiting Command.

As a part of these staff reduc­tions, Ferguson also is looking at the structure of the officer corps, seeking to shrink that to bring it even more in line with the trimmer enlisted work force. He started at the top.

“We did flag billets, we eliminat­ed nine and reduced 15 [in rank],” he said. Those 15 reductions, he said, were done by dropping some O-8 billets down to O-7 and some O-7 billets to O-6.

Next, he reworked the billet structure of the restricted line and staff communities, such as lawyers, all types of medical offi­cers and supply. “We looked at the seniority of the billets in those offi­cer communities and we rolled some of them down,” he said.

Ferguson didn’t say how many total billets this officer corps restructuring produced.

Still, he said, reviews like this will continue during the next few budget cycles in an effort to find more savings.

Recruiting untouched

Ferguson said one thing the Navy won’t do is reduce recruiting goals. The service learned a valuable les­son in the previous drawdowns, when recruiting cuts created man­ning problems in later years.

Ferguson said officials learned savings must come from other places.

“Were down to [bringing in] 34,000 this fiscal year,” he said. “We’ve probably got a little room left, but we’re extremely close to the margins — we cannot cut our future by stopping accession.” □

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on March 3, 2011 at 5:53pm

folks...sorry about some of the recent posts just getting cut off in mid-sentence.  Our provider was made aware of the issue and has resolved (hopefully....) the problem.

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