Update from the CDC/ATSDR Commissioned Corps Policy Advisory Committee
WIPTs and WPDGs
Two different types of workgroups have been convened for writing new policies: WIPTs and WPDGs. A WIPT is a Working Integrated Policy Team. These teams will be convened any time there is a need to develop a new policy or revise an old policy. A WPDG is a Working Policy Design Group. These groups are being convened to develop policies directly related to transformation. They are composed of volunteer officers from throughout the Corps, and a number of officers from CDC and ATSDR are participating. There are WPDGs involved in policy development in a number of areas of transformation, including billets, officer profile and selection systems; career development and training; recruitment and retention; family support and assignments (including isolated/hardship, hazardous duty, and hard to fill); sizing; and functional advisory committees. There are WIPTs related to awards, readiness, uniforms, and retirement. Most of the policies are still in development, but there is a lot of activity, including the beginning of the process to develop all new billets for each Corps position, development of IT systems for call to active duty and officer profile and selections systems, and the revised BOTC, called the Officer Basic Course (OBC). The course is a 2-week, residency course that emphasizes camaraderie and esprit de corps. CAPT Austin Hayes and two other CDC/ATSDR officers participated in the pilot course outside of Washington, D.C., in May. The course got good reviews from the officers who participated. There will be a separate course in Atlanta for EIS officers, but the details have not been finalized.
New Readiness Assessment Schedule: The Upside and the Downside
Officer Readiness is now assessed quarterly instead of continuously. This allows some flexibility in achieving and maintaining readiness. OFRD will check and report the readiness status of officers every three months on the following dates: 31 March; 30 June; 30 September; and 31 December. The advantage of this new approach is that if you are ready on the assessment date, you will be considered ready until the next assessment date, even if one of your requirements lapses between assessment dates, as long as you meet the requirements before the next assessment date. This disadvantage is that if you are not ready on the assessment date, you will be considered not ready until the next date, even if you complete the requirements before that date. Therefore, it is very important to develop your own reminder system to ensure that you meet all the readiness requirements on the specific assessment dates.
Candidates for awards and promotions will be considered only if they currently meet readiness requirements during the time period relevant to the award and promotion cycle periods. Please see the following link more information CCPT: OFRD Basic Readiness Checks .
This new system does not obviate the need for Officers to maintain on-going readiness. Readiness will be assessed prior to any deployments, regardless of the date. Please become familiar with the readiness checklist for ongoing and periodic requirements. Basic Readiness Check List (PDF)
CDC/ATSDR Officers Participate in the Comfort and Peleliu Missions
In response to both Presidential and Secretarial initiatives, the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment in the Office of Public Health and Science’s Office of the Surgeon General, is currently deploying teams of commissioned officers on two separate Navy ships undertaking health diplomacy missions. The USNS COMFORT is on a 4 month mission to 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The USS PELELIU is on a 3 month mission to 6 Pacific Rim and Pacific Island countries.CDC/ATSDR participation on the USNS Comfort includes the USPHS Officer-in-Charge CAPT Craig Shepherd (NCEH) and at least 7 other CDC/ATSDR officers. For the USS Peleliu, the three teams of five officers include six CDC/ATSDR officers. Thanks to the many officers who have volunteered. For more information on the missions, please visit CCPT's Officership Page
Field Training Exercises for APHTs, MHTs, and RDFs
There are several field exercises taking places this summer for the response teams.
Promotions
The results of the PY 2007 temporary promotions were released on Friday, June 1 at Categorical Temporary Promotion Roster for Promotion Year 2007. CDC and ATSDR were very successful.
PY 2007
| PY 2007 Promotion Success Rates By Temporary Grade | |||
| ATSDR | CDC | Corps | |
| Temporary O-6 Medical, Dental, Scientist, Veterinarian Categories and Research Officer Group (ROG) | 40% | 49% | 38% |
| Temporary O-6 All other Categories | 31% | ||
| Temporary O-5 | 17% | 58% | 43% |
| Temporary O-4 | 100% | 84% | 80% |
CDC: Overall 83 of 151 officers eligible were promoted – 55%
ATSDR: Overall 6 of 14 officers eligible were promoted – 43%
Please feel free to contact any of the CCPAC members with any questions.