Author: Joel Schofer, MD, MBA, CPE
3rd Marine Logistics Group Supports USS Theodore Roosevelt
NAVAL BASE GUAM (NNS) — A team of medical professionals assigned to 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force deployed to Guam in order to augment the COVID-19 response efforts by USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).
Approximately 230 Sailors and Marines arrived in Guam throughout the first weeks of April and are supporting Theodore Roosevelt’s onboard medical staff in assessing, managing and treating the symptoms of COVID-19 cases while the ship is in port.
“As a Maritime Force, we need to work together as a Navy and Marine Corps team to stop the spread of COVID-19 in order to remain a ready force in the region,” said U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Keith D. Reventlow, 3rd Marine Logistics Group Commanding General. “Soon after receiving the request for support, we rapidly deployed a team of highly skilled medical professionals to augment Theodore Roosevelt’s existing capabilities with manpower and resources to effectively assist with COVID-19 cases. Our combined efforts to combat the virus and protect the health of our force will allow us to continue our mission in Indo-Pacific theater.”
The team adds to the professional medical care already available aboard Theodore Roosevelt, including more than 70 embarked officers and corpsmen and a team from the Biological Defense Research Directorate, Fort Detrick, Maryland, which has been on board Theodore Roosevelt conducting early-warning surveillance testing for Sailors who present with influenza-like symptoms.
The 3rd Medical Battalion, based in Okinawa, Japan, maintains a deployable force ready to intervene to support natural disasters, humanitarian assistance and various other missions. After receiving official notice of the mission to support Theodore Roosevelt, the joint Navy and Marine Corps team was ready to deploy within 48 hours.
“The rapid response by the 3rd MLG was incredible,” said Rear Adm. Stu Baker, commander, Carrier Strike Group Nine. “Their footprint ashore will ensure our Sailors off ship are well cared for.”
Although Theodore Roosevelt recently conducted joint exercises with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, this deployment marks the first time the ship and the 3rd Marine Logistics Group have worked together in recent years.
The medical team, which is based at Naval Base Guam, will comply with all quarantine requirements set forth by Governor Leon Guerrero and will only be travelling to conduct critical official business on military installations.
Theodore Roosevelt is currently on a scheduled deployment to the Indo-Pacific and pulled in to Guam on March 27.
Navy Rolls Out Officer Promotion Dashboard on MyNavy Portal
Arlington, Va. (NNS) — The newest features of MyNavy Portal (MNP) allow officers to better manage their promotion and lets all Sailors better communicate with MyNavy Career Center through a new chat feature, released Apr. 4.
The Officer Promotion Dashboard provides helpful links and checklists to navigate the selection board process for both active and Reserve officers. The dashboard can be found under the Advancement & Promotion Career and Life Events section of MNP and is organized to provide officers support during the pre-and-post promotion process.
“The checklists will walk officers through the process prior to the board meeting and after the results are released,” said Jeff Bowell, principal assistant program manager for the Sea Warrior Program (PMW 240) who led the development of this new MyNavy Portal capability. “We have specific checklists for officers who are selected for promotion and for those officers who were not selected.”
Bowell said preparation is key when presenting before a selection board and sometimes critical information may be missing from an officer’s record. By following the checklists, officers can ensure they are presenting an accurate and complete record to board members.
In addition to the checklists, the Officer Dashboard provides a connection to BUPERS Online (BOL) to submit a letter to the board or an official photograph. Officers will also have the ability to view their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) data and their lineal/precedence number. The selection board results will also be available through the Officer Dashboard.
Sailors will also find two new features to help them better interact with MyNavy Career Center. The first one is an updated chat feature. A green chat icon now appears at the bottom of each page that connects Sailors directly to customer service representatives at MNCC. This chat feature allows Sailors to get help with HR-related questions that don’t require sharing personal information, such as date of birth or Social Security Number. It is available 24/7/365. The second function allows Sailors to track and monitor the trouble tickets they have submitted to MNCC.
“We’re committed to improving the Sailor experience by enhancing and incorporating a more robust interaction on MyNavy Portal so Sailors can efficiently manage their career from this one location,” said Bowell. “These latest updates continue us on the path of making MyNavy Portal the single point of entry for Sailors to manage all their human resource needs.”
The Sea Warrior Program (PMW 240) is the provider of choice for MyNavy HR IT solutions. The program office works directly with MyNavy HR to strengthen our Navy Team through IT and business solutions for Navy human resource management and personnel readiness.
Director Position at NMCP
Please read this Director of Strategy and Operations (DSO) position vacancy announcement if you are interested. You need to have Detailer clearance to apply.
The timeline for the selection process is below:
- All applications for DSO due by 22 April
- 27 April – 1 May – 1st Round interviews – Directorate Level board
- Week of 4 May – 2nd Round Interviews – top 3 selections will interview with XO, CO, PXO
Please direct any questions to:
CDR Shauna O’Sullivan (contact info here)
Director, Strategy and Operations, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth
Finance Friday Articles
Here are my favorites this week:
Covid-19 Reminds Us of the Need for an Emergency Fund
No, You Didn’t Just Lose Half Of Your Retirement Savings
Here are the rest of the articles:
Actions to Take When Under Financial Pressure
Behavioral Finance Lessons from Bear Markets
Buying Foreign Stocks After a Fall
Does Experience Matter During a Bear Market?
Employee Versus Independent Contractor (people screw this up all the time when they start moonlighting)
Hard Times Teach Us About Money
Keeping My Balance During a Market Decline
Retirees and Pre-Retirees: You’ve Got This
Tax Loss Harvesting with Vanguard: A Step by Step Guide
The CARES Act – What Doctors Need to Know and Care About
The Danger of Not Checking Your Portfolio (I’ve Made a Huge Mistake)
The Relationship Between Earnings and Bear Markets
What Happened to Small Cap Value?
Would You Rather: Buy Too Early or Buy Too Late in a Bear Market?
Force Health Protection Guidance – Supplement 7
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Matthew Donovan recently released Supplement 7 to the Force Health Protection Guidance. Supplement 7 provides guidance on cloth face coverings and updates the guidance on personal protection equipment and non-pharmaceutical interventions.
(I’m not seeing anything new here, but it might be new if you haven’t read everything I’ve read. It is hard to keep up with the flow of information.)
Supplement 7 can be found here.
CNO Message to the Fleet
WASHINGTON (NNS) — The events of the past week have been difficult for our Navy and our nation. We will learn from them. But make no mistake, we are moving forward. The Navy has our orders and we are executing them.
As I write, we have thousands of Sailors on mission, above, under, and on the seas as well as here at home on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. We’re operating far forward on 90 ships, including three aircraft carriers and two big deck amphibious ships. Navy Cyber teams are defending our networks. Seabees are converting commercial buildings into medical facilities across six states. Three thousand Navy doctors, nurses and corpsmen, including hundreds of reservists, are caring for our fellow Americans on USNS MERCY, COMFORT, in New York City’s Javits Center, and in civilian hospitals. Hundreds more deployed to treat the sick in Dallas and New Orleans. The NIMITZ carrier strike group and her air wing at Lemoore are in 14 day Restriction of Movement (ROM) as they ramp up to deploy. Same for our SSBN crews. Countless more Sailors are leaning in to support them – across our fleet staffs, intelligence centers, training facilities, and supply depots. More than six thousand recruits at Great lakes are preparing to head to the fleet.
Given this, I have three priorities for us right now. First, our health and safety. Second, ongoing fleet operations and our support to the coronavirus effort. Third, continuing to generate the enormous amount of support required to keep #1 and #2 on track. I know much of that effort is behind the scenes and out of the limelight – but every bit of it is critical.
We must ensure the health of the force. And we must be laser-focused on the Fleet – from manning to maintenance, and from training to warfighting. Operational readiness is our job… and every one of us has a role. Nobody sits the bench.
Everyone must pull together. And in this new environment of coronavirus, we’re all learning, adapting, and improving by the hour. There is no better example of this than USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT – staring down an invisible enemy – dedicated in their efforts – making phenomenal progress, and providing lessons for the Navy and beyond.
America. Has. A. Great. Navy. Our nation counts on you and so do I. Never more proud to be your CNO.
DOD Ramps Up COVID-19 Response Efforts From Coast to Coast
Here’s a link to this good summary of the current state of DoD efforts:
Throwback Thursday Classic Post – All the Posts About Letters to the Board in One Place
The question most people ask me is answered in these posts:
Should You Send a Letter to the Promotion Board?
Do You Still Need to Send the Above Zone Letter?
The bottom line is:
Pretend that you did not send a letter to the board, the board is over, and you were not selected for promotion. Are you going to be kicking yourself for not sending the letter? If the answer is yes or maybe, then send the letter. As long as you keep it short and sweet, there is no real downside.
Frankly, I think that when officers send letters to promotion boards they are often just making themselves feel better, and there is nothing wrong with that. You want to make sure that when the promotion board results come out, no matter what happened, you feel like you did everything you could to get promoted.
Letters to promotion boards have a new due date. You can’t send them the day before the board anymore:
Letters to Promotion Boards Now Due 10 Calendar Days Before the Board
If you know you are getting out of the Navy and really don’t care about getting promoted, you should read this post:
What is a “Don’t Pick Me” Promotion Board Letter? Why Would You Send One?
Have you been on active duty for less than 1 year? Read this:
How to Be Considered for Promotion if You’ve Been on Active Duty for Less Than 1 Year
You now need to use your DoD ID number and not your Social Security number on letters to the board. Read this:
Use DoD ID Number and Not Your SSN on Letters to the Board
You can now submit letters electronically:
Comfort, Javits Center Open Care to COVID-19 Patients
Here’s a link to the article:
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 