Navy News Service 68/94 - 22 Nov 94

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NAVY NEWS SERVICE - 22 Nov 94 - NAVNEWS 068/94
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR NAVNEWS 068/94
Top News and Policy Stories
NNS777. Advancement Opportunity Increases for Exam Participants
NNS778. GTMO to Become Family Member Restricted Area For Now
Personnel Notes
NNS779. FY-95 Chief Selections Profiled
NNS780. CREO/REGA Message Shows More Advancement Opportunity
NNS781. Aviation Career Incentive Pay Requirements Waiverable
NNS782. Loan Refinancing Campaign Attracts 100,000 Veterans
Salute to Excellence
NNS783. USS Belknap Helps Spanish Sailors
NNS784. Hawaiian Sailors to Serve Neighbors During Thanksgiving
Around the Fleet
NNS785. Notable Quotable: Ms. Dixie Burch
NNS786. Navy Astronauts Picked for Shuttle Mission
NNS787. USS Nassau Opens New Learning Center
NNS788. Sailors Work to Turn Around Juvenile Criminals
NNS789. Good Morning America Host Visits Sub School
NNS790. This Week in the Navy: Nov. 21, 1943
Short Splices
NNS791. Polaroid Recalls Flashlight Sold by NEX/AAFES
NNS792. Navy-Marine Corps News
-USN-
Top News and Policy Stories
NNS777. Advancement Opportunity Increases for Exam Participants
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- More than 20,500 Sailors will head into the
holiday season with more money coming their way after advancing
from the latest examination cycle.
Advancement opportunity and total number of advancements
increased for all paygrades from the March cycle. The increase is
a continuing "good news" trend in advancements that has seen
opportunity rise over the last several exam cycles. In the March
cycle, 19,700 Sailors advanced.
For this exam cycle, E-6 advancement opportunity rose to eight
percent from seven percent in March. For E-5, opportunity rose to
13 percent from 11 percent in March and for E-4, opportunity rose
to 45 percent from 43 percent in March.
Opportunity for all senior enlisted ranks is expected to rise
also. The Fiscal Year 1996 selection process begins in March with
the E-8/E-9 board and ends in June with the E-7 board. Master
chief and senior chief selections will increase to nine percent
from eight percent last year, and chief opportunity is expected to
increase to 13 percent from 12 percent.
More information will be available in a forthcoming NAVADMIN.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
NNS778. GTMO to Become Family Member Restricted Area For Now
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy does not expect conditions at
Guantanamo Bay to be such that families who were evacuated last
summer will be able to return before the summer of 1995 at the
earliest.
The tour length for all Navy personnel assigned to the base
will change to no more than 12 month assignments. No one will be
involuntarily separated from their family for longer than 12
months, starting last September.
"We can't possibly know what will happen in Guantanamo, but
our best estimate is that nothing will happen that would make sense
for families to return until the summer of 1995 and probably not
before September 1995," said ADM Mike Boorda, Chief of Naval
Operations. "We want to give our families the choice to do what's
right in their situation."
The Chief of Naval Personnel VADM Skip Bowman added, "This is
not about policy. This is about taking care of our Navy families."
To ensure families are informed of the change, and options
available to them, the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) GTMO
Family Support Office has been notifying each family by
telephone. And, each family is receiving a personal message from
the Chief of Naval Personnel in an overnight express letter.
BUPERS will send a team of detailers in early December to
Guantanamo to negotiate new assignments and answer questions from
base personnel. More information will be provided to the
families as details become available.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
Personnel Notes
NNS779. FY-95 Chief Selections Profiled
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- In response to questions from Sailors during
recent fleet visits about what it takes to become a chief, the
Chief of Naval Personnel, VADM Skip Bowman, has had the Bureau of
Naval Personnel compile a profile of petty officers selected for
advancement to E-7 by this year's promotion board.
The FY-95 E-7 selection board selected 3,292 Sailors for
advancement, for an overall selection opportunity of 11 percent.
The average time-in-service for all selectees was 13 years, five
months. The average time-in-rate for all selectees was five years,
11 months.
For Sailors with a warfare qualification, selection rate was
equal to or higher than the overall selection rate for the board.
Selection rates for Sailors qualified as Surface Warfare (ESWS) was
16 percent, Aircrew (NAC) 11 percent, Air Warfare (EAWS) 19
percent, and Submarine Warfare (SS) 11 percent. For Sailors with
no warfare qualification, selection rate dropped to six percent.
Recruit company commanders had a 17 percent selection rate,
and career counselors with 9588 NEC had a selection rate of 19
percent. Sailors with bachelor or masters degrees had a
selection rate of 17 and 18 percent respectively, while high school
graduates had a 10 percent rate.
Beginning with the FY-96, similar profiles will be provided
for the E-8/E-9 boards, as well as the E-7 board.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
NNS780. CREO/REGA Message Shows More Advancement Opportunity
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Advancement forecasts in the latest Career
Reenlistment Objectives (CREO) and Rating Entry for General
Apprentices (REGA) message shows more advancement opportunity for
Sailors.
The message provides information using CREO categories to
indicate the manning levels in each rating. Ratings with a CREO
category of 1 are undermanned, CREO 2 ratings are manned at desired
levels, and CREO 3 rating are overmanned. Ratings also are divided
between first term Sailors and careerists -- those that have
reenlisted and have more than six years of service.
Four first-term rating categories and 12 career rating
categories rose to CREO 2 from CREO 3. Nine Training and
Administration of Reserves (TAR) first-term categories also rose to
CREO 2 from CREO 3.
The effect of ratings manned at desired levels means more
advancement opportunity for Sailors. This added opportunity should
be reflected in the next exam cycle in March 1995.
To clarify some details of the message, the BT rating
advancement opportunity to E-4 is fair and CREO categories for
first-term and career Sailors is 3 for men and 1 for women. For DT
and HM ratings, advancement to E-4 is projected to be fair for the
March 1995 exam and 'A' school is required for entry to the
ratings.
More information is available in NAVADMIN 214/94.
by LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
NNS781. Aviation Career Incentive Pay Requirements Waiverable
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy John Dalton has granted
authority to the Chief of Naval Personnel, VADM Skip Bowman, to
approve waivers for disassociated sea tours to count toward
required flight gates for Aviation Career Incentive Pay (ACIP).
The eligibility requirements for ACIP previously required
officers to perform at least nine years of operational flying in
the first 12 years of aviation service to continue to receive ACIP
until their 18th year of service.
The wavier permits aviators who are assigned to
disassociated sea tours to count these assignments toward the
operational flying requirements of ACIP, when approved by the
Bureau of Naval Personnel.
Officers who require the waiver must submit requests to BUPERS
(Pers-43C). More information is available from aviation community
detailers.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
NNS782. Loan Refinancing Campaign Attracts 100,000 Veterans
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Some 100,000 veterans will save almost $1.5
billion over the next 10 years because they responded to a
Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) effort to inform them of the
benefits of refinancing their existing VA-guaranteed home loans.
VA's Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan (IRRRL) program
allows a veteran with an outstanding VA-guaranteed loan to obtain
at little or no cost a new loan at a lower interest rate by using
the same entitlement the veteran previously used to buy the home.
Veterans interested in refinancing their loans should contact
a lender. Veteran homeowners who have difficulty locating a lender
who offers VA-guaranteed loans should call VA at 1-800-827-1000 for
additional information, including a list of lenders who offer
IRRRLs and those that do not require an appraisal or credit check
for these loans.
-USN-
Salute to Excellence
NNS783. USS Belknap Helps Spanish Sailors
NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- Before departing the Mediterranean for the
final time, USS Belknap (CG 26), the recently relieved flagship for
U.S. Sixth Fleet, saved two Spanish sailors stranded in stormy
seas. The bridge team spotted the sailors making distress signals
from a small boat about 40 miles south of Malaga, Spain, and
learned that the Spanish sailors were experiencing engine problems.
Due to high seas, the crew of Belknap was unable to bring the
sailors aboard or tow their vessel, but their small boat crew was
able to provide food, water, blankets and lighting. Belknap then
contacted Spanish authorities in Malaga who confirmed the boat had
been missing for several hours.
After a Spanish tug arrived to provide a tow, Belknap resumed
her final transit toward the United States.
"It's fitting that your last operation in the Med was one
which doubtless saved lives. Your decisiveness, and what I call
operational common sense, prevailed. You and your crew did great
work," commented ADM Leighton W. Smith, Jr., Commander in Chief,
U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, in a personal message to the commanding
officer of the Belknap.
-USN-
NNS784. Hawaiian Sailors to Serve Neighbors During Thanksgiving
WAHIAWA, Hawaii (NNS) -- The Spirit of Thanksgiving is alive again
this year on Oahu's North Shore. For the third year in a row,
nearly 200 volunteers from the Naval Computer and
Telecommunications Area Master Station, Eastern Pacific will gather
to celebrate Thanksgiving with their community neighbors as part of
Operation Aloha '94.
Fund raising efforts for Operation Aloha were conducted by
command members throughout the year to provide a complete
Thanksgiving dinner for over 650 needy families in the Haleiwa
area. Any money remaining from the event will be used to buy
Christmas presents for underprivileged children in the local area.
By LTJG Deborah Bohn
-USN-
Around the Fleet
NNS785. Notable Quotable: "Throughout the trip, I was extremely
impressed with the dedication and professionalism of all personnel
with whom I came in contact. The training and level of proficiency
of the crews on all ships was a pleasure to behold. The men and
women of the United States Navy should be very proud of the service
they perform for our country in standing ready to protect and
defend freedom and liberty and deter aggression." -- Ms. Dixie
Burch, manager of Albuquerque Petroleum Club, after an underway
embark in USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), and pierside visits to USS
Princeton (CG 59) and USS Louisville (SSN 724).
-USN-
NNS786. Navy Astronauts Picked for Shuttle Mission
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Three Navy astronauts have been selected for
the longest flight in space shuttle program history. CDR Kenneth
Bowersox will be the mission commander; CDR Kent Rominger will
serve as the pilot; and LCDR Michael Lopez-Alegria will serve as a
mission specialist and the flight engineer on the mission scheduled
for launch in the fall of 1995 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia.
The 16-day mission follows the first microgravity
laboratory flight, STS-50, flown in 1992, and will continue the
series of shuttle flights dedicated to studying microgravity
materials processing technology over extended durations in space.
CDR Bowersox, 38, will be making his third flight aboard the
shuttle and first as commander. He flew on the first microgravity
laboratory mission aboard Columbia and most recently was a member
of Endeavour's STS-61 crew that serviced the Hubble Space Telescope
in December 1993.
CDR Rominger, 38, and LCDR Lopez-Alegria, 36, were members of
the astronaut class of 1992 and will be making their first flights
aboard the Shuttle.
-USN-
NNS787. USS Nassau Opens New Learning Center
ABOARD USS NASSAU (NNS) -- Months of planning finally culminated
with the grand opening of USS Nassau's new learning resource
center, the first such facility on an LHA or LHD class ship.
Five new computers now grace Nassau's library. They are the
centerpiece of a story that began in July. It was then that
Religious Programs Specialist First Class Andrew Cumming received
information about the Resource Program's availability through the
Chief of Naval Education and Training (CNET). He was thrilled to
find that the ship could receive a grant for $25,000 to purchase
the system's computers, dot matrix printer, color jet printer,
laserjet printer, and a color page scanner. Additionally, CNET
provided the ship's library with about 600 paperback books.
Using the resources of Nassau's data processor community and
metal workers to help with the modifications to existing library
space, the Resource Center opened for business within a week.
-USN-
NNS788. Sailors Work to Turn Around Juvenile Criminals
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Sailors from Naval Air Station
Jacksonville are confronting crime face-to-face in a program
designed to reduce crime by pairing volunteer mentors with
incarcerated juveniles.
The Partnership Program, run by Florida's attorney general and
the Jacksonville Sheriff's office, provides hope for an "about-
face" for juveniles in jail for serious crimes such as larceny,
burglary and armed robbery. The juvenile offenders are welcoming
attention from the NAS Jacksonville Security Detachment.
"We are there to inspire and give them some motivation through
direct communication to encourage them to do right, follow some
kind of direction and set some goals," said Chief Aviation
Ordnanceman (Air Warfare) Juan Emmanuelli. "We are role models for
these people. We are tutors, counselors and friends."
Emmanuelli's work has inspired 10 other security personnel to
meet with a juvenile once a week. In the two-hour meetings, they
talk about the importance of an education, dealing with life, and
virtually anything else on the minds of the juveniles.
by Cliff Mika, Jax Air News
-USN-
NNS789. Good Morning America Host Visits Sub School
GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- Joan Lunden, cohost of ABC's "Good Morning
America," spent her Veterans Day holiday weekend learning to battle
blazes and patch pipes at the Navy's Submarine School in Groton,
Conn., all as part of her next prime-time television special,
"Behind Closed Doors."
"Behind Closed Doors" gives Lunden a chance to show her
viewers a variety of careers. "The show's title says it all," said
Lunden. "There are an amazing number of fascinating jobs that most
of us never even know about. That's what the program tries to do,
open a window for the viewers and take them `behind closed doors.'"
Lunden's day-long training sessions at Submarine School not
only gave her an opportunity for filming, but also, an advance
taste of submarine life that she'll fully experience in December
when she embarks in USS Key West (SSN 722). The show should be
ready to air in early February, according to Lunden.
The morning television star compared her career in
broadcasting to working aboard a submarine. "In television, I'm
dependent on my team for story ideas and research. That's one of
the reasons why I'm looking at the submarine force," said Lunden.
"And more than anyone can grasp until they see it in action,
submariners are all about teamwork. If I've learned nothing else
from my day in the trainers, it's the importance of teamwork."
-USN-
NNS790. This Week in the Navy: Nov. 21, 1943 -- Three Japanese
destroyers were sunk by U.S. forces in the Battle of St. George,
near New Ireland Island, during World War II.
-USN-
Short Splices
NNS791. Polaroid Recalls Flashlight Sold by NEX/AAFES
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Navy and Army/Air Force Exchanges
worldwide have pulled a recalled flashlight from their shelves and
warehouses in response to an alert from Polaroid regarding the
flashlight, which it had offered as part of a Halloween instant
film promotion. The battery in the flashlight is defective and may
heat up to a point where the handle becomes excessively hot. The
flashlights were offered free with the purchase of Polaroid 600
Twin Pack Instant Film.
Customers who have the 5.5 inch blue flashlight should remove
the batteries and discard it. For more information about the
flashlights, call Polaroid at 1-800-343-5000.
-USN-
NNS792. Navy-Marine Corps News
The Nov. 25 edition of Navy-Marine Corps News -- a videotaped
newscast generated for broadcast to Navy-Marine Corps fleet and
shore units -- includes the following stories:
-- USS George Washington Returns from Maiden Voyage
-- USS Platte Keeps Deployed Ships Refueled and Ready
-- Navy Trains During Iceland's "Viking Thunder" Exercise
-- Chief of Naval Operations Talks with Sailors in New York City
-- Gas Turbine System Technician School Trains "Hands On"
-- Easiest Way to Stay Healthy is to Eat the Right Kinds of Foods
-- Navy Chaplains are Welcomed at Guantanamo Bay's Migrant Camps
-- Marine Corps Honors 27 Medal of Honor Awardees in New Orleans
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-USN-
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