NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps ( abbr . : NOAA Corps ) is the Uniformed Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .

organization

The NOAA Corps is subordinate to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It consists of scientifically and technically trained officers and is the smallest of the US uniformed services. It is one of only two - the other is the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service - that consists only of officers who have neither warrant officers nor non-commissioned officers .

tasks

NOAA Corps officers serve as ship's nautical and engineering officers , pilots , chief investigators , dive leaders, and on staff positions in both NOAA and the United States Merchant Marine , United States Department of Defense , United States Coast Guard , National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and United States Department of State .

Entry requirements and training

The entry requirement is a Bachelor's degree with a major related to scientific or technical activities at NOAA, including at least 48 semester hours in natural science, mathematics or engineering subjects. All officer candidates are required to undergo 19 weeks of basic training at the United States Coast Guard Academy . The regular training period begins at 5 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. Various training events also take place on the weekends. Upon successful completion, selected officers can serve as pilots and navigators in NOAA's research and survey aircraft. However, the graduates are usually only used for flight training after successfully completing their first sea tour.

Ranks

NOAA Corps uniforms

Rank badge of the NOAA Corps
Ensign	Lieutenant (junior grade)	Lieutenant	Lieutenant Commander	Commander
O-1	O-2	O-3	O-4	O-5

lieutenant	First lieutenant	Lieutenant captain	Corvette Captain	Frigate captain