The Shutdown's Impact on Navy Personnel

The following post was taken in its entirety from 'Navy Live,' the Navy's official blog site.

By Vice Adm. Bill Moran, Chief of Naval Personnel

Shipmates, just finished talking to our civilian N1 teammates, giving them final instructions and answering questions before they (like most civilians around the Navy) will turn on the “out of office,” secure sensitive information and depart on furlough.

We had all hoped to avoid this scenario and further hope that it will be short-lived, wanting to get back to normal operations as quick as possible.

You likely have many questions and may even be a bit anxious as you try to figure out what this means and how you and your family will be affected.

None of us know for sure how long this shutdown will last, but to alleviate some of your anxiety and address some of you questions, below is what we know to date:

Pay and bonuses: (based upon new guidance, this section has been updated from the original post—apologize for any confusion)

For basic pay/Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS)/Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)

• During the shutdown, military members will be paid on time. Excepted civilians (civilians not furloughed) will receive pay — still working through the details on exactly when — will provide updated info when we get it.

Bonuses: Approval of new Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB), Enlistment Bonus (EB), Aviation Career Continuation Pay (ACCP), Assignment Incentive Pay (AIP), Nuclear Officer Incentive Pay (NOIP), Sea Duty Incentive Pay (SDIP), Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP), Critical Skills Retention Bonus (CSRB), Judge Advocate Continuation Pay (JACP), Medical Health Profession Bonus, Nuclear Officer Incentive Pay (NOIP), or Career Status Bonus (CSB) contracts, applications, or elections will be limited during the shutdown period.

• Anniversary payments for all bonuses will be paid on time, subject to provision of funds from Treasury.


• Approval of new Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB), Enlistment Bonus (EB), Aviation Career Continuation Pay (ACCP), Assignment Incentive Pay (AIP), Nuclear Officer Incentive Pay (NOIP), Sea Duty Incentive Pay (SDIP), Special Duty Assignment Pay (SDAP), Critical Skills Retention Bonus (CSRB), Judge Advocate Continuation Pay (JACP), Medical Health Profession Bonus, Nuclear Officer Incentive Pay (NOIP), or Career Status Bonus (CSB) contracts, applications, or elections will be limited during the shutdown period.


• Where new contracts are allowed for an event occurring during the shutdown, the program manager may approve the new contract up to three business days before the event if the government has not reopened.
  
  
  
  • SRB: Submission of SRB requests should continue and will be processed for eligibility and prescreening PER OPNAVINST 1160.8A and NAVADMIN 077/13.
    
    
    
    • Members with pending requests during the shutdown period should resubmit their request for a date after the shutdown period.
    
    
    • Reenlistments for SRB during the shutdown will only be approved for those with an EAOS during the shutdown period, those who must reenlist to obtain sufficient obligated service for approved PCS orders, to prevent an inoperative extension from going operative, or other situations as approved by OPNAV N130. For other issues, the Command Career Counselor should contact the SRB Help Desk for guidance on processing these issues. Questions should be directed to EMCM Irish douglas.b.irish@navy.mil (901) 874-2526 or (901) 874-3215.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • EB: Enlistment Bonuses are authorized during the period of a government shutdown.
    
    
    
    • Questions should be directed to Mr. Gary Ton gary.ton@navy.mil (901) 874-9322.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • ACCP: Current ACCP bonus contracts will be honored and paid subject to funding from Treasury.
    
    
    
    • FY14 ACCP guidance will not be released during the shutdown, so no new contracts are possible.
    
    
    • Questions should be directed to LCDR David Ganci david.ganci@navy.mil (901) 874-3484.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Payment of SDIP is authorized for Sailors on an SDIP contract reporting to sea duty during the shutdown period, pending availability of funds from Treasury.
  
  
  • Monthly SDAP payments will continue, pending availability of funds from Treasury.
  
  
  • New CSRB contracts may be entered into during a government shutdown. Navy will only approve new contracts for those with an EAOS or MSR during the shutdown period, those who must reenlist to obtain sufficient obligated service for approved PCS orders, or other situations as approved by OPNAV N130. Questions should be directed to your specific community manager.
  
  
  
  


• Medical Health Professions: Questions should be directed to LCDR Erich Dietrich erich.dietrich@med.navy.mil (703) 681-5539.


• JACP: Questions should be directed to CDR Jessica Pyburn Jessica.pyburn@navy.mil (901) 874-3521.


• NOIP: New NOIP contracts may be entered into for members who will reach the end of their obligated service during the shutdown. Questions should be directed to LCDR Eric Astle Eric.astle@navy.mil (703) 604-5487.


• CSB/REDUX. By law, Sailors must elect or decline CSB before reaching 15 years of active duty service. Some Sailors’ 15 year mark may occur during government shutdown. Sailors who want to elect CSB during government shutdown are permitted to do so. CCCs are encouraged to contact NAVPERSCOM (PERS-331) CSB Help Desk at 901-874-3249/3375 (DSN 882) for more information.


• Further Guidance and updates will continue to be disseminated as it becomes available. Questions should be referred to the chain of command.

• Special and incentive pays (i.e. example Imminent Danger Pay (IDP)/Hardship Duty Pay (HDP)/Hazard Duty Incentive Pay (HDIP)
  
  
  
  • payment of all military pay and allowances is authorized—provided funds are available from the Treasury
  
  
  
  

Navy Personnel Command:

• Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders will only be allowed in the following cases:
  
  
  
  • Movement to an excepted activity
  
  
  • Movement from an excepted activity if that activity is overburdened
  
  
  • Accession and training moves associated with recruitment and initial entry training will continue, along with movement to first duty station when required by a move to an excepted activity
  
  
  • Movement to comply with separation instructions will continue
  
  
  
  

Resources and additional information:

• If Sailors have specific questions, they should contact their detailer.


• No boards will be held during the shutdown period.


• Customer service support will be limited during the shutdown. There will be support available through 1-866-U-ASK-NPC , but the cscemail@navy.mil email account will not be available.


• Additions and changes to records will not be made at Navy Personnel Command (NPC) -Personnel Support Activity Detachment (PSDs) with military support will be open, however, expect limited support and longer wait times.

Education impacts:

• Tuition Assistance funding for those classes starting after Oct. 1 will not be available until next fiscal year once funding is released.


• All Navy College Offices will be closed.


• No counseling or educational services will be available.


• College courses taught on base should go as scheduled.


• Language or other testing services will not be available.


• The Virtual Education Center (VEC) will be closed.


• No counseling or educational services will be available.


• Tuition assistance documents will not be processed.


• Joint Services Transcript changes will not occur.


• Non-Resident Training Course support may be impacted.


• No processing of requests for a Non-Resident Training Course account reset.


• New Non-Resident Training Course enrollments may be delayed.


• United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP) participants may encounter a delay of operations for new enrollments and help desk support.

Recruiting:

• There will be no disruption in the recruiting and processing of new accessions, recruiting station will remain open for business, but no contracts for enlistment bonus can be entered into.

Training Support Center, Great Lakes and learning sites:

• In-processing of new recruits will continue. For now there have been no changes in published Great Lakes Recruit Training Command (RTC) graduation schedules.


• The length of the shutdown will determine the exact impact to the training pipeline. There may be delays in moving new Sailors from boot camp to follow-on assignments.


• The concern is that a shutdown that lasts several weeks could have similar effects to those experienced after Hurricane Ivan, in which large backlogs of students developed within days.
  
  
  
  • It took more than six months to work through the backlog, even with increased classes in the pipeline.
  
  
  
  


• Officials at Great Lakes and the Fleet Training Support Centers will provide updated guidance as more information becomes available.

Advancements:

• The Navy Advancement Center (NAC) will be unable to receive, scan and process Cycle 093 Reserve (Aug. 2013) and Cycle 220 Active Duty (Sept. 2013) exam answer sheets during the furlough period.


• NAC cannot guarantee eligible candidates will be rank-ordered in time to meet set exam result publication schedules.


• It is not known whether pay increments for all advancement-eligible Sailors be impacted.


• Currently, 1,774 Sailors are scheduled to advance on Oct. 16. Pay increments must be set prior to Oct. 10 to be effected.

Information for Civilian Employees:

• The Office of Civilian Human Resources (OCHR) provides guidance, fact sheets, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), and information on the Department of Navy website which will continue to be updated throughout the furlough. Financial and other counseling services are available through your Civilian Employee Assistance Program.


• Additional information on furloughs may be found at the Office of Personnel Management.


• Please direct your questions to your Command HR offices or email DONhrfaq@navy.mil.

Additional Information (will be updated as we receive new information):

• Financial counseling and short term loans are available through Navy Marine Corps Relief Society.


• Stateside commissaries will close on Oct. 2 for the duration of the shutdown. Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) commissaries will remain open.


• Navy Exchanges will remain open.

We know that this shutdown places further hardship on our valuable civilian workforce. Our teammates have already been strained by a summer of furloughs. You are valuable members of our profession and as the Secretary of Defense shared yesterday, “ we are going into this challenge together and we will come out of it together.”

Sacrifice and dedication in the face of adversity is what makes our Navy strong. I ask that in spite of the uncertainty of this shutdown, those of us remain on watch continue to stay focused on the mission as we look forward to our shipmates’ return.

I will continue to keep you informed, sharing what we know, when we know it.

If you have questions not answered within the text above, please leave visit the Navy's Live blog and post them in comment section.

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