NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps: Difference between revisions

{{short description|US federal uniformed service}}

The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps traces its roots to the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]], the oldest scientific agency of the federal government. The Coast and Geodetic Survey was founded as the United States Survey of the Coast under [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] in 1807 and renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836. Until the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Coast Survey was staffed by [[civilian]] [[personnel]] working with [[United States Army]] and [[United States Navy]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]]. During the American Civil War, [[Army Officer|Army officers]] were withdrawn from Coast Survey duty, never to return, while all but two [[Navy Officer|Navy officers]] also were withdrawn from Coast Survey service for the duration of the war. Since most men of the Survey had Union sympathies, most stayed on with the Survey rather than resigning to serve the [[Confederate States of America]]; their work shifted in emphasis to support of the [[United States Navy]] and [[Union Army]], and these Coast Surveyors are the professional ancestors of today's NOAA Corps. Those Coast Surveyors supporting the [[Union Army]] were given assimilated military rank while attached to a specific command, but those supporting the U.S. Navy operated as civilians and ran the risk of being [[Capital punishment|executed]] as [[Espionage|spies]] if captured by the Confederates while working in support of Union forces. After the war, U.S. Navy officers returned to duty with the Coast Survey, which was given authority over [[Geodesy|geodetic]] activities in the interior of the United States in 1871 and was subsequently renamed the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878.<ref name="noaahistorynoaacorps" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/time1800.html|title=NOAA History - NOAA Legacy Timeline - 1800s}}</ref>

With the outbreak of the [[Spanish–American War]] in April 1898, the U.S. Navy again withdrew all of its [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] from Coast and Geodetic Survey assignments. They returned after the war ended in August 1898, but the system of [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] and men crewing the Survey{{'}}s [[Ship|ships]] that had prevailed for most of the 19th century came to an end when the appropriation law approved on June 6, 1900, provided for "all necessary employees to man and equip the vessels," instead of U.S. Navy personnel. The law took effect on July 1, 1900; at that point, all U.S. Navy personnel assigned to the Survey{{'}}s ships remained aboard until the first call at each ship{{'}}s [[home port]], where they transferred off, with the Survey reimbursing the Navy for their pay accrued after July 1, 1900.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of Work From July 1, 1900 To June 30, 1901 |last=U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey |year=1901 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=15, 17, 109}}</ref> From July 1900, the Coast and Geodetic Survey continued as an entirely civilian-run organization until after the United States entered World War I in April 1917.<ref name="noaahistorynoaacorps" />

When the Coast and Geodetic Survey was transferred to the newly established [[Environmental Science Services Administration]] on July 13, 1965,<ref name="NOAALegis1965">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/act5.html|title=NOAA History - NOAA Legacy/Historic Documents - Reorg Plan Establishing ESSA Under Dept. of Commerce}}</ref> control of the corps was transferred from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to ESSA itself, and accordingly, the corps was redesignated the '''Environmental Science Services Administration Corps''', known informally as the '''ESSA Corps'''. The ESSA Corps retained the responsibility of providing [[Commissioned Officers|commissioned officers]] to operate Coast and Geodetic Survey [[Ship|ships]] and of providing a set of [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] with technical skills in surveying for incorporation into the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. armed forces]] during wartime.

! colspan="4" |United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps

|Superintendent (title changed to "Director" in 1919) of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1915 until he died in 1929. As such, led the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps from its creation in 1917 until 1929.<ref name="leaders">{{cite web|title=Leaders of Coast Survey|url=http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/docs/Leaders_of_Coast_Survey.pdf|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|access-date=August 29, 2013}}</ref> Was a [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] and [[intelligence officer]] in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] during {{nowrap|World War I.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.noaa.gov/ships/jones.html|title=NOAA History - Tools of the Trade/Ships/C&GS Ships/LESTER JONES|website=www.history.noaa.gov}}</ref>}}

! colspan="5" |United States Environmental Science Services Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (ESSA Corps)

! colspan="4" |National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps)

|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/b53461e84e2d07795dc5c2b00c93816d|title=Nation's Smallest Service to Get New Leader|website=Associated Press }}</ref>