The latest upgrade to the Navy's detailing system empowers Sailors by allowing them to submit their own job applications when negotiating for permanent change of station (PCS) orders, according to NAVADMIN 200/09, released July 7...What do you bet that the most desirable jobs never make their way onto this online system? As most of us have learned through hard experience, the odds of getting the "good deal" for shore duty are directly proportional to how much of an "in" you have with the detailer. (Same goes for good sea duty, of course.) I noticed it's been awhile since I've discussed the submarine detailing process, so I thought I'd offer one of my experiences before opening it up for comments. When I was finishing my JO sea tour, I figured I wouldn't mind going back to Idaho to be close to my wife's family; I knew I'd have to go to the NPTU there to do this. I mentioned this to the detailer, but he said that NPTU Idaho was shutting down and they weren't sending anyone else there. "But, since you're a prototype volunteer..." he said next, and I knew I was screwed. He said that the advantage of going to NPTU staff is that I would get my choice of homeport for my Department Head tour. Figuring it would be worth spending 2 years in Charleston for the chance to spend 3 more years in San Diego further down the line, I agreed to "accept" the orders. (A quote from my LCC when my class was getting their first orders at NPTU when I was enlisted: "Who cares if you don't like where you're going? Why do you think they call them orders?")
...While this new option allows Sailors to apply for jobs on their own, the career counselor will still retain the option to review and modify requests.
"It does not take the command out of the process because we have to review the applications to make sure Sailors apply to the right jobs for their career path," said Holliday, who verifies applicants at her command meet physical readiness standards, sea-shore flow requirements and other factors.
Before getting started, Sailors must meet Perform to Serve requirements as outlined in NAVADMIN 017/09 and 161/09 and be within their orders negotiation window in order to submit applications. Sailors can access CMS/ID online at https://www.cmsid.navy.mil. A common access card (CAC) and a card reader are required to log in.
Fast-forward two years: I call the DH detailer at PERS-42, and first thing I mention the "guarantee" I had. First thing he says is, "Did you get it in writing?". No, I tell him, I didn't have to, because it was in the BUPERS magazine and everything. Sorry, he says, if I didn't get it in writing, it doesn't count. I ended up going to NewCon Eng in Groton without any discussion of it with me beforehand, so at SOAC I asked my classmates how many of them had the detailer mention to them where they might be going; the only one who hadn't was going to NewCon with me. And the detailer? Somehow he ended up as OIC of NR-1 for his XO tour. Imagine that.
Then, of course, I got the "bonus" NewCon Eng job as my Post-DH shore tour.
What "good deals" have you gotten from detailers?
