USA: Limited Directed Detailing Initiative to Help Fill Critical Needs at Sea

In order to meet the near-term critical manning needs of the Fleet, the Navy will curtail shore duty for select Sailors that have the required skills needed at sea, Navy officials announced in NAVADMIN 227/12, released July 26.

This Limited Directed Detailing initiative is part of the Navy’s coordinated effort to aggressively address gaps at sea and place Sailors with the right experience levels and skill sets into high-priority Fleet billets.

To respond to real-world events, Navy deployment schedules have changed, resulting in a greater need to quickly fill near-term, critical billets afloat. To meet this need, during the next few months the Navy will detail selected Sailors back to operational sea duty early. The limited directed detailing initiative will target between 200-400 Sailors who have the required skills, leadership and experience needed at sea now to improve manning on Navy’s imminent deployers.

“We’re working aggressively to fulfill the demand signal from the Fleet to achieve fit and to match Sailors with the right skill sets in sea-going billets,” said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk. “We use a variety of long-term and voluntary initiatives to support our sea-going force. Now, while these actions begin to take traction, we’ve determined that we need to take additional measures to reduce these gaps at sea. Limited directed detailing is meant to be an interim policy to further improve fleet manning and readiness by filling critical jobs at sea with the right Sailors. In most ratings, this action will only impact a few Sailors.”

Under the limited directed detailing initiative, Sailors who have completed a minimum of 24 months on shore duty may be contacted by their detailer and directed back to a sea duty assignment prior to their projected rotation date.

Sailors who have been on shore duty the longest will generally be considered first for limited directed detailing. Whenever possible, geographic stability will be maintained if desired by the selected Sailor. Additionally, Sailors who are impacted by this directed detailing initiative will receive lump sum monetary compensation.

Sailors that already possess a required Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) will be chosen for directed detailing unless training is available and can be completed prior to the Sailor’s required reporting date. While no shore commands or specific billets are exempt from limited directed detailing, Sailors currently filling selected billets or assigned to certain commands will be considered after all others, as specified in NAVADMIN 227/12.

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Naval Today Staff, July 31, 2012; Image: US Navy