Friday, February 03, 2012

We'll Give You An Advanced Course...In Chipping Paint

The US Navy has a solution for those underperforming sailors who are in danger of being involuntarily separated from Naval service.

A new Navy policy aimed at filling vacancies aboard ships could give sailors a leg up as the service continues to pare down its troop numbers.

Sailors who participate in a voluntary sea duty program can postpone their mandatory application for Perform to Serve, a program that has involuntarily separated thousands of enlisted sailors in recent years.

The emphasis on adding sea billets continues a process that became public last year, when top Navy officials added 2,200 billets back to ships after conceding that several years of a program known as “optimal manning” had failed. Optimal manning trimmed ship billets and transferred more work to shore support facilities. However, a 2010 report headed by retired Vice Adm. Phillip Balisle found that the policy contributed to situations where “ships cannot maintain an acceptable level of shipboard material readiness, especially corrosion control.”

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