The Navy FAO Community held its first selection board in December 2005, selecting 42 officers from a field of 140 applicants. The first of these officers are reporting to Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Defense Language Institute (DLI) , and the George C. Marshall Center in June 2005. The remaining FAO selects will roll into NPS, DLI or operational billets at their normal periodic rotation dates. The next group of Navy FAOs will be selected during the semiannual Transfer/Redesignation Board in June 2005. Follow-on boards will select up to 50 applicants per year indefinitely through community maturation (estimated in 2015). The FAO community designators 1710 (qualified FAO), 1720 (FAO under instruction) and 1712 (FAO billet requiring Naval Aviator) are well on their way to SECNAV for approval, with the technical/system establishment of the designators anticipated this summer. Approximately 250 operational billets have been identified for recoding to FAO under a phased approach. This billet list has recently been approved by the Director of Navy Personnel Policy for use in allocating Officer Programmed Authorizations (OPA) for the community. This OPA establishes the fiscal requirements and will drive the community demand manpower signal for years to come. On 19 May 2006, the Chief of Naval Personnel (CNP) approved a plan to continue the FAO accessions of regionally experienced control grade officers (O4s-O6s) indefinitely. Originally, Navy was to access these pay grades (called "Enhanced FAOs") only through 2009. This change will allow the community to mature up to ten years earlier than originally planned. CNP also approved the addition of new billets for community management and the funding of in-country immersion training for all junior "New Build" FAOs beginning in FY08.
One a final note, CDR Greg Molinari will be relieved by CDR Dawn Driesbach as FAO community manager in Jul 2006.
All the news that is fit to print.....