TO: All Commissioned Corps Officers

FROM: RADM John Babb, Director, OFRD

SUBJECT: Readiness Status

Last night the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment performed a readiness update which reflects the changes to basic readiness, which are required in the Extension to Manual Circular 377.

This document was issued by the Assistant Secretary for Health and published by OCCFM on November 3, 2006.

It is available on the CCMIS web site.

You should Login to your Officer Summary Page to review your current status, as the new requirements may very well have changed your readiness status.
The Extension to Manual Circular 377 makes several changes to basic readiness:

1. Changes the required on-line training modules from the previous requirement to take 9 core courses plus 3 from either group A or group B to the current requirement to complete 8 core courses on the OFRD training contractor's site PLUS 4 courses from the FEMA training contractor's site. You should note that the 8 core courses are not exactly the same as the 9 core courses in the previous requirement, and many officers do not meet this requirement.
2. Removes the requirement to report polio immunizations.
3. Changes the requirement to report tuberculosis status from the former annual PPD test to 4 options:
    a. Report 2 negative PPD tests within a 12 month period
    b. Report a single negative interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) test
    c. Report a negative PPD test with the last 12 months, or
    d. Report a positive PPD or IGRA test which must be followed by a negative chest X-Ray
        indicating absence of active TB.
4. Have an influenza vaccination between October 1 and December 31 of every year. Note that because officers still have 3 weeks to complete this requirement, their readiness record will not reflect that they are missing this vaccination UNTIL December 31st. So officers must get the influenza vaccination in order to be reported as meeting basic readiness as of December 31st.
5. Officers rostered in clinical roles must acquire a minimum of 80 clinical hours in that role annually. This represents a reduction from the previous requirement of 112 hours annually.

This Extension of Manual Circular 377 contains significant information relative to maintaining readiness, and how that might impact an officer's career. You should review it as soon as possible, regardless of whether you are eligible for temporary or permanent promotion.

As you make changes to your officer summary page, complete training courses, submit a 5 year physical exam or medical waiver request to MAB, complete the President's Challenge, or submit an updated license or certification to OCCO, be aware that the system does not instantly reflect those entries and completions. There will be a lag time between completing these actions and updating your readiness status.

For OFRD to compute readiness status, we:
• Download license data from OCCO
• Download fitness participation from the President's Challenge
• Receive 5 year medical exam information and medical waiver status from MAB
• Eownload on-line module information from the OFRD contractor, Blackboard
• Download completion data of the four FEMA courses from the FEMA contractor, EMI, and
• Incorporate information you have entered on our own website.

Between now and the end of the calendar year, we will perform weekly readiness updates every Wednesday, which will reflect information from all of these sources.

Thank you for your dedication to meeting the readiness requirements of the Commissioned Corps.