Hello shipmates. Greetings from the school house.
I apologize for the informal nature of this message, but I wanted to reach out and ask for assistance from as many folks in our community as possible, as quickly and efficiently as possible. So here it is...
Only 4 students are scheduled to attend the FY 09 SFIDC classes starting in October, and NO PACKAGES are in the detailer's shop. For Active Duty, we have 110 spots available. For FY 10, we've been notified that, based on current projections, we will have to increase our available seats to over 200. If we as a community aren't actively recruiting to replenish our numbers...someone is going to do it for us. As evidenced in the past, that means we don't get the quality of students we desire and most importantly the quality of students the fleet requires.
Our staff is engaged in aggressively recruiting locally, but we need you to do the same at your locale. I have attached a copy of the CANTRAC to refresh you on the pre-reqs. Obviously you know the selling points... accelerated advancement, SRB, independent duty, college credits, diversified duty... living the dream! Also, St Frances University now has an IDC specific program that awards a BS in Clinical Health Sciences with all of the prerequisites for PA school. Their distance education program for a Masters and PA cert is anticipated to be available within the next couple of years. This would be a huge selling point. This allows us to retire from the Navy with a marketable degree.
The Surface Program is not alone in its struggle to fill the seats. Sub, Recon and Dive are in the same boat so to speak. We also recruit for these programs from our student population. We also have spots for Foreign Nationals, USCG and FTS as well.
The October class is an urgent priority for us. Thanks again for the help and hopefully we'll see some packages flowing in soon.
Warmest regards,
Jeff
HMCS(SW/AW) Jeffery L.J. Dell, IDC
SFIDC School Asst. Program Director
IDC Enlisted Technical Leader
Surface Warfare Medicine Institute
(619)532-5213
jeffery.dell [at] med [dot] navy [dot] mil
