 22 January1999
It is important that we establish goals to focus and channel our efforts in the forthcoming year. Program Goals - 1999, are forwarded for this purpose in enclosure (1). The following brief review - "State of the Corps" - report is provided as a point of departure for your planning in working to attain these goals: Program Strength. Our registered enrollment reached an all time high at the close of 1998. We had 9192 members registered with a drilling enrollment on 31 December of 7986, down slightly from our previous month's high (Nov 98) of 8012. This reflects your recruiting success and enrollments over the past year, placing the Corps in a good position to meet the NLUS goals in the outyears. There are 192 NSCC and 46 NLCC units in operation with 59 units in various stages of the formation process. An analysis of unit manning indicates that 76 NSCC units (39%) are at, or above, satisfactory minimum enrollment. The remainder, 116 units (61%) have less than the minimum (25) NSCC cadets enrolled. 29 of the NLCC units (59%) have the minimum on board (15 cadets). Training. The summer and winter training programs were marked by innovation and continued success. Training opportunities were expanded and diversified; particularly noteworthy was the expansion of winter recruit training and Petty Officer Leadership training among the wide spectrum of training available to cadets. Key to our success was the ability of planners to cope with changing availability of Navy training resources and facilities, and the initiative of Headquarters Representatives, Regional Directors, and key individuals in arranging for, and supervising regional training. Most important was the ability of unit commanding officers and cadets (and their parents) to accommodate to a rapidly changing training schedule. In 1998 we had a significant number of cadets who did not attend recruit training for any number of reasons, probably the most notable being the rising training costs. For whatever reason, we must reverse this and ensure all our new cadets get to recruit training. Administration: Program administration provided the support and guidance needed by those in the field to accomplish their training mission. Program Manuals have been posted to the Internet. The NSCC/NLCC Awards Manual has been revised in its entirety and the Administrative Manual is under revision. The Advancement and Training Manual will be rewritten following this summer's training cycle. The officer professional development courses are under revision, as are the inspection guides. Programs are underway to eliminate unnecessary administrative requirements (paperwork reduction) and to continue to develop computer applications for both administrative and reporting purposes. In the near future we anticipate having all the revised forms available on the Internet. Fiscal Status: The fiduciary responsibilities of the Board of Directors and National Headquarters are being properly discharged with the Corps ending the year in satisfactory fiscal condition. Efforts are underway to get federal funding, although if this comes to be it will be a couple of years out. Down sizing of Department of Defense activities has resulted in the NSCC being tasked to pay for more and more of our own training and administrative costs. Some of the cost involving training has resulted in a significant increase in costs to the cadets. We would like to relieve some of this burden if we receive federal funding. Navy/Coast Guard and other Service Support: Support of Cadet Corps training by both the Navy and Coast Guard has been good. The success of the summer and winter training program reflects the willingness of both these services and the other services to make available for our use, to the extent possible, their training facilities and resources. As the Department of Defense continues to draw down the force structure with the resultant base closures, it is incumbent on the NSCC program to take advantage of every training opportunity available. Approximately half of our recruits training sites are non-Navy sites and we must continue to take advantage of whatever is available locally and within the region. This means working with any service which offers training opportunities. The program goals outlined in enclosure (1) are challenging, but are well within our ability to attain. Working together, we will accomplish our goals. Enclosure (2) is our guiding principles which will help us to achieve our goals. These principles are powerfUl tools and will make the program shine if we follow through on each and everyone.
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