The Navy is implementing a program that will transfer non-deployable sailors to jobs that will keep them in the service long enough to return to duty rather than being separated on medical grounds.
The new EMPLOY program will focus on sailor “employability, not deployability,” by filling empty jobs with sailors who cannot deploy and reducing the number of sailors separated from the service through the Disability Evaluation System, according to a Naval admin notice posted Monday.
“EMPLOY accomplishes multiple important objectives for the Navy: we keep sailors on their career track by providing them with meaningful assignments that match their skills, we fill critical gapped billets ashore, and as an organization we retain the valuable knowledge, skills and experience these sailors possess,” Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Stuart Phillips told Task & Purpose. “Everyone wins.”
The EMPLOY program is designed to place sailors into already-funded billets that would otherwise remain vacant. These assignments last for at least 24 months and include non-deployable, land-based jobs.
The Navy released formal instructions for the program this week but began a “phased roll-out of the EMPLOY model last year,” to evaluate the program’s effectiveness, Phillips said. In May 2024, the first sailor was approved for an EMPLOY program tour.
To date, 850 Sailors have been considered for EMPLOY with 303 selected so far. An average of 20 sailors are nominated each week, according to Phillips.
The program is designed to retain sailors who are non-deployable due to injuries or illnesses, but who are expected to eventually return to duty. Sailors who are “medically incapable of continued service” are not eligible for the program, according to a Navy factsheet.
For example, sailors recovering from a musculoskeletal injury that will eventually heal, or who are undergoing treatment for cancer, could be eligible for the EMPLOY program, Phillips said.
The program could also be for sailors taking certain medications that make them non-deployable. Phillips gave the example of anticoagulant medications that prevent fatal blood clots but also increase the risk of uncontrolled bleeding “which is even more dangerous on a deployed warship.”
“While sailors in these situations may not be suitable for a sea duty tour, they can continue to contribute from a shore billet,” Phillips said.
EMPLOY is open to sailors on active duty and those in the Navy’s Training and Administration of the Reserve program, in which Reserve officers are put on active duty to manage and train the service’s Reserve Component.
Sailors in specialized career fields that require special duty screenings, like submarine duty, will have to complete a screening and de-screening process before they can be considered for EMPLOY.
The process begins with a sailor’s medical provider, who nominates the sailor for the program. Their case is reviewed by officials, including a Medical Evaluation Board. Sailors can work with detailers to negotiate their current orders or they can look for new opportunities through the Senior Enlisted Marketplace.
The jobs sailors can hold in the program include Type 1 and Type 6 duty stations. Type 1 stations are shore assignments at bases in the continental U.S., Hawaii and Alaska. Sailors are limited from leaving their station for more than 150 days per year, or attending schools that last 18 months or more. Type 6 duty stations are overseas and have similar limits for sailors not to be absent from their offices for more than 150 days each year. Examples of Type 6 can include overseas stations, like Naval Base Sigonella, Italy and some more-remote locations in the U.S., like Naval Air Station Key West, Florida.
Sailors may be cross-rated or redesignated into a new career field if the new job requires it. They may also be issued a conditional enlistment contract if they don’t have enough time left in their current one.
The NAVADMIN recommends that they consult with career counselors on how these temporary jobs could affect future Navy opportunities within their job field or other non-traditional roles. However, sailors in the program are still eligible for promotion.
The Navy has faced similar recruiting challenges to other services in recent years but changes to how it recruits new sailors and a revamp of its medical waiver process have led to improvements. In February, the service announced in a post on X that it was on track to meet its highest recruiting goal in over 20 years with more than 14,000 future sailors joining in the first four months of fiscal year 2025.
In September 2023, the Government Accountability Office found that the Navy didn’t have enough enlisted sailors to man its aircraft carriers, other surface ships, and attack submarines. As of November 2023, the Navy had 70,705 enlisted sailors, 16% fewer than the necessary 84,379 sailor billets.
Sailors will be re-evaluated during their EMPLOY rotation and assessed as either fit for return to duty, a new EMPLOY assignment or referred to the disability system, or separated from the service. The Navy does not have any specific limits on how long a sailor could remain in the EMPLOY program.
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