Uniformed Services Lawyer for NOAA Corps and USPHS Officers

There are eight uniformed services of the United States. Six are the armed forces. The other two are the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

If you are a NOAA Corps officer or a USPHS officer and someone has opened an investigation, issued a letter of reprimand, written a negative evaluation, or convened a board, the process is real. It is not a court-martial. Quoting the Manual for Courts-Martial at a NOAA Disciplinary Board or a USPHS Board of Inquiry is the wrong book.

Younts Law represents members of the armed forces and the uniformed services in investigations, adverse actions, negative evaluations, relief-for-cause actions, and disciplinary boards. We are ready to help NOAA Corps and USPHS officers under the directives that govern those services.

The eight uniformed services

The armed forces are the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard. Members of those services on active duty are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. If that is your case, start with our Military Law page.

The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps is a uniformed service of the Department of Commerce. Its statutory home is 33 U.S.C. Chapter 43. The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations describes the Corps as approximately 360 officers and growing. Officers serve on NOAA ships and aircraft and in shore assignments.

The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is a uniformed service of the Department of Health and Human Services. Officers are physicians, nurses, pharmacists, engineers, scientists, and other professionals detailed across HHS and other federal agencies. Published reporting in October 2026 put active commissioned strength at about 5,400 officers. Commissioned Corps Directive 122.02 caps the Regular Corps at 8,000.

Under 10 U.S.C. § 802(a)(8), a NOAA or Public Health Service officer is subject to the UCMJ only when assigned to and serving with the armed forces. In ordinary duty, discipline is administrative.

NOAA Corps: investigations, discipline, and boards

NOAA Corps discipline is in NOAA Corps Directives, Chapter 7. Standards of conduct include the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, 5 C.F.R. Part 2635, and Commerce and NOAA rules.

Informal measures, in ascending order, are an oral admonishment, a letter of administrative censure, a letter of reproval, and a letter of reprimand. Rating supervisors may issue the first three. A letter of reprimand is reserved to the Director of Marine and Aircraft Operations Centers and center commanding officers. Confirm the current Chapter 7 before relying on a retention period. Older supervisor guidance describes a three-year Official Personnel Folder hold for a letter of reproval. That figure should be checked against the directive in force.

Formal measures require a Disciplinary Board. Those measures are suspension from duty at reduced pay, reduction in lineal rank, reduction in pay grade, and separation by involuntary discharge. The Director may appoint an Investigating Officer. Allegations of criminal violations are reported to the Inspector General.

The board has at least three members: two active-duty NOAA Corps officers and one civilian from NOAA Workforce Management, senior in grade to the officer. The officer has at least 30 days’ written notice, the right to appear with counsel at the officer’s expense, the right to present and cross-examine witnesses, one peremptory challenge plus challenges for cause, and the investigative report at least 15 days before the board. Exceptions and a request for mitigation are due within two weeks of the record.

Separation is not only a Chapter 7 event. NOAA Corps Directives, Chapter 8, covers termination of active service, including involuntary separation after a misconduct finding, twice failing selection for promotion, and separation recommended by the Officer Personnel Board.

The Officer Evaluation Report rates performance. NOAA’s own supervisor guidance says the OER is not the forum for misconduct. An inaccurate evaluation can still be a personnel action under the NOAA Corps whistleblower rule, 15 C.F.R. Part 998, Subpart D, which implements 33 U.S.C. § 3071.

USPHS Commissioned Corps: letters, flags, and boards

USPHS discipline is Commissioned Corps Directive 111.02, Disciplinary Action, implemented by Commissioned Corps Instruction 211.07, Accountability for Conduct and Performance.

Summary actions include a Letter of Counseling, which is a formal warning and is not entered in the electronic Official Personnel Folder; a Letter of Reprimand, which is entered in the eOPF; and suspension from duty. A Request for Removal is the tool an operating division uses when it says there is no suitable assignment. It is not itself the separation board.

The Assistant Secretary for Health may order a Board of Inquiry to recommend on retention, a characterization other than honorable, and other discipline. The board is at least three Public Health Service officers in grade O-5 or above, senior to the officer if practicable. Notice is at least 30 days. Counsel is at the officer’s expense. There is no peremptory challenge.

The Corps will not terminate a commission for misconduct without a board of officers, except in the cases stated in CCD 111.02. Those exceptions include absence without leave of 30 or more consecutive days, absence without leave of 90 or more nonconsecutive days, certain confinement sentences, a court-martial dismissal while detailed to the armed forces, and probationary termination in the first three years of the current tour.

An Involuntary Termination Board, under CCD 123.01 and CCI 382.03, is generally a record review. The officer usually has no right to appear. If that board recommends an under-other-than-honorable characterization, the characterization, not the separation itself, is referred to a Board of Inquiry. Other tracks include the probationary period, the three-year file review, medical review, and failure of promotion.

An Adverse Action Flag under CCI 211.07 can stop a promotion, an award, or another favorable action while an inquiry is open. Know whether you are answering a letter, a Board of Inquiry, or a paper board before you write.

The evaluation is the Commissioned Officers’ Effectiveness Report, CCI 351.01. The officer may file a rebuttal. A rebuttal is the officer’s side of the record. It is not a decision. A request to change a rating goes to Complaints and Redress, CCI 211.04. A discrimination allegation goes to the equal-opportunity process, CCI 211.03. After those remedies, an officer may apply to the Board for Correction of Commissioned Corps Records, CCD 129.01.

Protected communications are governed by CCD 121.06, which implements 10 U.S.C. § 1034 for Public Health Service officers. Filing a complaint does not freeze the underlying action. CCI 211.04 says a complaint does not stop a disciplinary board or a separation. Answer both tracks on their own deadlines.

What we do

We read the notice against the directive that authorizes it. A NOAA letter of reprimand is not a USPHS Letter of Reprimand. A Board of Inquiry is not an Involuntary Termination Board.

• Investigations, including a NOAA Investigating Officer inquiry and a USPHS inquiry that has generated an Adverse Action Flag.
• Adverse actions: counselings, letters of reproval, letters of reprimand, suspension, and requests for removal.
• Negative evaluations, including a NOAA Officer Evaluation Report and a USPHS Commissioned Officers’ Effectiveness Report, and the rebuttal or redress that belongs with each.
• Relief for cause and disqualification of a rating chain, where the service’s evaluation system provides for it.
• Disciplinary boards, including a NOAA Disciplinary Board and a USPHS Board of Inquiry.
• Involuntary separation and retirement boards, probationary actions, and the record that has to be preserved for a later correction board.

If the officer is detailed to an armed force, the analysis changes. That is when 10 U.S.C. § 802(a)(8) can put the UCMJ on the table. Say so at the first call.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are NOAA Corps officers subject to the UCMJ?

Only when assigned to and serving with the armed forces, under 10 U.S.C. § 802(a)(8). Ordinary NOAA Corps discipline is administrative and is governed by NOAA Corps Directives, Chapter 7, not by a court-martial.

Are USPHS Commissioned Corps officers subject to the UCMJ?

The same statute applies. A Public Health Service officer is subject to the UCMJ only when assigned to and serving with the armed forces. Day-to-day misconduct and performance actions run under Commissioned Corps Directives and Instructions, principally CCD 111.02 and CCI 211.07.

What is a NOAA Corps Disciplinary Board?

It is the formal proceeding required before the NOAA Corps may suspend an officer from duty at reduced pay, reduce lineal rank, reduce pay grade, or separate the officer by involuntary discharge. The board has at least three members, including two active-duty NOAA Corps officers and one civilian from NOAA Workforce Management. The officer has at least 30 days’ notice and the right to counsel.

What is a USPHS Board of Inquiry?

Under CCD 111.02, the Assistant Secretary for Health may order a Board of Inquiry to recommend whether the officer should be retained, whether service should be characterized as other than honorable, and whether other discipline is warranted. The board is at least three Public Health Service officers in grade O-5 or above.

What is the difference between a Board of Inquiry and an Involuntary Termination Board?

A Board of Inquiry is the hearing board for misconduct under CCD 111.02. An Involuntary Termination Board, under CCD 123.01 and CCI 382.03, is generally a record review, and the officer usually has no right to appear. If that board recommends an under-other-than-honorable characterization, the characterization is referred to a Board of Inquiry.

Can a NOAA Officer Evaluation Report be used to punish misconduct?

No. NOAA supervisor guidance states that the Officer Evaluation Report is not the forum for misconduct. Misconduct belongs in Chapter 7. An inaccurate evaluation can still be a personnel action for whistleblower purposes under 15 C.F.R. Part 998, Subpart D.

Can a USPHS officer challenge a bad COER?

Yes. CCI 351.01 provides a rebuttal. A request to change the rating can be filed under Complaints and Redress, CCI 211.04. A discrimination allegation goes through CCI 211.03. After administrative remedies, an officer may apply to the Board for Correction under CCD 129.01.

Does filing a complaint stop a NOAA or USPHS board?

No. Under CCI 211.04, a complaint does not stop a fitness-for-duty action, a disciplinary action, or a separation. The underlying response deadline still runs.

Who represents NOAA Corps and USPHS officers?

Younts Law represents military and uniformed services members in investigations, adverse actions, negative evaluations, relief for cause, and disciplinary boards, and is available to NOAA Corps and USPHS officers. Call (833) 739-5291 or (717) 612-4840.

How to reach Younts Law

If you have a letter, a board notice, or an evaluation you cannot live with, contact us before the response window closes. We offer a free initial consultation. We will learn the assignment, read the notice, and tell you whether there is a path. We cannot guarantee a result.

Call (833) 739-5291 or (717) 612-4840. Or start a confidential case evaluation at yountslaw.com/contact.

Younts Law, 4620 Fritchey Street, Harrisburg, PA 17109.

No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.