Today's NOAA Corps has close to 240 commissioned officers across the U.S. and at remote research sites in Australia and Antarctica. Rear Admiral Evelyn J. Fields is at the helm. NOAA Corps officers are trained in earth sciences, engineering, oceanography, meteorology, fisheries science, and related fields.

Just as with NOAA generally, many elements of NOAA Corps are direct descendants of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the oldest scientific agency in the U.S. In 1807, a science-minded Thomas Jefferson signed a bill for the "Survey of the Coast," the first such legislation. Under Superintendent Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, a Swiss immigrant, the Coast Survey became the first federal science agency. During the years before the Civil War, the Coast Survey's work force included male and female civilians working alongside Army and Naval officers - in fact, the Coast Survey was the first federal agency to hire female professionals.

Staff charted the nation's waterways, developed topographic maps of our shorelines, produced the backbone of precise mapping efforts - and made America's marine highways among the best charted in the world.

When the Civil War broke out, the civilian officers were asked to provide mapping, hydrographic and engineering expertise for the Union forces. Civilian Coast Surveyors, the professional ancestors of today's NOAA Corps, were right on the front lines, or ahead of them, producing vital coastal charts and interior maps. They stood with Grant in Chattanooga, with Sherman in Virginia and the Carolinas, with the Union blockading forces, and in defense of Washington.

Once the war ended, the Survey resumed its work of making America's shores safe for commerce. This responsibility expanded when Alaska was acquired in 1867, and again with the acquisition of Puerto Rico. Over the years, and during many battles, the Coast and Geodetic Survey continued as a steadfast and critical link in a range of venues. During World War I, its officers put down mines in the North Sea, navigated troop transports, provided intelligence, and served as staff to General "Black Jack" Pershing.

During World War II, they helped speed the movement of men and material and were widely credited with developing new instruments and methods that ultimately saved countless lives. In the worldwide aeronautical charting effort, they pioneered many of today's civil air routes. At home, they provided close to 100 million charts and maps to Allied forces, including charts for Hiroshima.

In the 194 years since its inception, the Survey of the Coast has grown from a relatively small operation centered on the east coast to an agency active in all oceans of the world.

Following two reorganizations in which many science agencies with related missions were brought together as one agency, NOAA and the NOAA Corps came into being in 1970. Today NOAA Corps officers serve across each of NOAA's' five line offices as well as with NASA, the Department of State, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Department of Defense. Through the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, they operate NOAA's fleet of research and survey vessels and aircraft.

Unless assigned to aircraft, officers spend about a third of their career at sea. They operate and manage NOAA ships and aircraft and serve throughout NOAA in research laboratories and program offices. The officers are on call 24 hours each day and rotate assignments every two or three years, bringing ship and aircraft expertise to their shore assignments.

Because officers work under a military-style personnel system, they can be moved or reassigned without prior notice, as when a disaster hits or in response to other agency needs. Newly commissioned officers first complete basic officers' training, then move on to their first assignment aboard a NOAA ship.

Additional links:

• NOAA Commissioned Corps
• Office of Marine and Aircraft Operations (OMAO)
  
• Historic Coast & Geodetic Survey Image Collection
  
• NOAA History