The short answer is you are drilling at one NOSC (generally the one closest to home) while holding a billet with another unit at another NOSC. For those Reservists outside of Fleet Concentration Areas, this will be fairly common. Keep in mind, there are a few things to consider. For the sake of clarity, we’ll establish two terms. First, the home unit which is where your fitrep comes from. From your home unit, you are cross assigned to a unit at a local NOSC. This unit could be the NOSC Operations support, or it could be any other unit which has billet space for someone of your paygrade. - If you are Cross-assigned, you should do your best to contact/stay in contact with your unit.
- You should drill at your home unit once per quarter (that unit CO should be signing your Fitrep).
- Your administrative records could be at one NOSC while your operational/training records are at another.
There is some heavy debate over whether this is good or bad for your career. Deep down in places that the organization does like to talk about, there is a difference. For example if LT “A” and his doppelganger LT “B” are assigned to a local unit, LT “A” shows up every drill weekend, has his act together and gets alot accomplished. So does LT B except he’s cross assigned to that unit from across the country. LT “A” will make a much bigger and longer lasting impression than he would if he were only showing up once a quarter because of frequency and interaction opportunities. So if you pair LT’s “A” &”B” (who is cross assigned,) the human factor gives the nod to LT “A” because of the familiarity and proximity.
Bottom line is that if you are going to be cross assigned , you’ll have to work harder than the locals to get there and make an impression. Find jobs that you can do remotely and other ways that you can be involved, but don’t have to be on site.
More on this later, but this needed a quick answer to respond to some questions we’ve had. Feel free to add your own twist to this explanation and make it better for the rest of us.
The Citizen Sailor 