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MILLINGTON, Tenn. – After more than two years since being put on pause due to the pandemic, the Hometown Area Recruiting Program (HARP), Officer Hometown Area Recruiting Program (OHARP) and Senior Minority Assistance to Recruiting (SEMINAR) programs have resumed and begun accepting applications from Sailors in the fleet. These programs return outstanding Sailors to their hometown/home of record to assist the Navy’s local recruiters with their recruiting efforts – without being charged leave.
“HARP duty is a non-funded program for enlisted personnel,” said Terry Black, HARP/OHARP manager at Navy Recruiting Command (NRC). “You can perform it in conjunction with permanent change of station (PCS) orders, or you can do a strictly Temporary Additional Duty (TEMADD) from your parent command. On HARP duty, you go home for 12 days starting on a Monday and concluding on a Friday – weekends are included in the number count of the 12 days. You work with your local recruiters; you put your working or dress uniforms on; and you go to your local high schools. The purpose of the program is to attract more of your peer groups to join the Navy.”
Black also explained how the experience of going back home can be a great sense of pride for Sailors and the impact it can have on students as well as their local community.
“Typically, when you're a good student and you join the Navy, you go back to your high school at your home of record,” Black said. “When you walk through those hallways, they see you in that uniform. The teachers let you walk through their classrooms, and you talk to the teachers. The uniform is an attraction piece. It’s also a conversational piece. We'd like for all young Sailors to have a conversation about their Navy experience that they've been exposed to and talk to these high school kids about the Navy and try to encourage them to join our Navy – or even just actually talk to the recruiter to see if they'll be a good fit.”
Service members requesting to participate in HARP duty in conjunction with PCS orders shall submit HARP requests to Navy Recruiting Command six to nine months prior to the desired date (before PCS orders are finalized). Blackout dates are the week of Thanksgiving, last two weeks of December and the first week of January. During these dates, no HARP requests will be approved.
While HARP is for enlisted personnel, OHARP is a non-funded program for officers.
“The OHARP program works a little bit differently,” Black said. “You can perform OHARP a minimum 14 days, maximum of 90 days. You can do it strictly TEMADD from your parent command or you can do it in conjunction with PCS orders. OHARP returns officers to their hometowns to assist the officer recruiters in locating individuals for our officer programs. OHARPers should be prepared to go to the local colleges or universities that fall under that individual Navy recruiting station and talk to collegiate students about their assignments, their job scope in the Navy, what opportunities they have, and what the Navy can offer them. The goal is to get college students to want to join our Navy and become officers.”
The SEMINAR program temporarily returns highly qualified African American, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander officers and senior enlisted personnel to their home communities for 20 days to meet with local influential community members and to discuss the vast educational, career and advancement opportunities the Navy offers.
For Capt. Ronel Reyes, director of outreach and diversity (N10) at NRC, SEMINAR is important for several reasons, but one of its biggest strengths is allowing minorities to see what is possible for them in the Navy.
“It’s important to go into your community and speak to local community leaders, high school students and college students about your Navy experience and be able to relate to others who share your cultural or ethnic background and make them proud that you come from that same community,” Reyes said. “It’s that sense of pride and belonging – that connection to something that you may not have thought possible until you see someone who can relate to you.”
The HARP, OHARP and SEMINAR programs are back up and running, so Sailors can now start applying. Detailed requirements for each program are listed on the CNRC webpage (https://www.cnrc.navy.mil) and should be reviewed thoroughly by commands prior to HARP/OHARP/SEMINAR submission. The webpage provides topic-specific information, such as an overview of the programs and where to find the forms for program participation and submission.
For information regarding HARP, OHARP and SEMINAR:
(1) Visit https://www.cnrc.navy.mil
(2) Under the CNRC webpage select *NRC Links*
(3) Select *HARP/OHARP/SEMINAR*
Point of contact for HARP and OHARP is Mr. Terry T. Black, Program Manager, at (901) 874-9549/DSN 882 or via e-mail at terry.t.black.civ@navy.mil.
Point of contact for SEMINAR is NCC Latonya Perossier, Program Manager, at (901) 874-7264 or via e-mail at latonya.y.perossier.mil@us.navy.mil.
“It’s a great opportunity for you to go to your hometown and share your Navy experience,” said Reyes. “Plus, who doesn't want to brag a little bit about what they’ve accomplished and share that with others, right?”
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, three Navy Recruiting Regions and 26 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 1,000 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MyNAVYHR), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.25.2022 15:58 |
| Story ID: | 419237 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 1,863 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, The HARP, OHARP and SEMINAR Programs Are Back Up and Running, by Jordan Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
