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Regular Corps Assimilation Program

Important Assimilation Program Update from Acting Surgeon General

Most newly-appointed officers in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) are commissioned in the Reserve Corps. Assimilation is the process in which Reserve Corps officers are appointed into the Regular Corps. The Regular Corps is the career service of the Corps and is comprised of officers who have expressed and demonstrated a long-term commitment to the missions and goals of the Corps.

The Regular Corps is currently limited by statute to 2,800 officers.

Please review Commissioned Corps Instruction (CCI) 324.01, Regular Corps Assimilation Program, (old CC23.3.7) at http://dcp.psc.gov/eccis/documents/CCPM23_3_7.pdf for application eligibility and requirements before consideration by the assimilation boards. In addition, the Regular Corps Assimilation Program Personnel Operations Memorandum, Instruction 821.05 (old POM 07-002), at http://dcp.psc.gov/eccis/documents/POM07_002.pdf details the specific standard operating procedures throughout the assimilation process.

A Reserve Corps officer must successfully complete 2 years of continuous active duty service before applying for assimilation into the Regular Corps. Furthermore, a Reserve Corps officer must complete 3 consecutive years of continuous active duty before he or she is eligible to be reviewed by an assimilation board. A former Regular Corps officer may apply for assimilation immediately upon reappointment into the Reserve Corps if the application is made within 2 years of his or her termination or inactivation.

The assimilation process begins with an application and ends with an issued official personnel order. Officers wishing to apply must use form PHS-7034, “Application for Assimilation into the Regular Corps,” located on the Commissioned Corps Management Information System (CCMIS) Web site at http://dcp.psc.gov/cc_forms.asp .

The application must be accompanied by a statement addressing the reasons for requesting appointment to the Regular Corps including an indication that the officer is commited to a career in the Corps. An officer may also attach a statement from his or her immediate supervisor justifying and supporting the application. Faxes and copied applications will not be accepted. Applications must be endorsed by the officer’s immediate supervisor and forwarded to the following address:

Office of Commissioned Corps Operations
Division of Commissioned Corps Officer Support
ATTN: Assimilation Coordinator
Tower Building, Plaza Level, Suite 100
1101 Wootton Parkway
Rockville, MD 20852

Officers may also email the Commissioned Corps Assimilation Coordinator at PHSassimilations@hhs.gov for further information or with additional questions.  

Last updated: 19 November 2008