Navy Active Duty Delay for Specialist Program (NADDS)

The NADDS program allows graduated medical students or medical officers the option to defer the fulfillment of their active duty obligation for medical school in order to receive graduate residency education in a critical shortage specialty in the civilian sector. While in the NADDS program, medical officers are in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and receive no benefits. A NADDS resident receives pay and compensation from the civilian educational facility, not the Navy. Upon completion of the authorized residency training, or upon voluntary or involuntary termination, the officer is recalled to active duty to complete the deferred period of active duty obligation or for 2 years, whichever is longer.

A student who agrees to go into the NADDS program MUST supersede in rank to the appropriate rank. This is done by signing a new oath of office designating the officer as a 2105, i.e. USNR Medical Officer. At the time of graduation from medical/osteopathic school, the student WILL NOT receive orders. The Navy does not pay a NADDS participant to move to a new location for residency training.

NADDS participants are NOT ELIGIBLE FOR:

• Permanent Change of Station Orders to their residency training
• TRICARE (medical insurance)
• Annual Training
• Active Duty for Special Work (ADSW)
• Space A Flights
• Stipend
• Reimbursements
• Tuition payments

NADDS participants are ELIGIBLE FOR:

• Reserve ID Card, which allows entry on military bases, commissary (grocery store), exchange (department store) and recreational facilities.
• Fitness Reports

All NADDS students have Navy Fitness Reports written while in training. Fitness reports for Medical Corps participants are written by the Medical Accessions Office of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Detachment (BUMED Det.). A request for performance information will be sent from the NADDS Program Office, to the participant’s Program Director during the summer, in order to meet the Navy’s October deadline for completed fitness reports. All fitness reports are submitted as "Not Observed" reports. The original report is sent to the Bureau of Personnel in Millington (Code 311), and is placed into the officer’s electronic service record.

A copy of the report is sent to each participant for his/her personal files. Officers are reminded to maintain a copy of all fitness reports for possible use in the future.

Program Requirements

During the course of the deferment, the participant is required to keep the NADDS Program Manager and Accessions Department informed of changes in academic status, address, telephone number, e-mail address, dependency status and physical condition. An Annual Verification Package is sent via e-mail to all participants, and must be completed within two weeks of receipt. Once completed, the Annual Verification can be scanned and emailed to the following email address: USN.OHSTUDENT@MAIL.MIL.

Participants are obligated to complete their academic programs in a satisfactory manner within the time allotted, and must keep the NADDS Program Manager informed, in writing, concerning matters affecting standing in the program, including academic failure or changes in physical condition. The following are grounds for immediate termination from the NADDS program:

• Failure to comply with instructions
• Unsatisfactory academic performance
• Conduct unbecoming a Naval Officer
• Falsification of documents ​