A new Career Tools Afloat (CTA) application is being installed aboard Navy surface and submarine platforms.
The CTA provides a single gateway for Sailors to access selected career and personnel tools ashore and while operating in an environment disconnected from the Internet.
These tools are Navy e-Learning (NeL) Afloat and its extensive catalog of online courses, the Electronic Training Jacket (ETJ) Afloat, and the Fleet Training Management and Planning System (FLTMPS) Afloat. CTA also lets users access the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) Web Afloat server. Finally, CTA provides links to designated shore Navy career tool applications that can be used when a ship has Internet connectivity.
“Sailors have been asking for a single method to access key career tools,” said Julie Whitley, NTMPS Project Director. “CTA links Sailors to select applications on both NIAPS and the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) Web Afloat. For example, afloat Sailors can use CTA to get to their Electronic Service Record and the Career Information Management System (CIMS), both of which are part of NSIPS Web Afloat. And if Sailors have access to the Internet, CTA will link to these respective ashore applications as well.”
“The CTA common access point provides Sailors with a gateway to certain Navy career tool applications-ashore and afloat-which is something they’ve been wanting and never had before,” said Navy Counselor Chief Petty Officer Greg Hansen, OPNAV N15 Fleet Introduction Team.
The CTA software is replacing Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) At Sea, which has been used by afloat Sailors since 2006. CTA is an addition to the existing Navy Training Management and Planning System (NTMPS) suite of applications. To use CTA, surface platforms must be running the Navy Information Application Product Suite (NIAPS) Version 2.4 or higher, while submarines that have been updated to NIAPS Version 2.3 or higher will have CTA as part of their standard software.
NKO At Sea’s primary function was to authenticate user access to various afloat career tools. CTA goes a step beyond NKO At Sea to streamline and simplify the user interface to those same career and training tools that Sailors use to manage their careers. And although NKO At Sea is being replaced with CTA, Sailors can continue to take online courses via the Navy e-Learning Afloat Integrated Learning Environment (AILE).
The CTA displays hyperlinks for individual career tools and speeds access by grouping links together for specific user groups, such as Sailor, Career Counselor, Personnel, Training, and Command.
“I like that you don’t have to go to the Web to perform searches for what you are trying to find,” said Information Systems Technician Second Class Chris Miranda, USS Lake Champlain (CG 57). “Everything is right there on one page with one click.”
Submarines with NIAPS Version 1.2 or below will lose access to all Navy career tools applications until upgraded to NIAPS 2.3 or higher. Additionally, because submarines currently do not have NSIPS Web Afloat installed, links to the Electronic Service Record (ESR) Afloat will be unavailable.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, April 10, 2013; Image: US Navy