Three mobile apps designed for Navy basic military training became available for public download, June 16.

The three mobile training apps U.S. Military Rank & Reference, U.S. Navy Ratings & Reference, and Ships & Aircraft Training are part of the eSailor Initiative, and are presently being used by recruits on electronic tablets at Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp.

These training apps help today's recruits transform from civilian to Sailor. Available through the iTunes and Google Play stores, now fleet Sailors will be able to utilize these to continue their training throughout their career.

"This will provide an excellent opportunity for fleet Sailors to brush up on their Navy knowledge as well as for the public to learn about America's Navy," said Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC). "We are continuing to build on our mobile training technology and as we build more apps, they will continue to benefit present and future Sailors for years to come."

According to John Drake, director of NSTC's Strategy and Analysis (N5) directorate, the training apps will be beneficial to fleet Sailors looking to download and install apps on their personal devices.

"We thought the apps would be a big benefit to anyone wanting to know more about Navy ships and aircraft, military ranks and the 56 Navy ratings, or jobs," Drake said after seeing the success of mobile technology for new recruits.

Dave Driegert, the PMW 240 Mobility Team assistant program manager, believes these training apps will prove valuable to how Sailors learn the skills and knowledge required in their jobs.

"It's a great education tool and ultimately in a medium that most young Sailors today would prefer to consume information in -- their phone or tablet," he said. "And the great thing about these apps is you don't need a Navy device to use them. You can download to any iOS or Android device."

The apps are a bring your own device (BYOD) tool designed to work on personal devices outside of the NMCI domain. Users can download the apps from the iTunes or Google Play at no cost.
The U.S. Navy eSailor Team produced the apps through Booz Allen Hamilton, in partnership with the U.S. Navy Sea Warrior Program and Tracen Technologies Inc., a company that specializes in integrated mobile and web solutions, who provided logistics and app hosting support.

To find the free Navy apps, search "U.S. Military Rank & Reference" "U.S. Navy Ratings & Reference" and "Ships & Aircraft Training" in app stores or your web browser.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil/, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy/, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy/.

For more information about the Sea Warrior Program, log onto http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/PEOEIS/SWP/Pages/default.aspx/.

For more information about NSTC, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/, http://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/, or http://www.navy.mil/local/greatlakes/.