The Navy announced Monday that effective immediately, Sailors will no longer be required to log onto Navy Knowledge Online, Navy eLearning or My Navy Portal to complete General Military Training (GMT) for any topic except Cybersecurity as outlined in NAVADMIN 072/17.

Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke said that during Fleet visits he often hears Sailors say online training is ineffective and impersonal. This effort, he said, is aimed at improving leader engagement opportunity, reducing administrative distractions and addressing Sailor's frustration with current online training products.

"I want Sailors to know we've heard them," Burke said. "This is about restoring an important leader engagement opportunity - an opportunity to talk about integrity, accountability and character, something today's online products are missing. There is no doubt this approach will yield an even greater competitive edge for the Navy."

While there are still annual GMT requirements, individual commands now have the flexibility to complete required training when and how they see fit. Existing training materials will remain on Navy eLearning and My Navy Portal, providing an outline for commands to use.

To maximize training effectiveness, units should look to conduct GMT in small groups, which will allow leaders to engage Sailors with meaningful discussion and focus on character, as part of the Navy's continuing Fleet-centered leader development.

Going forward, the Navy plans to overhaul GMT and other on-line eLearning products to make them more engaging and personalized, but not at the expense of leadership engagement, Burke said.

While Suicide Awareness, Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response training may require a more formal setting, and may benefit from supplementation by existing seminar discussion material available from "Chart the Course" or "Full Speed Ahead" training, other topics such as Records Management, Operations Security, and Privacy and PII, can be conducted at quarters, all-hands calls, divisional training using existing learning objectives and material to elicit discussion to the point that the leader is satisfied that the learning objectives are understood.

While there is no requirement to document the completion of GMT in the Navy eLearning Learning Management System, Commands are encouraged to keep local records. The Cyber Awareness Challenge V4 (DOD-IAA-V14.0) can be found on Navy Knowledge Online, Navy eLearning or My Navy Portal.

To learn more, please view NAVADMIN 072/17.

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel, visit http://www.navy.mil/.