PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Navy completed an annual review of its Learning and Development Roadmaps (LaDRs) Nov. 2.

LaDRs are documents that outline training and education milestones for each rating at each pay grade.

“LaDRs are enlisted roadmaps that provide continuity and direction for Sailors in their career development,” said Tom Smith, education program manager, Naval Education and Training Command (NETC). “A LaDR guides Sailors in identifying current and projecting future assignments, Navy enlisted classifications, and training and education opportunities to include rate training, Professional Military Education, advanced education initiatives, professional certifications, etc. to aid in a Sailors personal and professional growth.”

The annual review, conducted by subject matter experts (SMEs) from the Navy’s 15 learning centers, provides an opportunity to validate that all LaDRs are current, meeting the needs of the Sailors they support, and are still in alignment with the Navy Total Force Strategic Vision and the Sailor 2025 initiative.

“Navy total force strategic vision addresses the need to anticipate Navy warfighting needs; identify associated personnel capabilities; and recruit, develop, manage, and deploy Sailors in an agile and cost-effective manner,” said Smith. “The LaDRs support this vision and provide a tool Sailors can use as they seek to accomplish both professional and personal goals in their Navy careers.”

LaDRs are also important for Navy leaders, who can use them to track, encourage, and guide career development of their Sailors.

“Sailors and their leaders need to continue to review the LaDR at each of the required career development boards to make sure each Sailor is current in their career progression,” said Smith. “The recommended training and credentials listed in each LaDR has been vetted by their respective communities and will help Sailors break out in all of the new ways to be advanced.”

According to Smith, the biggest change to this year’s review was the incorporation of Occupational Advancement Requirement Standards (OARS), which provides E3 Sailors a means to document rating competency and development at the E4 level for their respective rating.

“This was the first opportunity for all of the 15 learning centers to take a comprehensive review of the OARS,” said Smith. “They were able to validate that all of the occupational standards were properly captured in their rating OARS. It also provided our SMEs a better understand on how OARS were developed, how to update their rating OARS, and how OARS will play into the advancement of their Sailors.”

LaDRs are accessible at two online resources and through a mobile app.

On the MyNavy Portal website at https://my.navy.mil, go to “Career & Life Events” in the top menu, select “Career Planning,” and then in the left-hand menu click on “LaDR.” Sailors can now access MyNavy Portal CAC-free through mobile devices after logging into MyNavy Portal using their CAC to complete their CAC-free setup.

Navy Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (COOL) also hosts the LaDRs at https://www.cool.navy.mil/usn and the Navy COOL app (Android/iOS), which can be found and downloaded through the Navy App Locker in the Navy Advancement category at https://www.applocker.navy.mil.

Information about understanding LaDRs and where to find them on the Navy COOL website is at https://www.cool.navy.mil/usn/resources_and_links/understanding_your_ladr.htm.

Navy COOL is part of the NETC Force Development team that recruits civilians and through world-class training, transforms them into combat-ready warfighters ready to meet the current and future needs of the Navy, while providing the tools and opportunities for continuous learning and development.

For more on NETC, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil. For MyNavy HR, follow https://www.facebook.com/MyNAVYHR to stay up-to-date on how MyNavy HR Transformation is changing how its services are offered throughout a Sailor’s entire “Hire-to-Retire” lifecycle and improving fleet combat readiness.