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ITE1-E3

Information Systems Technician

E-1 to E-3 (Junior Enlisted) · Navy

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

IT 'A' School at IWTC (Information Warfare Training Command) Corry Station, Pensacola, FL runs roughly 24 weeks and is the Navy's primary network / cyber / IT operator pipeline. You graduate trained on Navy network operations, the foundational IT skill set, and the NEC code structure for the IT rating. The Navy COOL credential stack (CompTIA Sec+, Network+, A+, CCNA, the various cleared-cyber feeder credentials) is the highest-leverage post-service pathway in any Navy enlisted rating — and the TS/SCI clearance most ITs hold makes the post-service tech market structurally favorable.

The Honest MOS Read
You enlisted Information Systems Technician — the Navy's primary IT, network, and cyberspace operator rating, and one of the cleanest post-service tech-pipeline ratings in any branch. After Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes (~8-10 weeks of Navy boot camp), you're at the Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Corry Station in Pensacola, FL for IT 'A' School — the Navy's primary IT and cyber operator schoolhouse, part of the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT) under the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC). IT 'A' School runs roughly 24 weeks (verify current course length against the CIWT / IWTC Corry Station course catalog) and covers the Navy's IT operator fundamentals: network operations (the Navy's tactical and enterprise network architecture, the NMCI — Navy/Marine Corps Intranet — and the OCONUS-OneNet enterprise networks, the tactical afloat networks on surface combatants and amphibs), the foundational IT skill set (TCP/IP networking, operating system administration on Microsoft and Linux platforms, the cybersecurity fundamentals aligned to the DoD 8140 Cyberspace Workforce Framework), satellite communications operations (a major chunk of the IT rating's job is SATCOM — the Navy's afloat communications depend on SATCOM links), the Navy's COMSEC (Communications Security) handling procedures, and the foundational cyber defense skill set. The post-A-School assignment fork is what makes the IT rating one of the most-varied in the Navy. Surface ships — every commissioned ship has an IT department / division running the ship's network, SATCOM, COMSEC, and afloat IT services (the larger amphibs and carriers have substantial IT departments; smaller surface combatants have smaller IT divisions). Submarines — IT-qualified Submariners (the submarine duty pay applies; the submarine-qualification process at Sub School after IT A School is the entry to the submarine community). Naval Communications Stations and the Naval Telecommunications Command structure — the Navy's shore-side strategic communications and IT enterprise. Cyberspace Operations units — the Navy's cyber forces under U.S. Fleet Cyber Command / Tenth Fleet, the various Cryptologic Warfare Activities (CWAs), and the cyber operational units. The various Naval Air Stations and shore installations — every Navy base has an IT support structure. The NEC (Navy Enlisted Classification) sub-specialty stack for the IT rating is the structural shaping influence on the post-A-School career. NEC codes for the IT rating (per the NEC code catalog maintained by MyNavy HR / NPC) include — among many others — network operations, satellite communications, COMSEC, special communications platforms, cryptologic operations integration, and the various cleared cyber sub-specialties. The NEC you stack at junior enlisted shapes the rest of your career and the post-service market. The clearance reality at IT junior enlisted: the IT rating's NEC-coded billets typically require Secret or TS clearance, and the cryptologic / cyber operational billets typically require TS/SCI. The clearance investigation begins at boot camp / A-School and completes during A-School or first assignment for many sailors. The post-service market for cleared IT veterans is structurally one of the strongest in any branch — the combination of IT operator experience + clearance + Navy COOL credential stack is materially valuable. The CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) credential pathway is the Navy's cleanest post-service tech-feeder pipeline. The Navy's enterprise networks run heavily on Cisco infrastructure; IT operators build CCNA-aligned skills during routine operations, and Navy COOL funds the CCNA cert (and the more senior Cisco credentials — CCNP, CCIE for senior NEC-coded specialists). The CompTIA cert stack (Sec+ — the DoD 8140 baseline cert, Network+ — the foundational networking cert, A+ — the foundational hardware/OS cert) is also funded through Navy COOL. The CISSP credential at the senior enlisted level (for IAM Level 2/3 DoD 8140 positions) is also funded. Navy COOL is the named funding source per the Navy COOL credential catalog (verify current funded credentials at navycool.navy.mil). The job content reality at junior enlisted IT: depending on assignment, you're a network operator on a ship's IT division (running daily network operations, troubleshooting connectivity issues, supporting the ship's combat systems network and the general administrative network, maintaining the SATCOM links), a SATCOM operator at a shore communications station (running the satellite-based strategic communications links and supporting fleet operations), a cyber operator on a Fleet Cyber Command unit (depending on NEC and shred, doing cyber defense or cyber operations work), or an IT support technician at a Naval Air Station / installation (running the base's IT services). The promotion math under the Navy Enlisted Advancement System (NEAS) under MILPERSMAN: E-2 automatic at 9 months TIS; E-3 at 9 months TIS as E-2 (subject to NEAS). The Navy-Wide Advancement Examination (NWAE) cycle for IT → IT3 (E-4) is the first real promotion gate — twice yearly (March and September cycles historically), FMS (Final Multiple Score) combining exam score, performance evaluations, time-in-rate, awards, and education. The IT rating's NEAS cutoff is published per NAVADMIN after each cycle. The deployment / operational tempo at IT junior enlisted varies materially by assignment. Surface fleet ITs deploy on the ship's deployment cycle — typically 7-month deployments on the various deployment rhythms (CSG / ARG deployments, independent steaming missions, the various exercise and theater security cooperation deployments). Submarine ITs deploy on the submarine's operational cycle (the SSBN / SSGN / SSN cycles are materially different but all involve significant underway time). Shore-based ITs see standard Navy deployment vulnerability with possible IA (Individual Augmentee) deployments to forward locations. The post-service market for cleared IT veterans with the right NEC stack and Navy COOL credentials is structurally one of the strongest in any branch's enlisted ranks. The cleared cyber and network operator market hires Navy ITs aggressively. Defense contractors (Booz Allen, Leidos, ManTech, SAIC, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, the long tail of cleared cyber and network contractors), federal civil service (CYBERCOM civilian positions, NSA civilian positions, CISA, DHS cyber, the various federal IT positions at GS-9 to GS-12 entry for cleared veterans), and the private-sector cleared-IT market (the major financial services firms with cleared cyber programs, the major tech firms' cleared infrastructure teams, the cleared telecommunications carriers). Entry-level cleared IT and cyber positions for veterans with the right cert stack and clearance range from $90K-$140K+ depending on metro, NEC, and clearance polygraph.
Career Arc
  • 01RTC Great Lakes — Navy boot camp, ~8-10 weeks.
  • 02IT 'A' School at IWTC Corry Station, Pensacola (CIWT / NETC) — ~24 weeks.
  • 03Network ops, SATCOM, COMSEC, foundational cybersecurity training.
  • 04First assignment: surface ship, submarine (after Sub School), shore comm station, Fleet Cyber unit, NAS / installation.
  • 05Clearance investigation completes (Secret minimum, TS/SCI for many billets).
  • 06Navy COOL credential stack begins: CompTIA Sec+, Network+, A+, CCNA, vendor-specific credentials.
  • 07First NWAE cycle for IT3 (E-4) — twice yearly, NEAS / FMS, NAVADMIN-published cutoff.
Common Screwups
  • ×Letting clearance behavior drift at junior enlisted. Financial irresponsibility, undisclosed foreign contacts, drug use, security incidents — clearance issues at E-3/E-4 follow the entire career and the post-service cleared market depends entirely on the clearance.
  • ×Phoning Navy COOL credential stacking. Sec+, Network+, A+, CCNA — these are funded and the post-service market reads the cert stack directly. Leaving the window unused costs measurable post-service salary.
  • ×DUI / drug pop — separation under MILPERSMAN ch.1910, clearance revocation, post-service cleared-IT market foreclosed for years (clearance reinstatement timelines are multi-year).
  • ×COMSEC mishandling. The Navy's COMSEC procedures are unforgiving; any handling error propagates through investigation and can result in clearance revocation and administrative separation.
  • ×NEC stack drift. The IT rating's career arc is shaped by NEC sub-specialty; junior ITs who coast through general IT duty without pursuing NEC-coded billets leave career-shaping windows behind.

A Day in the Life

  • 0500-0600Wake up in the barracks (ashore command) or on the rack (afloat). Phone check — overnight alerts on the watch chat, watchbill changes, anything the LPO needs you to know before quarters. Hygiene, PT gear on. The first watch turnover of the day starts before quarters.
  • 0600-0700Command PT or section PT. The ITSN runs the section PT cycle the LCPO published — cardio days, strength days, swim days at platforms with pool access. Afloat ITs PT in the gym or on the flight deck on the schedule the LCPO sets. Sub-bound ITs in pre-Groton work-up follow the submarine community's additional PT cadence.
  • 0700-0800Chow, change into utilities or working dungarees / Type III. Walk to the IT spaces or the help-desk floor; pre-quarters: read the watch turnover log, check overnight tickets, walk the controlled-cryptographic-equipment (CCE) inventory if your billet touches it, review the day's IT-21 / ONE-Net status feeds before the LCPO puts out plan-of-the-day.
  • 0800-0830Quarters. LCPO puts out plan-of-the-day; the cyber officer or department head briefs anything driving the day; the LPO assigns billet rotations. As ITSN you stand quietly at the back, you take notes, and you ask the questions to the LPO after quarters — not during.
  • 0830-1130Help-desk ticket queue, account work, workstation imaging, cable trace, VTC pre-brief, STIG remediation under the LPO's supervision. Spot-checks from the IT3 or IT2 on the watch above you — show your work, defend your close-outs, escalate the ticket you cannot resolve to the right level the same hour. The first eight months at the apprentice tier are 70% ticket queue, 20% PQS qual drill, 10% working parties.
  • 1130-1230Chow. You eat with the other ITSNs and the junior IT3s, not with the LPO or the LCPO. Quick check of the watch chat, the section tickler, the afternoon watchbill changes. Sub-bound ITs in pre-Groton may have additional PT or community-specific training during the chow hour.
  • 1230-1500Afternoon block — section training (STIG drill, ACAS scan walk-through, ticket discipline brief, CAC / DEERS workflow, controlled-cryptographic-equipment handling for billets that touch it, NEC familiarization brief), PQS line-item drill with the IT3 assigned to qual-sign you, working-party tasking the LPO needs filled, and at well-run divisions, a dedicated PQS study block the LCPO defends on the watch rotation.
  • 1500-1600Sec+ / Net+ / A+ study block. The ITSN who lets the day eat the study block has already lost the next exam window. Navy COOL funds the voucher; the cert sheet is what the LPO and LCPO see at section sync. Pull the official study guide, the practice tests the platform's MWR or learning center stocks, and the JKO supplemental modules; build a 60-90 minute daily study log the LCPO can read.
  • 1600-1630End-of-watch turnover. The on-coming watch reads the log; the off-going watch (you) walks them through any open tickets, ongoing CIRT activity, controlled-cryptographic-equipment status, and pending escalations. The LCPO walks the deck before release; the LPO walks the deck after. Turnover discipline at apprentice tier is the habit that defends every paygrade after.
  • 1630-1800Released. Most days. Field problems, GQ drill weeks, deployment workups, sub patrol prep, MEU embark, and standing duty change this window by hours or days. PRT prep, gym, study, family time for married ITs, barracks time for single junior enlisted.
  • 1800-2100Personal time. Single ITSN in the barracks (most typical at apprentice tier) — gym, mess hall, study at the rack, NEC catalog browsing for the C-school conversation, off-duty social with the section's other junior enlisted. Married ITSN — family time, kids if applicable, the spouse's questions about why the watchbill changed again. The senior IT3s under you eat with their families; you may not yet.
  • 2100-2200Study log maintenance, PQS line-item flash-card drill, cert-exam practice questions, the next day's pre-quarters prep. The LPO who texts at 2130 with a section question expects an answer from the watch — even at apprentice tier.
  • 2200Lights out. Tomorrow at 0500. Afloat ITs on the standing watch rotation may be on a different sleep cycle — the dog watches and the mid-watch reshape the day around the watchbill.
  • Standing watch (afloat IT-21 / ONE-Net watch rotation, sub patrol underway, deployment cycle)Sit the watch as the junior operator under the IT3 or IT2 watch-stander on the rotation. Monitor the network health dashboards, escalate any service degradation to the IT3 supervisor on the watch, log every action in the watch log, hand off cleanly to the on-coming watch. Afloat watch rotations on a CSG / ESG / amphib follow the ship's standing watchbill; sub patrols collapse the day-night cycle into the boat's clock.
  • Working party / GQ drill / damage-control eventWhen the 1MC calls away the working party, the casualty assistance team, or general quarters, the ITSN goes — cable bag, helmet, the assigned damage-control station. IT spaces have to keep running through GQ; the senior IT3s and IT2s stand the network watch while the ITSNs cover the damage-control billet the LCPO assigned at watch quarters.

Weekly Cadence

The Mon-Fri rhythm at SR / SA / ITSN runs on the LPO's training plan and the LCPO's plan-of-the-week, both published off the department head sync at end of week prior. Monday morning is heaviest planning — the LPO puts out the week's PQS drill calendar, the STIG / ACAS scan cycle, the ticket-queue rotation, the working-party tasking, and the training topics the LCPO blocked. As ITSN your Monday is reading the watchbill, walking the section tickler, confirming PQS line-item appointments, and asking the IT3 or IT2 above you what the week's priority items are. Tuesday through Thursday are the working core. The help-desk queue runs at platform volume — accounts, CAC PINs, DEERS lookups, VTC pre-briefs, workstation imaging, the cable trace your LPO sent you on. Section training falls on the days the LCPO and department head blocked — IA briefs, STIG familiarization, ticket discipline review, CCE handling for billets that touch it. Working parties (armory guard, range support, motor-T washrack on the platform's JLTVs and MRZRs, IT-space deep clean) absorb whatever hours the senior ITs do not need you on the watch. Friday is plan-of-the-week-out for the next week. The LCPO publishes the next week's watchbill; the cyber officer and department head sync at 1500 confirms next week's training and inspection calendar; the LPOs across the department align at section sync; the LCPO walks the deck for the weekly readiness brief. As ITSN you bring your PQS status, your cert-exam study log, any open tickets you cannot close in the current week, and any questions about the next week's billet rotation. Field rotations (deployment workup on a CSG / ESG / amphib, sub patrol prep for IT-8404 pipeline ITSNs at Groton, NCTAMS / NCTS shore-side exercise cycles, IA / RMF accreditation pushes) collapse the Mon-Fri rhythm — the section operates to the field calendar, training and PQS time get crammed into the off-day windows, and the cert-exam study block has to defend itself against the operational tempo.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Run the help-desk ticket queue cleanly — open, work, document, close — at the volume an LPO can defend at the next quarterly inspection.
    30-40% of the daily workload at SR / SA / ITSN is account creation, CAC PIN reset, DEERS lookup, printer queues, VTC pre-brief, and the cable-tracer-to-the-jack ticket your LPO sent you on. Open the ticket the same hour you accept the work; document the customer's exact words; document the resolution steps in plain English the next IT can repeat without calling you; close the ticket only after the customer confirms — not after you 'know it works.' The senior officer who reopens a ticket marked 'resolved' against the IT2's name puts the LPO on the phone with the wardroom, and the LCPO walks straight to your billet record. Build the discipline now: every ticket you close on your first cruise is a chart entry the LCPO can flip through three years later when your IT3 packet is on the board.
  2. 02
    Image a workstation off the Navy / ONE-Net gold image and re-join it to the domain without breaking the GPO stack the LPO maintains.
    Boot from the LPO-blessed image source (never personal USB — see techMistakes), run the deployment scripts the platform uses, validate the domain join, run the post-image STIG compliance check before you push the box to the user. Watch your LPO or a senior IT3 do it twice cold; do the next two yourself with the IT2 reading over your shoulder; the fifth one is yours to defend. The ACAS / STIG audit reads the finding back to the platform's IT division by serial number — a workstation imaged from a non-gold source is the kind of finding that propagates up to the LCPO and the cyber officer the same week.
  3. 03
    Trace a CAT-5/6 run end-to-end — wall jack, plenum run, riser, patch panel, switch port — and document the trace in the platform's cable diagram.
    When a space stops working, the LPO sends you. Read the diagram before you start; mark the suspect run; tone the cable from both ends; punch a 568B termination if the bad end is yours to fix; update the diagram the same day. The senior IT who returns from a trace without updating the diagram is the IT the LPO stops sending. Shipboard cable runs are unforgiving — the senior IT3 who has run the routes can spot the dead leg in fifteen minutes; the ITSN who has never read the diagram will spend two hours and still get it wrong.
  4. 04
    Lock a workstation against the current DISA STIG checklist for the OS before you push it to a user.
    Pull the current STIG from public.cyber.mil — Windows 10/11, Server, AD, the Office 365 / SharePoint variant your platform runs. Run the SCAP-Compliance-Checker or the platform's automated STIG tool against the box; remediate the open items the script does not auto-close; re-scan and confirm the open findings drop to zero or to documented exceptions. ACAS will scan the box later on the published cycle and the finding lands on the LPO. The ITSN who treats STIG compliance as 'someone else's job' is the ITSN whose first eEVAL the LCPO discounts; the ITSN who runs the STIG cold against every box before push-out is the ITSN the LPO names for the next school slot.
  5. 05
    Operate the platform comm stack at the watch-stander level — VTC, voice, chat, NIPR / SIPR access — and run pre-brief checks 30 minutes early without being told.
    Cisco TelePresence, Polycom, the DCS / DVS-G stack the wardroom runs, the unit's IM / chat fabric, the SIPR terminal that has to be ready for the 0800 brief. Walk the room 30 minutes before the brief; test every endpoint; have the dial-strings printed and on the table; brief the LPO on any degraded service before the wardroom finds it. The IT who has to fix a VTC stack in front of a flag officer at 0815 is the IT the LCPO does not send to the next brief; the IT who pre-checks at 0730 and resolves the problem before the senior watch officer arrives is the IT the wardroom asks for by name.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • SECNAVINST 5239 series — Department of the Navy Cybersecurity / IA Program.
    The umbrella every Navy IT regulation inherits from. You are not expected to quote chapter and verse at SR / SA / ITSN, but you are expected to know it is the parent document — and you will be quizzed on the relationship between SECNAVINST 5239, OPNAVINST 5239, and DoDD 8140 inside your first six months. Pull the current version from the Navy Doctrine Library before quoting it; the version on your platform's share is usually six months stale.
  • OPNAVINST 5239 series — Navy Cybersecurity Program.
    The Navy-specific implementation of the SECNAVINST 5239 cybersecurity / IA framework. Your LPO and LCPO quote it; you operate inside it. Read the sections that cover IT operator responsibilities, IA work-role compliance, and the cybersecurity incident reporting timeline (the CIRT / Fleet Cyber reporting cadence that catches phishing, STIG drift, and account compromise events).
  • DoDD 8140 / DoDM 8140.03 — Cyberspace Workforce Qualification.
    The DoD-wide chart that gates which billets you can sit and which certs you need to keep them. IAT-II (CompTIA Sec+ as the floor) is the threshold for most production IT billets at the watch-stander level. Read the work-role definitions for IT Operator and Network Operations Specialist — these are the roles your billet maps to. The LCPO checks the chart against your cert sheet at every watch turnover; an IT without IAT compliance does not sit the watch.
  • DISA STIGs (Security Technical Implementation Guides) — public.cyber.mil.
    The OS- and platform-specific hardening checklists every workstation, server, switch, and router on your network has to meet. Windows 10/11, Server 2019/2022, Active Directory, Cisco IOS-XE, the Microsoft 365 variant the Navy runs. You are not expected to memorize every line at SR / SA / ITSN, but you are expected to know which STIG governs the box you are imaging and to run the SCAP scan before you push the box out.
  • NIST SP 800-53 — Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems.
    The parent controls catalog under every Navy cybersecurity accreditation. The RMF (Risk Management Framework) process under NIST SP 800-37 selects controls from 800-53; your platform's ATO (Authority to Operate) package is built from it. At the apprentice tier you are not writing the package, but you are working inside it — and the IT3 NWAE bibliography will quote it back to you.
  • CompTIA Security+ exam objectives (current SY0 cycle) — the IAT-II floor.
    The cert is funded by Navy COOL and gates the watch billet. Pull the current objectives the same week you check aboard your first command; build a 60-90 minute daily study log; sit the exam before the one-year mark. The ITSN who has Sec+ on the cert sheet at the nine-month point is the ITSN the LCPO slots first when the C-school message drops; the ITSN who lets the study window slip is the ITSN who watches his peers get the school seat.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • CompTIA Security+ certification by your one-year mark — IAT-II floor for most production IT billets.
    Navy COOL pays the voucher. Pull the current exam objectives from comptia.org; build a study plan around the official study guide plus the platform's chosen practice-test resource; sit the exam before the one-year mark. The LCPO will not slot you on the watch as a primary IAT-II operator without it; the watchbill works around your cert status, and the slow ITSN becomes the slow IT3 candidate. The exam is achievable on a documented 90-day study plan; do not let it stretch to 18 months.
  • A+ and Network+ stacked alongside Sec+ if you did not arrive with them — Navy COOL pays the voucher.
    The CompTIA trifecta (A+ hardware/OS, Network+ networking, Security+ cyber baseline) is the foundational stack the cleared-IT contractor market reads after service. A+ and Net+ are funded; do not leave them on the table. Stagger the exams across the first 18 months — one cert per quarter is a sustainable cadence with the daily watch load. The IT who arrives at IT3 NWAE with the trifecta plus an in-pipeline CCNA is the IT the LCPO names for the network NEC slate.
  • All NWAE-eligible PQS and 301-series watch quals signed off on the LPO's timeline.
    Walk the PQS book to your LPO the week you check aboard. Get the qual sequence for your billet — watch-stander quals, platform-specific 301 line items, the Navy enterprise (NIPR / SIPR) operator quals, the platform comm stack. Drill line items with the IT3 or IT2 the LPO assigns you to; never ask for a sign-off you cannot demonstrate cold; sign-off pace is the LPO's defended timeline, not yours. The ITSN who walks into the IT3 NWAE with PQS unfinished is the ITSN the LCPO defends with a caveat — and FMS reads the caveat.
  • PRT Good Low or higher; BCA in standard.
    PRT cycles twice yearly under OPNAVINST 6110.1 — train the cycle, do not sprint the morning of the test. Build a base running mileage with the section's PT schedule, layer in plank / push-up / sit-up drills, and stay in BCA standard through chow discipline and the command gym. The senior ITs notice who carries the cable bag and who falls out on a damage-control drill; the LPO does not defend a Sec+-passing ITSN who cannot finish the platoon hump or the GQ casualty-handling drill.
  • Annual DoD Cyber Awareness training completed before the deadline; CAC discipline and password hygiene clean.
    The training is on JKO / NETC Learning Network and refreshes annually. Schedule it the same week the notification drops; do not let it slip past the deadline. CAC discipline — never share the PIN, never leave the CAC unattended in the reader, never log in for another user — is the floor and the LCPO watches the spot checks. The IT whose lapse locks the command out of the network is the IT the wardroom remembers by name, and not the way you want.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Plugging a personal USB or non-approved device into a government workstation.
    The CIRT ticket lands on the LCPO's desk that afternoon and your name is on the OPREP. Depending on the system classification and what the device touched, the response can escalate from a counseling chit and IA spot-training all the way to a security incident investigation under SECNAVINST 5510 / OPNAVINST 5239, clearance action, and administrative separation under MILPERSMAN. The cleared-IT post-service market reads clearance findings directly; do not give the wardroom a reason to start the file.
  • Sharing a CAC PIN over the phone, in chat, or anywhere else — even once, even to a senior officer claiming a hurry.
    The information assurance officer runs spot checks and the goat locker hears the same week. The PIN compromise is reportable; the investigation reads your name; the LCPO defends nothing in front of the cyber officer because there is nothing to defend. CAC PIN discipline is non-negotiable across every cybersecurity instruction the Navy publishes — there is no senior officer with authority to ask you for it, and the IA officer is the senior officer you call if anyone tries.
  • Closing a help-desk ticket as 'resolved' without confirming with the user.
    The next morning the senior officer reopens it as 'you did nothing,' cc to the LCPO and the cyber officer at the wardroom level. The LCPO walks to your billet first; the LPO defends supervision next. Two of those in a quarter and your name shows up at section sync as the IT who cannot close a ticket — and the IT3 packet conversation evaporates. Close-out discipline is the apprentice tier's defended habit; it does not get easier at IT3 if you build the bad pattern at ITSN.
  • Imaging a workstation off a personal USB, a stale image, or any source the LPO did not bless.
    The trust-level mismatch surfaces on the next ACAS / STIG audit, the SCAP scan reads the unauthorized configuration, and your name is on the finding. The LCPO walks the finding to the LPO; the LPO walks it to you. Gold-image discipline is the entry-level operator's first audit-defensible habit — break it and every box you push becomes a question mark on the IT division's compliance report.
  • Telling a senior officer 'I cannot do that' without offering the workaround or the escalation.
    Always have the next step ready. The wardroom remembers which IT solves problems and which IT lists them. The IT who says 'I cannot do that, but here is what I can do and here is who needs to approve the rest' is the IT the XO asks for by name; the IT who shrugs at the wardroom is the IT the LCPO routes to the back of the watch bill. This is a career habit, not a watch habit.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • C-school pipeline at end of first sea or shore tour — IT-8404 (Submarine), network NECs, advanced comm / cryptographic NECs, the CTN cross-rate conversation.
    The first C-school slot is the structural shaping influence on the next decade of the career. IT-8404 (Submarine IT) at Naval Submarine School Groton, CT puts you into the submarine community with submarine duty pay, dolphins (Submarine Warfare Specialist) PQS, and the boat's operational cycle for the rest of the tour — small, professionally tight community with a distinct operational identity. Network-administration NECs (verify current codes — the IT-2735 / IT-2779 / IT-3389 family has shifted across NEC catalog revisions; pull the current source-rating NAVADMIN) put you on the network specialty track at fleet or shore commands. Advanced comm / cryptographic NECs feed Fleet Cyber Command, NCTAMS, NCTS, and the cryptologic billets at NSA-attached commands. CTN (Cryptologic Technician — Networks) conversion routes you out of the IT rating entirely into the cyber-warfare-focused CT community — a real option for ITs whose interest is cyber operations rather than enterprise IT. Talk to senior ITs across all paths before you commit; the C-school slot determines the bench you are mentored by, the operational tempo, and the post-service translation.
  • Navy COOL credential stack pace — Sec+ first (mandatory), then A+ / Net+ / CCNA at the apprentice tier.
    Navy COOL funds the CompTIA trifecta (A+, Net+, Sec+) plus Cisco CCNA at the apprentice tier — pull the current funded credential list at navycool.navy.mil. The cleared-IT contractor market reads the cert stack directly; an ITSN who exits the first enlistment with the CompTIA trifecta plus CCNA plus a TS clearance is structurally positioned for $90K-$140K entry roles depending on metro. The slow pace at apprentice tier — Sec+ in the first year, A+ / Net+ in year two, CCNA in year three — is sustainable with the daily watch load and PQS demands. The trap: letting the cert window collapse to the last six months before EAS, sitting two exams cold, failing one, and exiting with a half-built cert sheet. The discipline is one cert every quarter or two, on a documented study log the LCPO defends.
  • Re-enlistment / extension at first EAS — with or without IT SRB.
    The first re-enlistment window typically opens 12-24 months before contract end. The IT rating's SRB schedule is published per current NAVADMIN and varies by NEC, zone (A 0-6 yr), and rating manning math. The IT rating has historically had access to meaningful SRB tied to retention math against the civilian cleared-IT market — verify the current NAVADMIN SRB message before signing. The honest test: do you want to ship into Zone B (6-10 yr) on a 4- or 6-year contract with an NEC-coded follow-on tour, or do you want to exit at EAS with the cert stack and clearance and walk into the cleared contractor market? Both are defensible; the wrong one is the one signed without running the math. Talk to the career counselor; talk to senior ITs who chose each path; pull the current NAVADMIN; sit with the family.
  • Clearance discipline — financial, foreign contact, social media, off-duty conduct.
    The IT rating's clearance reality (Secret minimum, TS for most NEC-coded billets, TS/SCI for cryptologic / cyber operational billets) is the load-bearing structure of the entire career and the post-service market. Financial discipline (no consumer-debt blowouts, no payday loans, no unreported financial windfalls); foreign-contact discipline (report contacts under SF-86 continuous evaluation rules — there is no contact too minor to report if SF-86 asks); social-media discipline (no OPSEC-relevant content, no unit / deployment / equipment photos, no political posts that surface in clearance re-investigation); off-duty conduct (no DUI, no drug pop, no NJP). Clearance findings are terminal for the cleared-IT career; reinstatement timelines after revocation are measured in years and the cleared-IT contractor market reads the file. Build the discipline at apprentice tier; do not learn it at IT2 the hard way.
  • Sub-rating identification — blue-side IT, shore strategic IT, cyber operator, CT-N cross-rate.
    The IT rating's sub-rating identification — what kind of operator you want to be, and at what kind of command — happens at the apprentice tier whether you do it deliberately or not. Blue-side IT (afloat — CSG / ESG / amphib / sub) builds the operational integration that the surface, amphibious, and submarine communities reward at the chief-board and detailer level. Shore strategic IT (NCTAMS Atlantic/Pacific, NCTS, the strategic communications enterprise) builds the senior enterprise IT engineering depth that the cleared-IT contractor market reads as 'senior network engineer with TS/SCI.' Cyber operator (Fleet Cyber Command / TENTH Fleet, the various Cryptologic Warfare Activities) builds the cyber operational identity — closer to the CTN community in working culture than to the rest of the IT rating. CTN cross-rate goes the rest of the way into cyber warfare. The apprentice tier is the time to walk all four — the LCPO can route you to ITs in each community for a real conversation before the first C-school decision.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • Carrier or amphib IT department (large ship, IT-21 / ONE-Net dept)
    Big-deck shipboard IT — 30-60+ ITs in the department, a senior LCPO and full goat locker, a robust IT-21 / ONE-Net afloat infrastructure supporting the wardroom, the air wing (carrier), the embarked Marines (amphib), and the ship's combat systems network alongside the NIPR / SIPR enterprise. As ITSN you rotate through the help-desk floor, the network operations watch, the SATCOM space, and the controlled-cryptographic-equipment custody chain — exposure to every part of the platform's IT enterprise. Deployment cycle is the CSG or ARG rhythm: workup, deployment (typically ~7 months), post-deployment sustainment, leave / repair. The big-deck experience is operationally formative and gives the broadest exposure for the C-school decision.
  • Small surface combatant or destroyer (small IT shop, broader scope)
    Small-shop IT — 4-10 ITs total, often a single IT1 or IT2 LPO with no embarked goat-locker chief in some configurations. As ITSN you are pulled across the entire IT and comm fabric of the ship — IT-21 / ONE-Net, SATCOM, controlled-cryptographic-equipment, the ship's combat-systems-adjacent IT services. The exposure is broader and the responsibility per junior IT is higher; the senior IT3 above you may be six months from IT2 and effectively running the watch under a busy LPO. Deployment rhythm is the surface combatant's independent-steaming and CSG-integrated cycle. The career-shaping benefit: a junior IT on a DDG or FFG learns more about end-to-end shipboard IT in 18 months than a peer on a carrier learns in three years.
  • Submarine (IT-8404 pipeline)
    Submarine IT after Naval Submarine School Groton, CT (the IT-8404 NEC pipeline). Submarine duty pay, dolphins (Submarine Warfare Specialist) PQS, the boat's operational patrol cycle (60-120 day patrols on a fast-attack or boomer with the SSBN / SSGN / SSN-specific cycle differences). Small comm shop on the boat — often the IT department is 2-6 ITs total, with the COB-adjacent senior enlisted oversight. The senior IT aboard may be the sole IT operational authority for entire patrol windows. Small, professionally tight community; the submarine bubblehead identity is distinct from the rest of the surface and aviation Navy; the post-service market reads submarine IT experience as the highest-trust IT operator profile in any branch.
  • Shore — NCTAMS / NCTS / NIOC / Fleet Cyber
    Shore-side strategic Navy communications and cyber commands — NCTAMS Atlantic/Pacific (Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station), NCTS (Naval Computer and Telecommunications Stations), NIOC (Navy Information Operations Command), Fleet Cyber Command / TENTH Fleet subordinate units. The work is the Navy's enterprise IT and strategic communications backbone — large-scale network engineering, SATCOM ground stations, the cryptologic / cyber operational fabric that supports the deployed fleet. Watch rotations on the strategic floor, no deployment cycle (but possible IA — Individual Augmentee — deployments to forward CENTCOM / EUCOM / INDOPACOM joint task forces). The post-service translation to enterprise IT engineering and cleared-contractor work is the strongest from this billet family.
  • Joint / SOF-attached IT billet
    ITs detached to joint task forces, MEF G-6 detachments (green-side with Marines), and SOF-attached billets supporting Naval Special Warfare or the joint SOF community. Smaller IT cell, broader operational scope, faster operational tempo, and exposure to joint communications and cyber requirements you will not see at a single-service shore command. The senior IT on the detachment may be an IT1 or IT2; junior enlisted detached ITs operate at a higher responsibility level than equivalents at a fleet command. The professional development is real; the operational tempo may push family and personal-time discipline harder than the apprentice tier is ready for — talk to the LCPO before accepting the assignment if the option is offered.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good ITSN is the sailor the LPO sends to the XO's laptop problem because it will come back fixed and the XO will not bring it up at the next 8 o'clock report. By month nine the Sec+ is on the cert sheet, the A+ and Net+ vouchers are scheduled, PQS is closed out on the LPO's timeline, the watch is qualified, and the LCPO is asking which C-school pipeline you want — submarines (IT-8404 at Naval Submarine School Groton, CT), the network systems administration NEC stack at IWTC Corry or one of the Fleet Cyber follow-on schools, or staying blue-side on a CSG / amphib for the next cycle. He runs the help-desk ticket queue cleanly, his close-outs are not reopened, his STIG / ACAS posture is defensible at the platform level, and the IT3s on the watch above him already trust him to back-stop a real ticket. He carries the cable bag on damage-control drills; he passes the GQ casualty-handling lane; he walks aboard at 0700 in a clean uniform with a haircut the LCPO does not have to correct. He volunteers for the working parties the LPO needs filled — armory guard, range support, working-party leader on the IT space cleanup — and the platoon-equivalent (section / division) reads the difference. The senior IT3 or IT2 he reports to writes his eEVAL inputs without rewriting because the operator has done the work; the LCPO names him at section sync as the ITSN tracking toward IT3 on the next NWAE cycle. The good ITSN is also reading. Sec+ first, then A+ and Net+, then the CCNA objectives he will sit at IT3 / IT2. He has flipped through the NEC catalog (NAVPERS 18068 Vol II) and has a question for the career counselor about IT-8404, the network NECs, or the CTN cross-rate path. He knows the post-service cleared-IT market is real and structurally one of the strongest in any Navy rating — and he is building the cert stack and the clearance discipline now, at ITSN, that will pay him at end of obligation.

Preview — The Next Rank

IT3 (E-4) is where the rating shifts from apprentice to operator. The crow on the sleeve says you own a shift on the help desk or a watch in the IT spaces, and at least one ITSN is watching how you wear it. The first 90 days at IT3 are the credibility window — the LPO is watching whether your apprentice habits carry forward (clean ticket close-outs, PQS sign-off on the timeline, STIG / ACAS discipline at the box level, cert-stack momentum) or whether you coast on the crow. The IT3s who coast become the IT3s the LPO works around; the IT3s who run a clean shift become the IT3s the LCPO names for the next NEC slate. The NEC pipeline conversation that started as a sketch at ITSN becomes a real decision at IT3. The IT-8404 submarine pipeline, the network-administration NECs (verify current codes — pull the current NEC source-rating NAVADMIN), the advanced comm / cryptographic NECs, and the CTN cross-rate path all have packets the IT3 can submit. The LPO and the career counselor are the right first conversations; senior IT3s and IT2s in each pipeline are the second; pull NAVPERS 18068 Vol II Volume II (the NEC catalog) before any packet decision. The wrong packet is worse than no packet; the LCPO who watches an IT3 pipeline into the wrong NEC carries the mentoring burden of routing him out of it three years later. The cert stack matures at IT3. CCNA enters the picture if it has not already; CompTIA CySA+ and PenTest+ open the cyber operator track; the AZ-900 / AZ-104 or AWS SAA route opens for cloud-supporting platforms. Navy COOL still funds the voucher; the cleared-IT contractor market is reading your cert sheet for the next promotion's worth of operational depth. The IT3 NWAE to IT2 (E-5) is the next gate — twice yearly, FMS-based, NAVADMIN-published cutoff. The eEVAL trait average against your peer IT3s starts to matter materially for the IT2 slate; sloppy eEVAL narratives at IT3 compound across cycles and there is no recovery within a board cycle. Build the IT3 the way the LCPO is grooming you to: clean tickets, clean STIG / ACAS posture, mentor an ITSN through PQS, sit the next cert, defend the watch.
FAQ

IT E1-E3 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E1-E3 IT (Information Systems Technician) actually do?
Fresh out of A-school at Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station, you check aboard a ship, a NCTS / NCTAMS shore command, a Marine MEF G-6 if you are on green-side detached duty, or whatever afloat platform the detailer cut you for.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E1-E3 IT?
IT 'A' School at IWTC (Information Warfare Training Command) Corry Station, Pensacola, FL runs roughly 24 weeks and is the Navy's primary network / cyber / IT operator pipeline.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E1-E3 IT?
Time-blocked day at the E1-E3 IT rank tier: 0500-0600 Wake up in the barracks (ashore command) or on the rack (afloat). Phone check — overnight alerts on the watch chat, watchbill changes, anything the LPO needs you to know before quarters. Hygiene, PT gear on. The first watch turnover of the day starts before quarters, 0600-0700 Command PT or section PT. The ITSN runs the section PT cycle the LCPO published — cardio days, strength days, swim days at platforms with pool access. Afloat ITs PT in the gym or on the flight deck on the schedule the LCPO sets.…
Q04What mistakes get E1-E3 IT soldiers fired or relieved?
Letting clearance behavior drift at junior enlisted. Financial irresponsibility, undisclosed foreign contacts, drug use, security incidents — clearance issues at E-3/E-4 follow the entire career and the post-service cleared market depends entirely on the clearance; Phoning Navy COOL credential stacking. Sec+, Network+, A+, CCNA — these are funded and the post-service market reads the cert stack directly. Leaving the window unused costs measurable post-service salary;…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E1-E3 IT rank tier?
C-school pipeline at end of first sea or shore tour — IT-8404 (Submarine), network NECs, advanced comm / cryptographic NECs, the CTN cross-rate conversation — The first C-school slot is the structural shaping influence on the next decade of the career. IT-8404 (Submarine IT) at Naval Submarine School Groton, CT puts you into the submarine community with submarine duty pay, dolphins (Submarine Warfare Specialist) PQS, and the boat's operational cycle for the rest of the tour — small, professionally tight community with a distinct operational identity.…
Q06What's next after E1-E3 for a IT (Information Systems Technician) in the Navy?
IT3 (E-4) is where the rating shifts from apprentice to operator.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E1-E3 IT need to know cold?
SECNAVINST 5239 series — Department of the Navy Cybersecurity / IA Program (the umbrella that every Navy IT reg inherits from).; OPNAVINST 5239 series — Navy Cybersecurity Program (pull the current version from Navy Doctrine Library before quoting it).; DoDD 8140 / DoDM 8140.03 — Cyberspace Workforce Qualification (the chart that gates which billets you can sit and which certs you need to keep them).

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Published by the Honest MOS Editorial DeskVerified against DoD/.gov sourcesUpdated May 2026Editorial standards