NICE FRAMEWORK SUCCESS STORY 

Navy COOL and MilGears,

U.S. Navy Credentialing Programs Naval Education and Training Command

Talent Management

The voluntary Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework) was developed through 

a collaborative process by industry, academia, and government stakeholders. It establishes a 

taxonomy and common lexicon that describes cybersecurity work and is intended for use in both 

the public and private sectors. NIST does not validate or endorse any individual organization or its 

approach to using the NICE Framework. 

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE 

The Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for 

Force Education and Training in the Office of the 

Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & 

Readiness oversees the development of policies and 

plans for military training and education and is 

responsible for Service and joint training policy, 

cybersecurity training policy, professional military 

education, training capability modernization, and 

voluntary education, credentialing and apprenticeship 

policy.

DRIVERS 

Procedures surrounding the qualification of the 

Department of the Navy (DON) Cyberspace IT/

Cybersecurity Workforce were changed in accordance 

with Department of Defense (DoD) Directive 8140 in 

coordination with the DoD Chief Information Office, 

Workforce Office. 

This replaces DoD Directive 8570.01-M. The updated 

Secretary of Navy M-5239.2 establishes mandatory 

procedures for the uniform identification, 

management, and qualification of the Cyberspace IT/

Cybersecurity Workforce (Cyber IT/CSWF). All Cyber 

IT/CSWF personnel must meet and maintain the 

minimum qualification standards of their assigned 

Specialty Area/Work Role and proficiency level. 

PROCESS

Navy COOL is a centralized, web-based hub that 

consolidates information from numerous sources at 

the federal, state, and local levels on certifications, 

licenses, apprenticeships, and growth opportunities 

that correspond with each Navy rating and Officer 

Designator, collateral duties, and leadership roles. 

Armed with that information, COOL provides the 

means for Navy personnel to learn about and 

obtain civilian licenses and certifications that are 

closely aligned with their current or former military 

occupations, academic degrees, or civilian jobs for 

Reservists. 

Figure 1: Navy COOL website

Navy has been and continues to the lead DoD’s 

and the Services’ COOL initiative through an 

effective 6-Service alliance. All the services have a 

COOL program, with the result being that every 

enlisted Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), 

Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC), and Navy and 

Coast Guard Rating are mapped to civilian 

occupations and at least one industry in-demand 

certification and/or license. Additionally, Army 

officers, Warrant military occupational specialties, 

and Navy officer designators are also mapped.

COOL is the foundation of the online platform 

MilGears. As the MilGears concept was 

developed, it was immediately recognized that it 

would have applicability for all the Services to use 

it as a career development tool that could support 

attainment and documentation of training, 

education, and experiences, as well as by other 

Federal departments or agencies and external 

organizations and industry for similar purposes. 

The capability to be the basis for an enterprise 
 

–

NICE FRAMEWORK SUCCESS STORY 

Navy COOL and MilGears, U.S. Navy

course catalog was designed into the construct 

during the initial development phase as a 

consequence of requiring all source data to produce 

accurate and meaningful occupational pathways.

Figure 2: MilGears website

Navy next developed MilGears to support the 

cybersecurity workforce in line with the MilGears 

master development plan, mapping the Cyber/IT 

Workforce to the NICE Framework, the DoD 

Cyberspace Workforce Framework (DCWF), and 

assigned three-digit Governmental and Commercial 

Activity code for each cyber-related billet. As this has 

applicability to all of the Department’s Cyberspace 

Information Technology/Cybersecurity Workforce, the 

Force Education and Training office is working with 

counterparts in the Under Secretary of Defense 

(Intelligence) workforce office with the Navy working 

directly with the other Services. The cybersecurity 

mapping is now live.

“While strides have been made, the language 

used to discuss cyber work is inconsistent. This 

hinders the Nation’s ability to assess capabilities, 

identify skill gaps, and prepare the pipeline of 

future cyber talent. The NICE Framework gives us 

a source to help mitigate that.”

Matthew Isnor, Program Lead,

 Cyber Workforce Development, Office 

of Chief Information Officer, DoD

TIE-IN WITH THE NICE FRAMEWORK

The Department of the Navy (DON) Cyberspace 

IT/Cybersecurity Workforce Model is based on the 

DoD Cyber Workforce Framework (DCWF) using 

the Cybersecurity Categories, and Specialty Areas, 

and Work Roles outlined in the National Institute 

of Standards and Technology (NIST) NICE 

Framework.

BENEFITS & IMPACT 

The DoD Cyber Workforce Framework establishes 

the DoD’s authoritative lexicon based on the work 

an individual is performing, not their position 

titles, occupational series, or designator. The 

DCWF describes the work performed by the full 

spectrum of the cybersecurity workforce as 

defined in DoD Directive (DoDD) 8140.01. The 

DCWF leverages the NICE Cybersecurity 

Workforce Framework (NCWF) SP 800-181 and 

the DoD Joint Cyberspace Training and 

Certification Standards (JCT&CS).

CONTACT INFORMATION & RESOURCES 

Contacts:

 Keith Boring, Director of the Navy

Credentialing Programs

 KEITH.BORING@navy.mil

 Boris Kun, Program Director, Office of the

 Secretary of Defense

 BORIS.KUN.CIV@mail.mil

Websites:

 https://www.cool.navy.mil/usn/

 https://milgears.osd.mil/

February 2021 

NICE Framework Website: nist.gov/nice/framework 

Contact Us: niceframework@nist.gov