Navy COOL: A Sailor’s Guide to Free IT Certification Exams

I talk to active duty sailors about certifications every week, and here is the conversation that plays out almost every time. They know they want Security+ or CISSP or some cloud cert. They have a vague sense that the Navy will help pay for it. But when I ask if they have looked into Navy COOL, most of them either have never heard of it or tried the website once, got confused, and gave up. Which is a shame, because COOL is genuinely one of the best benefits available to sailors and most people are leaving thousands of dollars on the table every single year.

Navy COOL stands for Credentialing Opportunities On Line. In plain English, it is a program that funds certification exams for active duty and reserve sailors. The Navy pays for your exam fees, recertification costs, and maintenance fees through vouchers issued by the Credentials Program Office. There is no per sailor dollar cap on funding. The program draws from a limited annual budget and vouchers are issued on a first come, first served basis until the money runs out for that fiscal year. This article walks through how the program actually works, which IT and cybersecurity certifications you can get funded, and how to avoid the common mistakes that delay or kill voucher requests.

Navy COOL has no per sailor funding cap. The program pays for eligible exam fees, recertification, and maintenance costs from a limited annual pool on a first come, first served basis. That is real money sitting there waiting to be claimed, and the majority of eligible sailors never touch it.

How Navy COOL Actually Works

The concept behind Navy COOL is straightforward. The Navy recognizes that civilian certifications make better sailors and make for smoother transitions when you eventually leave the service. So they fund the exam costs for certifications that map to your rating or your assigned work role. The program is managed through the Navy Credentials Program Office and the funding comes from a limited pool of vouchers issued on a first come, first served basis each fiscal year. Unlike the Army, which caps Credentialing Assistance at $2,000 per year per soldier, Navy COOL has no stated per sailor dollar limit. If a certification is mapped to your rating and funding has not been exhausted for the fiscal year, the Navy will pay for it.

Here is something important that people miss: Navy COOL is not a training program. It does not provide study materials, courses, or practice exams. It funds the exam itself, plus recertification and maintenance fees. You still need to prepare on your own, whether that is through self study, a training provider, or using your Tuition Assistance or GI Bill benefits for coursework. COOL covers the test. You cover the preparation. Understanding this distinction saves a lot of confusion upfront. Also worth knowing: if the certifying agency does not accept direct payment from the Navy, you may be pre authorized to pay out of pocket and then submit for reimbursement. But you must get that authorization from the Credentials Program Office first. The reimbursement window runs from October 1 through the last Friday in May each fiscal year.

The website itself lives at cool.osd.mil and covers all branches of service. The Navy specific section lets you look up your rating, see which certifications are mapped to it, and start the voucher request process. Each certification has a snapshot page that shows eligibility requirements, exam details, and whether funding is currently available. The interface is not the most intuitive thing in the world, but once you figure out the workflow it becomes manageable.

Who Is Eligible for Navy COOL Funding

Eligibility is more flexible than most people realize. Active duty enlisted sailors and Navy Reserve members (excluding Individual Ready Reserve and Voluntary Training Units) can request COOL funding. The certification you want needs to connect to your situation in one of several ways, and they expanded the options significantly in recent years.

Beyond meeting one of those pathways, your Commanding Officer or a command designated approving official (E7 or above) needs to validate and approve the request. There are also a few baseline requirements: you need to have passed your most recent advancement exam, passed or been medically waived from your most recent physical fitness assessment, been recommended for promotion or advancement on your most recent performance evaluation, and you cannot have received judicial or court martial punishment within the past six months. You also need at least six months remaining on your enlistment or military service obligation at the time you receive the certification. There are limited waiver options for sailors near the end of their service, including those being discharged due to combat related injuries or those retiring with 20 or more years.

One recent update worth knowing about: as of April 2025, Navy COOL began providing funding for prior enlisted officers to attempt credentialing exams from their prior enlisted rating page. This was a pilot program that has expanded access for officers who previously had very limited COOL options.

The IT and Cybersecurity Certifications That Matter Most

Not every certification on Navy COOL carries the same weight for your career. If you are in an IT or cybersecurity adjacent role, here are the certifications that consistently make the biggest impact both during your service and after you transition out. I am focusing on the ones that I see clients and sailors ask about most, and the ones that government contractors actually require when hiring.

CompTIA Security+

This is the certification I recommend most often to sailors in IT and cyber roles, and it is not even close. Security+ satisfies DoD 8570 and 8140 baseline requirements for a huge number of cyber work roles. It is mapped to practically every IT related rating on Navy COOL. The current exam version is SY0 701 and it validates foundational security skills that apply across every branch and every civilian employer in the defense space. If you are an IT, CTN, CTR, CTT, ET, or FC rating, Security+ should probably be your first COOL funded cert if you do not already have it.

CISSP

For sailors with more experience under their belt, CISSP is the credential that opens senior level doors on the civilian side. It requires five years of paid experience in at least two of eight security domains, though a four year degree knocks off one year of that requirement. CISSP is listed on the Navy COOL cybersecurity qualification matrices and is a requirement for many senior cyber work roles. The exam fee alone runs around $749, which makes the COOL voucher especially valuable here. Defense contractors and federal agencies treat CISSP as the gold standard for senior cybersecurity positions, so getting it funded while you are still in uniform is a smart move for your post service career.

CompTIA CySA+ and SecurityX (formerly CASP+)

CySA+ is the natural next step after Security+ for sailors who want to deepen their analytical skills. It focuses on threat detection, security monitoring, and incident response. SecurityX, which CompTIA rebranded from CASP+ in December 2024, is the advanced level certification for technical practitioners who want to stay hands on rather than move into management. Both are on the COOL qualification matrices and both carry serious weight for DoD 8140 compliance. If you already have Security+ and want to level up, CySA+ is the logical move.

Cloud Certifications: AWS and Azure

The DoD is moving to the cloud aggressively, and cloud certifications are increasingly showing up on Navy COOL matrices. AWS Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect, along with Microsoft Azure fundamentals and administrator certs, are all viable options depending on your rating and work role. These certifications are huge on the civilian side. Every major defense contractor is building cloud infrastructure, and cloud certified veterans walk into competitive job markets with a serious advantage.

Cisco CCNA

For sailors in networking roles, particularly ET and IT ratings, CCNA validates networking fundamentals that translate directly to civilian network engineering and administration positions. Cisco equipment is everywhere in both military and civilian networks, and CCNA demonstrates that you can configure, troubleshoot, and manage that infrastructure.

The Step by Step Voucher Process

The voucher process is where most sailors get tripped up, so let me walk through it clearly. There are essentially four steps, and while each one is simple on its own, skipping ahead or doing them out of order creates delays that can push your exam back weeks or months.

Step one: go to the Navy COOL website and find the credential you want. Look it up through your rating page or search for it directly. Each credential has a snapshot page that tells you whether COOL funding is available and what the eligibility requirements are. Look for the Navy COOL funding icon, which indicates the credential is eligible for voucher funding. If you do not see it, that cert is not currently funded through COOL for your pathway.

Step two: verify that you meet the eligibility requirements. Check the advancement exam, PFA, performance evaluation, and conduct requirements. Make sure the certification maps to your rating, work role, or one of the other approved pathways. If you are not sure, email the Navy COOL team at navycool@us.navy.mil or call (850) 452 6683. They are generally responsive and can confirm eligibility before you start the process.

Step three: get command approval. Your CO or a command designated approving official (E7 or above) needs to sign off on the request. This is where having a good relationship with your chain of command matters. Most commands are supportive of professional development, but you need to present it as a benefit to the command and the Navy, not just a personal perk. Come prepared with information about how the cert relates to your duties and your work role requirements.

Step four: submit the voucher request through the COOL website. The Credentials Program Office needs to receive your request no less than seven business days before your intended exam date, and requests submitted more than 60 days before the exam will not be processed until they are within that 60 day window. This is critical: under no circumstances should you register, schedule, or take the exam before you have confirmed funding from the Credentials Program Office. If you jump ahead and pay out of pocket without prior authorization, you will be personally liable for the cost. Once approved, you will receive a voucher and you have 60 calendar days from the date of issue to take the exam or the voucher expires. Schedule your exam as soon as you get the voucher and contact the Credentials Program Office if you need a timeline extension.

Navy COOL and DoD 8140: What Changed

If you have been in the cyber field for a few years, you probably remember DoD 8570, which was the original directive requiring anyone touching DoD information systems to hold specific certifications. DoD 8140 replaced and expanded that policy, and it has had a big impact on what Navy COOL funds and how the qualification matrices are structured.

Under 8140, cyberspace work roles are broken into categories including IT (Cyberspace), Cybersecurity, and Cyberspace Enablers. Each work role has a qualification matrix that lists approved certifications by proficiency level. The Navy COOL CWF (Cyber Workforce) section has been updated to reflect these matrices, and the practical impact is that more certifications are now funded for more work roles than before. The qualification matrices were updated to version 2.1 in September 2025, so the information is current.

The bottom line for sailors: if you are assigned to a cyber work role, you probably have a DoD 8140 qualification requirement. Navy COOL can fund the certification that meets that requirement. It is not just a nice to have. For many cyber billets, it is a mandatory qualification that your command needs you to obtain. That makes the conversation with your chain of command a lot easier when you are requesting approval.

Common Mistakes That Delay or Derail Voucher Requests

I have seen enough voucher requests go sideways to know the patterns. Here are the mistakes that trip people up most often, and how to avoid them.

Waiting until the last minute is the number one problem. COOL vouchers are first come, first served from a limited pool. If you wait until the end of the fiscal year to request funding, the money might already be gone. Start the process early in the fiscal year, ideally in October or November, when funding has just been refreshed. Even if you are not ready to take the exam yet, getting your voucher secured early gives you time to prepare without worrying about whether funding will still be available.

Not checking eligibility before starting the paperwork is another common one. People assume they qualify, submit the request, and then find out that the cert is not mapped to their rating or that they do not meet one of the baseline requirements. Verify everything first. Check the COOL snapshot page for the credential, confirm your PFA and advancement status, and make sure there are no conduct issues that would disqualify you.

Letting vouchers expire is just painful to watch. You went through the entire process, got command approval, received the voucher, and then life happened. Deployment, underway, personal stuff. The voucher expires after 60 calendar days and you have to start over. As soon as you get the voucher, schedule your exam. You can coordinate with the Credentials Program Office if something comes up, but do not assume they will automatically extend it.

Finally, not preparing adequately before taking the exam. If you fail, you will generally need to pay for the retake out of pocket. The one exception is that under certain conditions, members of the Cyberspace Workforce may be afforded additional retakes at the Navy’s expense. But for everyone else, treat the funded attempt as your one shot and prepare accordingly. A $400 or $750 exam voucher is not worth much if you walk in unprepared and fail.

Thinking Beyond Active Duty: Why This Matters for Your Civilian Career

Here is where I get a little passionate, because I see this play out with veterans transitioning to civilian careers all the time. The sailors who used COOL to stack two or three certifications before separating are the ones who walk into competitive job offers on day one. The ones who did not use it are the ones scrambling to figure out certifications on their own dime while burning through savings during their transition.

Civilian employers, especially in the defense and government contracting space, care about certifications. They do not always understand military ratings or job codes. But they absolutely understand what Security+, CISSP, or AWS Solutions Architect means. Certifications are the translation layer between your military experience and civilian job requirements. Every cert you earn while in uniform is one less you have to pay for out of pocket after you separate.

I would go as far as saying that if you are within two years of separating or retiring and you have not started using COOL, you are making a financial mistake. Since the Navy has no per sailor annual cap, you could realistically get Security+, CISSP, a cloud cert, and still use COOL for maintenance fees on all of them across two fiscal years. That is potentially thousands of dollars in exam and maintenance costs covered, giving you a serious head start on your civilian career at zero out of pocket expense. The only thing stopping you is whether the program wide budget has been exhausted for the year, and early requests almost always get funded.

Other Funding Sources to Stack With COOL

COOL covers the exam. But what about the training to get you ready for the exam? That is where other military education benefits come in, and the smart approach is to use them together.

Tuition Assistance (TA) can be used for certification training courses from approved providers. Your GI Bill can also cover training, though most active duty sailors save that for after separation. DANTES (Defense Activity for Non Traditional Education Support) funds certain certification exams too, and in some cases you can use DANTES for one cert and COOL for another in the same year. The United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP) is another option that documents your on the job training as formal apprenticeship hours, which can complement your certifications.

The point is that COOL does not have to work alone. Use TA for the training course, COOL for the exam voucher, and keep your GI Bill intact for a degree program after you separate. That is the kind of strategic stacking that maximizes your benefits without leaving anything unused.