To fill out the Navy Career Development Board (CDB) worksheet, download the version that matches your pay grade from Appendix B of NAVPERS 15878N (the Navy’s Career Counselor Handbook), pull your service data from the Electronic Training Jacket and supporting systems, and complete each section with verified information before you sit in front of the panel. The handbook and its worksheets are available on the MyNavy HR Career Counseling Resources page, and your Command Career Counselor (CCC) can hand you a blank copy in the correct format. The Navy uses three layouts: one for E1–E3, one for E4–E6, and one for E7–E9.1MyNavy HR. Career Counseling Resources
Pull Your Records Before You Start
Most of what goes on the worksheet already exists in your service records. Trying to fill it out from memory produces errors that the board will catch, and fixing them mid-meeting wastes the panel’s time. Before you open the form, gather the following:
- Your Electronic Training Jacket (ETJ) through My Navy Portal. Review every section and use the “Data Problems” link at the bottom of each page to flag corrections.
- Your Performance Summary Record and Enlisted Summary Record from BOL.
- Your awards from the Navy Department Awards Web Service.
- Your Physical Readiness Test scores in PRIMS, found under the Performance tab on My Navy Portal.
- Your Active Duty Service Date (ADSD) and EAOS from the Electronic Service Record on NSIPS.
With all of this in front of you, the worksheet becomes transcription and planning rather than guesswork.
Header and Personal Information
Every version of the worksheet opens with the same anchor fields: rate and name, command, department and division, date reported, ADSD, EAOS, and Projected Rotation Date (PRD). These dates set the timeline the rest of the worksheet is measured against, so verify them against your Electronic Service Record rather than copying from an older document.
Advancement and Qualifications
This is the section that varies most by pay grade. Fill in the version that matches your rate.
E1–E3
Track your advancement window from E2 through E4, actual advancement dates, and the requirements still open for your next promotion — Basic Military Requirements, military requirements, and target completion dates. Also list watchstation qualifications, required PQS (damage control, 3M, watches), and warfare qualifications with start, target, and completion dates.
E4–E6
Add exam participation history: the number of times you have taken, passed, and failed the advancement exam. E6 Sailors eligible for E7 record selection board results. Include Mentoring and Training Support (MTS) tracking and Leadership Continuum courses. If you are an E6 who was not selected for Chief, this is where the board documents recommendations for your next cycle.
E7–E9
Focus on FITREP performance mark averages, both the reporting senior’s PMA and your own member PMA, along with your last microfiche review date and the advancement windows for E8 and E9.
Educational Opportunities
All three versions ask for your current education status: credits earned through off-duty programs like the Program for Afloat College Education (PACE), whether you hold a high school diploma or GED, your degree program goals, and other completed courses. Note enrollment in the United States Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP). If you plan to use Tuition Assistance or the Navy College Program, list those plans with target completion dates so the board can point you at the right resources.
Financial Planning
A short block covers individual and family budgeting, checkbook management, investments, and Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participation. It looks out of place on a career document, but commands use it to identify financial stressors that can affect deployability or reenlistment. Answer straight. The board’s job here is to connect you with resources, not to judge.
Physical Fitness
Record your physical fitness goals and your most recent Personal Health Assessment results. The board reviews trends across your last two PRT cycles. If your scores have dropped, bring a plan with you rather than waiting for someone to ask.
Career Intentions
Document your reenlistment intentions, Career Waypoints application status, and interest in any special programs. The worksheet tracks your detailing window with 13-month, 9-month, and 6-month milestones for coordinating with your detailer through the team detailing process. Write short-term goals for the next 12 to 24 months and long-term goals aimed at the end of your current enlistment or retirement.
Transition
The bottom of every worksheet variant tracks transition items: the Reverse Sponsorship Program (orders received, member notified, dates), Welcome Aboard package status and sponsor assignment, your Individual Transition Plan and DD 2648, scheduled Transition Assistance Program (TAP) dates, separating physical screening, and family relocation assistance. The E4–E6 version adds Fleet Reserve fields for E5 and E6 Sailors approaching High Year Tenure.
If you are within 90 days of separating, you also complete the mandatory TAP CAPSTONE event to verify you have met Career Readiness Standards.2MyNavy HR. Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
Confirm You’re Preparing for the Right Board
The worksheet content is the same, but the trigger for your board may not be the standard recurring one. OPNAVINST 1040.11G sets the schedule: a Reporting CDB within 60 days of arrival, then 24-, 48-, and 60-month boards, plus a C-WAY CDB required 15 months before the sooner of your PRD or SEAOS.3Department of the Navy. Navy Enlisted Retention and Career Development Program4MyNavy HR. CDB Schedule Changes Talking Points Boards also convene on career triggers like reenlistment eligibility, advancement non-selection, or approaching separation. PACT/PRISE Sailors and drilling Reservists follow more frequent or different schedules. If you are unsure which board you are prepping for, ask your CCC before you complete the worksheet, because the emphasis in your goals section will change accordingly.
At the Board
You present the completed worksheet and walk the panel through each section. The board members compare your entries against your records and give guidance on how to reach the goals you have listed. If you are approaching reenlistment, separation, or a commissioning program application, the Commanding Officer will also review and endorse the form.
After the Board
Once every signature is on the page, the CCC enters your CDB into the Career Information Management System (CIMS), which OPNAVINST 1040.11G requires as the permanent electronic record.3Department of the Navy. Navy Enlisted Retention and Career Development Program Future commands can pull your board history and see the recommendations that came out of each session.
Keep a personal copy of every signed worksheet. CIMS entries do get made incorrectly, and your signed original is the fastest route to a correction. A complete file also tells a coherent story when you assemble a package for a commissioning program, a special duty assignment, or a senior enlisted selection board — a bare CIMS printout doesn’t show three or four years of documented progress the way stacked worksheets do.