It’s a move the Navy has been asking Congress to allow for the past couple years, specifically in the hope of adding high-powered cyber experts to expand the service’s uniformed information warfare capabilities.

Though it’s not a done deal, the move has passed its first hurdle in the approval process and was announced by the House Armed Services Subcommittee as one of its personnel proposals included in the latest mark-up of the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act.

Despite being rocketed up the ranks, these officers won’t be commanding ships. Instead, the skillful software engineers will serve the critical role of ensuring the military’s ability to fight and wage cyber war, both on offense and defense.

“You gave us some legislative authority to bring them in with the equivalent of three years of experience laterally,” the Navy’s top uniformed personnel officer, Vice Adm. Robert P. Burke, told the House Armed Services Committee on April 13.

“That’s about a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy, or a first lieutenant in the other services. But it’s about a $50,000 pay.”

And that level of compensation just isn’t enough to entice the level of expertise the Navy needs, Burke told the panel.

The Navy is not only competing with Silicon Valley companies for these skills, he said, but with the rest of the government, where there is already a program in place that can pay employees with these skills substantially more.

“In Silicon Valley, these folks would be, you know, up over $100,000,” Burke said. “The mission and the service appeals to these folks, but there’s an equivalent accepted cyber civilian program that allows the government to pay in the closer to $100,000 range.”

As a result, Burke told the committee, the best and brightest tend to take the money and go into civilian government service. What Burke wants is a level paying field.

Furthermore, the law would not limit these direct accessions to exclusively cyber. Instead, the law is being re-written to give wider latitude for future needs.

The new wording would allow lateral entry up to the O-6 paygrade to “any scientific or technical field designated by the Secretary of Defense” that “requires a high level of skill and that an insufficient number of officers possess in the military department concerned.”

Yes, you read that right.

The Navy is looking for first classes and chiefs who want to net a cyber degree on the Navy’s dime and time. What you need to know:

1. Who can apply. The master’s degree program is only open to active-duty information system technicians and cryptologic technician-networks on active-duty or Full Time Support. Eligible sailors must also have an accredited bachelor’s degree — which isn’t an issue for either rating. Over 1,200 sailors in the IT rating have a bachelor’s degree in their record.

There are also a lot of CTNs who can apply, although it’s harder to quantify. There’s 751 E-6 and above in the rating, but the Navy’s data only provides degree data for the combined CT service ratings. Currently, there’s over 10,300 sailors across all nine CT ratings, of which roughly 1,000 have degrees.

2. Cyber sailors. Those accepted will study full-time in a year-long master’s degree program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. Since 2012, when the program started, an average of five sailors annually have gotten the nod to earn their Applied Cyber Operations master’s degree. To date, 15 sailors have completed the studies and been awarded the degree. Coursework includes study of cyber operations, from defending U.S. systems to exploiting vulnerabilities in adversaries, alongside mid-career officers.

The requirements to apply can be found in NAVADMIN 013/16.

3. Earning your spot. The entry requirements are tough. To apply, sailors must have a bachelor’s of science degree in a technical field that includes computer science; electrical engineering; and information or engineering technology. And you had to do well in those classes.

NPS will examine your grades in technical courses. Basically, a minimum overall undergraduate grade point average of 2.2 is required, with at least a “C” in physics and calculus courses. both a calculus for business or social science course as fellas a calculus-based physics course.

And it’s not just your academic transcripts. You’ll also need to submit all of your military training records, including any Sailor/Marine American Council on Education Registry transcripts.

4. Navy requirements. You’ve got to be more than a great learner to get into this elite program. You can’t have any physical fitness failures in the past three years or any evaluation scores below 3.0 in the past five years. You must hold a Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance. (Those without the clearance can apply, but won’t be cut school orders until the clearance if finalized.) And if you’re chosen, you’ll need to re-enlist for five years before you start at NPS.

In December, the Navy released an app designed as a one-stop shop for all things operational security. Topics range from cautions against using geotagging on your smartphone to age-old threats like an eavesdropping server.

What you need to know:

1. Downloading it. “Naval OPSEC” is the Navy’s fifth mobile application and can be downloaded on Apple iTunes and Google Play. You can quickly review and complete your requirement for OPSEC General Military Training on the app.

“We’re trying to provide as many options as possible for command and sailors by increasing the different methods we can deliver training,” said Bill Marvel, GMT program manager at the Naval Education and Training Command. “We still have people who like to give and receive instructor-led training. But where we have the ability to increase access to that training through a mobile application, then we’d like to do it.”

2. The training. This is the second app that can replace classroom-led GMT in your division.

Sailors can opt to log their  Defense Department identification number into the application so once they complete the training, it’s automatically entered into the Navy’s training database. This also shows up in their command’s training completion reports.

The app’s training includes videos, instructions, briefings and an assessment, all in the smooth navigation of a smartphone app.

3. More apps. The Navy also released an application from the Navy Personnel Command called “New to the Navy.”

It’s a smorgasbord of Navy gouge for newbies and even some old salts. Among the topics and information are details on how to get your household goods shipped and which receipts you need to keep while on official travel. It also has a glossary to help you decipher Navy acronyms.

This follows the launch of the first app about preventing domestic violence, which also can be completed for full GMT credit.

4. The end of GMT. Well, sort of. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has vowed to ditch General Military Training — at least from the standpoint of how tedious and yawn-inducing it has become.

The service is working on an app to learn about anti-terrorism and force protection. And developers are working on more apps as part of the testing of tablets for sailors. That includes making electronic study aids and videos for boot camp.  Level One as well as records management — both periodic requirements under General Military Training as well as just good information to know. Marvel says the push is on to provide more access to GMT topics through apps and, where it’s possible, to put the content into this format, they’ll do it.

5. Gaining popularity. Officials know smartphones are an extension of millennials’ bodies and that they need to offer devices and apps that will allow them to learn and innovate. Next year, boot camp plans to expand its tablet testing and include apps to help them identify rank, insignia, aircraft and more.

The apps are proving popular. The domestic violence app has garnered 3,715 downloads and helped 1,660 sailors complete their training. And the advancement final multiple score calculator, just over a month old, has been downloaded 5,850 times.