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Navy 311: Your Single Entry Point
for Service and Support
Ask any question, about any topic, anytime, from anywhere
By Sea Warrior Program Public Affairs
was almost midnight in the
Indian Ocean, and a storm It was bearing down on the uss
enterprise (cVn 65); poor timing for
the carrier to lose access to the classified
Intelink website. An information
systems technician (It) 3rd class petty
officer (It3) called nAVy 311 to find an
expert who could quickly troubleshoot
the problem. the nAVy 311 call center
representative immediately documented
the issue and referred the It3’s request
to the regional maintenance center
(rmc) and Intelink services management
center (Ismc) service desk. In less than
an hour, the Ismc responded directly
to the It3 via sIPrnet and resolved the
Intelink website access issue.
On the other side of the world, the
son of a deceased navy veteran urgently
needed official u.s. navy documentation
to prevent a major financial crisis
for his mother. Her home was pending
foreclosure and sale within a week —
unless official u.s. navy documentation
could verify that she was eligible for
benefits. the son contacted nAVy 311
and his request was expedited to the
navy’s survivor benefits and entitlements
branch, which, in turn, produced
the proper documentation. foreclosure
averted.
thousands of stories like these characterize
the power of nAVy 311. simply
stated, when in need of assistance, turn
to nAVy 311. the nAVy 311 call center
operation is a single entry point into
hundreds of help desks, call centers,
and support organizations across the
navy. Ask any question, about any topic,
anytime, from anywhere.
the nAVy 311 capability is not a new
service or program start, but rather a
new name for the customer relationship
management (crm) component of the
navy’s distance support (ds) capability,
which was established in march 2007 by
the chief of naval Operations (cnO).
“basically, nAVy 311 rebrands and
simplifies the various service request
methods under the distance support
umbrella whereby sailors can get help.
those methods were 1-877-41-tOucH,
the Anchordesk website and the
global distance support center (gdsc),
which formed the core ds crm effort,”
explained cmdr. cord luby, assistant
program manager for distance support.
“with nAVy 311, sailors need only
remember one point of entry — via
phone, email, web, text, chat — to get
on-demand non-tactical information
assistance 24/7, classified or unclassified.
And, the nAVy 311 call center is available
to all u.s. Armed forces members and
their families, dod civilians, contractors
and the occasional inquisitive citizen.”
Adopted by more than 300 major
cities, “3-1-1” is becoming a universal
moniker for citizens to get non-emergency
help. baltimore, chicago, san
francisco, new york, and other large
municipalities, are using their centralized
3-1-1 call center operations to make
city government services more accessible
and transparent. likewise, under
the sea warrior Program (Pmw 240), the
distance support team is applying the
principles of customer advocacy and
knowledge management to provide the
first-of-its-kind 3-1-1 solution focused
on navy needs.
From Distance Support
to NAVY 311
the customer relationship management
component of distance support
originated in 1999 through a collaborative
agreement between naval sea systems
command (nAVseA), naval supply
systems command (nAVsuP), space
and naval warfare systems command
(sPAwAr) and the fleet commanders
to provide a better interface for the
fleet into the shore support infrastructure.
this effort produced the global
distance support center, a hub for the
shore-based sources of support (sos)
network for fleet logistics and technical
assistance.
the requests for assistance quickly
grew beyond the bounds of the hardware
that systems commands provided
to include other echelon II command
services such as personnel, chaplain
care, medical, facilities, training and
other needs.
“early on, we quickly found ourselves
at the tip of the spear when it came to
helping sailors figure out who to call for
what,” said craig brandenburg, nAVy 311
director. “by removing the burden from
the sailor trying to navigate the shore
infrastructure, we connect their problem
to the appropriate service provider. what
distance support, and now nAVy 311,
has become over time is a coordinated
and collaborative network of responsive
support to the fleet that spans the entire
shore infrastructure and the provider
enterprise.”
significant about nAVy 311 is the
federated approach for providing service
through the network of support providers.
A helpful analogy is to compare
nAVy 311 to a health maintenance
organization (HmO). Although the type
of organizational structure, independent
specialty and membership vary across
an HmO network, all share the collective
goal of providing comprehensive
care. the kinds of expertise and delivery
systems vary across an HmO, but the
providers agree to standardize provisions
making available the care, facilities
and services the customer base requires.
nAVy 311 and the support provider
network operate in a similar fashion. A
sailor may submit a service request to
the nAVy 311 call center via any nAVy
311 channel. Or, a sailor may directly
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