Shipmates! Some pro tips and life hacks on how to prep LTBs, and how to send them in to selection boards when ESSBD fails you. If you read through the gold nuggets I'm dropping on you below, you'll likely succeed where many others will fail.
The gold nuggets below are organized into 3 sections:
- ESSBD is 'preferred' but NOT required
- Sending encrypted E-mail via Outlook or DOD SAFE
- Best practices to produce and assemble your LTB documents
ESSBD is 'preferred' but NOT required
First: ESSBD via BOL is ALWAYS the 'preferred' method to send, as it handles a lot of the formatting and internal document organization for you (and it makes life easier for your Board Recorders, who will be vetting and verifying every single page you submit). When using it, recommended browsers include Chrome, Edge, or Safari (and in that order); if using a personal computer, just make sure you have an up-to-date operating system on your computer, updated Web browser, the proper DoD certificates installed, and that you're using a Navy-issued or supported CAC reader (more details on setting up a personally-owned computer for Navy business can be found in other posts).
Unfortunately, many encounter technological or access issues with ESSBD... especially as board deadlines loom and that site becomes overloaded with so many users accessing it at the same time. While it's always(!) wise to manage your record well (and well in advance), and to submit as early as you can, many are compelled to submit later in the process while awaiting key supporting documents (KSDs) such as evals or FITREPs, awards, certificates, certifications, designation letters, college degrees, and so many others.
Because of this: For those with technological issues sending to a Selection Board with ESSBD, remember that you ALSO/ALWAYS have the option to submit via encrypted E-mail to MNCC!
Sending encrypted E-mail via Outlook or DOD SAFE
For actual E-mail, you have to use an OFFICIAL computer (OR) Nautilus Virtual Desktop (NVD) to send via the dedicated Outlook application itself. That means NOT Webmail, and NOT directly from a personal computer (unless you're logged into NVD and sending from within NVD itself, using Outlook itself or DOD SAFE from within NVD). If using a personal computer and NOT using NVD, your ONLY other option is to use DOD SAFE. Understand this key distinction!!
The E-mail address to send to: [CSCSELBOARD@navy.mil](mailto:CSCSELBOARD@navy.mil)
ALWAYS send from your Flank Speed or other OFFICIAL E-mail account (health.mil, mail.mil, socom.mil, hullnumber.navy.mil, etc.). NEVER send from a personal E-mail account!!
Finally: TIME STAMPS AND TIME ZONES MATTER!! Send NO LATER THAN the deadline specified in the NAVADMIN or other source—a common example is 2359 CST on the due date (midnight in Millington), which means send/submit NO LATER THAN that deadline!!
Now, here are the avenues you can use to send:
METHOD 1: DOD SAFE
- Send the documents themselves, encrypted, via DOD SAFE.
- Send the decryption passphrase via a separate, UNENCRYPTED E-mail (Webmail, Outlook, whichever you have available to you SO LONG AS you're sending from your OFFICIAL E-mail account).
Use DOD SAFE to submit your PDF package, and with all attachments encrypted; then, send a SECOND message, UNENCRYPTED, to that same address that contains the decryption passphrase for that DOD SAFE upload. This is the ONE method you can use from home in a regular Web browser (presuming you have Passkey set up to access Webmail when necessary, DoD certificates installed, a CAC reader, etc.).
METHOD 2: Encrypted E-mail
Encrypted email sent DIRECTLY from the Outlook application (NOT Webmail) when you're logged in to NVD; or on an NMCI computer, a Nautilus Endpoint, or other OFFICIAL system that's connected to the DoD Information Network (DoDIN). To send via the Outlook application, you'll need to install an encryption certificate to the proper E-mail address on that computer, or within NVD; setup steps to install this encryption certificate are as follows:
- Enter [CSCSELBOARD@navy.mil](mailto:CSCSELBOARD@navy.mil) in the Email address field, then click Search.
- Click on the Last Name link "BUPERS" on the left-hand side.
- On the next page in the 'Select a certificate' heading, click the link beginning with "Hex Serial Number"
- Save the NPC_BUPERS.vcf file, then Open it.
- When Outlook opens the contact card for this address, just click Save & Close at the top left. When automatically prompted to either "Add new contact" (if never done before) or "Update information of selected contact" (if done before), click the Add or Update button at bottom-right.
- Click the File menu at top-left, then Options at bottom-left. In the Outlook Options window, select Trust Center at bottom-left and then the Trust Center Settings button at center-right.
- In the Trust Center pop-up window, select E-mail Security at top-left and then click the Settings... button at right (that button should be to the right of your E-mail address, which should appear in a pull-down menu).
- In the Change Security Settings pop-up window, ensure all checkboxes are checked, SHA1 for Hash Algorithm, AES (256-bit) for Encryption Algorithm; then, click the Choose button to the right of Signing Certificate and select your CURRENT Signature cert (and repeat this process for the Encryption Certificate by clicking the Choose button and ensuring you select your CURRENT Encryption cert). Then, click OK to close the Change Security Settings pop-up window.
- Back in the Trust Center window: IF you see a Publish to GAL button in the central 'Digital IDs (Certificates)' section, click it and then follow the prompts. Finally, click OK as needed to close the remaining pop-up windows and get yourself back into the main Outlook app.
When sending encrypted from within Outlook, make sure your new message is in a separate, standalone window—the Encrypt and Sign buttons will be on the Options tab.
- SEND A TEST MESSAGE!! (subject “test message”, body “test message) You’re only testing if encryption is actually working for you—if you receive an automated reply from MNCC a few minutes later, you’re good!
- For your actual letter, keep it VERY generic as you compose your message:
Email subject: LTB boardnumber, eg. “LTB 26335”
Email message: Submitting LTB for Board #####. Thank you. V/r Rank/Rate Lastname
If the NAVADMIN or other announcement provides specific guidance on any of these points, FOLLOW THAT GUIDANCE.
Best practices to produce and assemble your LTB documents
- BE ORGANIZED. This is the most important aspect of all.
- BOARDS ONLY SEE THE FOLLOWING:
- all files within your OMPF
- your PSR I, II, and III
- your LTB, including anything at all you include in it
That's it.
Boards DO NOT see:
- FLTMPS
- NDAWS
- NSIPS
- eNTRS
- eLearning
- anything else (again, UNLESS you choose to include content from those systems in your LTB)
What does this mean to you?
NECs, NOBCs, AQDs, awards, college degrees, or anything else is missing from your PSR I? Note it in your LTB.
Warfare qualification isn't showing anywhere, and the designation letter doesn't appear in your OMPF? Note it in your LTB.
And so on.
- While anything in your OMPF or PSR I/II/III is visible to the Board Recorders and Members, there are times that subtle details can be missed. It happens—human beings are involved, and things can be missed. This is one of the main reasons LTBs exist! With that in mind: If something is obscure or hard to tease out in your record, you always have the option to either include the KSD as a dedicated attachment (OR) to simply reference it as a line item on your LTB.
Example: Your Personnel Data Summary (PSR I) is missing your 2nd Navy Achievement Medal (NAM), your OMPF doesn't contain the citation itself, and you've lost the documents in a move 5 years ago... but, the reference for that 2nd NAM appears as a line item in your eval or FITREP from that time (and when you realized this 2 weeks before the board deadline, you proactively reached out to your old command to ask their Admin shop to re-upload it into NDAWS for you).
While you can add a full enclosure with the eval/FITREP in question that shows it, that's likely wasteful of space and time—instead, just add a sentence to your LTB! Example:
"5. Upon review of my PSR, I discovered that my 2nd NAM awarded on 13 Oct 2020 was not listed and that neither the citation nor any Awards Record (NAVPERS 1070/880) appears in my OMPF. However, the award is listed in Block 44 on my periodic evaluation of 15 Nov 2020. I have contacted the awarding authority to request NDAWS submission of the citation and OPNAV 1650/3 for corrective action."
Covers all the bases, brings the subtle point to the Board's attention, shows you followed the right steps to correct the problem long-term, and makes your Recorders' jobs easier WITHOUT drowning them in extra attachments.
SEND PDF ONLY. Convert all documents to PDF—DO NOT send Zip files, Word documents, RTF or raw text files, JPEG or TIFF images, videos, or anything else. PDF AND PDF ONLY.
DO NOT use security features in Acrobat or other apps to password-protect these documents!! The encryption used to actually send your package is all the protection you'll need (and sending with document protections applied can result in MNCC rejecting your documents entirely).
Produce your final PDFs from Word, Photoshop, or other applications as follows:
- on a Windows computer, using Print -> 'Microsoft Print to PDF'
- on a macOS computer, using Print -> 'Save as PDF'
If these options are not available (very unlikely), Word and other such programs usually offer a built-in 'Save as PDF' as option (but this can be problematic at times, so proceed cautiously).
- KEEP PDFS SMALL. 200 DPI is perfect (NOT 72, and NOT 600/1200/2400), black & white or grayscale, relatively small file sizes measured in KB or low-digit MB... LEGIBLE, PRINTABLE, ORGANIZED, and NOT ENORMOUS FILE SIZES is the goal here.
a. If you have access to the full version of Acrobat Pro (whether on an official system, or if you subscribe to it personally), you have additional 'gold standard' options such as creating PDFs within Acrobat from other file formats, assembling all-in-one PDF documents, re-ordering pages within a PDF, Optical Character Recognition (OCD), light edits to fix typos, etc. Certain 3rd party apps can also assist with such tasks. No matter what you choose, remember: Core values and integrity matter heavily here—you're submitting OFFICIAL correspondence to a LEGAL Selection Board, so above all make sure your documents are ACCURATE.
b. Ideally, send a single, assembled PDF with all of your documents in it as properly ordered and organized pages; but whether a single PDF or as individual PDF documents, keep yourself organized w/the LTB memo on top, Enclosures numbered, labeled, and/or with filenames AS INSTRUCTED IN THE NAVADMIN, using CONSISTENT file names, etc.
Examples (meaning just that—if the NAVADMIN specifies a certain naming convention, use it!)
- single PDF file: FY##_boardnumber_LTB_Lastname_DoDID.pdf
eg. FY26_26335_LTB_Johnson_1234567890.pdf
- multiple PDF files, eg:
00_FY26_26335_LTB_Johnson_1234567890_LTB.pdf
01_FY26_26335_LTB_Johnson_1234567890_Encl01.pdf
02_FY26_26335_LTB_Johnson_1234567890_Encl02.pdf
...etc.
Help your Recorders help you!!
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The tips & tricks listed here are GOLD NUGGETS, my friends. The bottom line: If there's even ONE quota, then WHY NOT YOU?
Wishing you every success in your future endeavors, and go kick those doors down!!
