SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Navy has announced plans to begin filling online transcript requests, making it easier for sailors to apply to academic institutions.

Beginning Oct. 1, sailors will be able to request an unlimited number of Sailor/Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcripts (SMART) for schools that receive online delivery, according to a Navy news release. Currently, sailors need to print out and fax in a request form to a Navy College office, Distance Learning Center, or Virtual Education Center for processing.

For those transcripts that have to be mailed, sailors are allowed to request only two per 30-day period, the release said.

“Removing the need to fill out and send the request to someone else for processing will expedite the processing time, and the sailor will no longer question whether or not the request has been processed, because it will all be self-service,” said Laurine Anderson, program manager for SMART. “The service member can also view the official transcript request history to keep track of when and where they send their transcripts.” More information can be found at: https://smart.navy.mil, which requires a secure log-in.