The Navy Entomology Center of Excellence (NECE) completed a revision of the SBPM including substantial changes to the training program.

This is the first major revision in the program in several years. The revised program will benefit the Navy by no longer requiring annual certification for personnel that apply pesticides aboard ship. Instead, they will receive the training and certification at NECE or an NEPMU, and that certification will be valid during their entire afloat tour. This revision makes sense for the Fleet and is what they have requested.

If your certification is currently expired, or expiring soon, you will need to schedule training through NMCE or your local NEPMU. Previous training under the old process is not grandfathered.

It will ensure more effective and economical shipboard certification without any real degradation in the program or the training.

Below is a summary of the major changes for the Fleet.

• Certification is now good for four years, and IDCs will no longer be required to maintain their certification at all times. Only IDCs assigned to maritime billets will need to be certified. These two changes will reduce the demand for training and should serve to reduce costs to the Navy without any concomitant reduction in the quality of shipboard pest management as practiced in the fleet.

• A newly-developed "Pocket Guide" now replaces the SBPM Manual as the training tool for students. Students keep the guide for use on the job and are told how to access the manual on line if they need to reference it.

• There is now a separate class for submariners in which all reference to pesticide use is deleted, except for the use of Combat bait stations.

The working course identification number for the submariners' class is B-322-1075-A. This working number is NOT OFFICIAL yet. Only submariners are eligible to take the sub class. Submariners may attend the standard, surface class for certification; but the sub class is NOT sufficient to be certified for the surface fleet since it does not include pesticide application.