Mission Statement: Serve as Fleet focal point for afloat disbursing, system integration, and as the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)-At-Sea Program Management Office, provide life cycle program management as well as ATM fiscal training and Fleet assistance 

Smart Card is becoming a major technology player in today's Navy. DON is using Smart Cards to reengineer government, decrease the infrastructure and enhance the potential of military readiness. Its the size of a standard credit card and contains an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Each IC chip contains not only memory storage but also a central processing unit.

What does all this mean to the Navy? It's part of a DoD reform initiative. The Navy is the leading force for the Smart Card effort. "It is a time-saving tool which will improve the quality of life and simplify business practices," according to Anthony Cieri, director of the Navy's Smart Card program.

This new tool will allow service members to access databases using very few transactions along the way. "Smart Cards also enhance fleet readiness by actually speeding up the deployment process and tracking Warrior Readiness. They're also a great tool for ship's manifesting and accountability. It's a perfect tool to help a commanding officer keep track of his troops," claimed Cieri.

Currently the Navy plans to upgrade four battle groups with 100,000 - 150,000 multi-application Smart Cards. "We see these applications running not only in the military but across the entire government. This is the first shift of society toward personal data, mixed with financial data, on a multi-application Smart Card. It's a cultural shift we'll make, just as people are now beginning to make purchases over the Internet. I think this will happen rapidly, much more rapidly than anybody expects," declared Cieri.