The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative is a structured, adaptive, collaborative effort between the public and private sectors to develop the standards, tools, learning objects, and delivery mechanisms for the future-learning environment. The ADL Initiative supports the development of a system capable of delivering instruction to users anytime, anywhere. The Department of Defense (DoD) has outlined a strategy for implementing a DoD-wide Distributed Learning (DL) system. Its goal is to transition from the current "in-residence" focused education and training environment to a global DL system designed to deliver training, education, and information "on-demand" as a continuum to support DoD operational readiness.