The Association provides a means for serving officers with a mutual professional interest to interact and for former comrades and colleagues to maintain contact, both with current Service developments and each other. Membership of the Navigating and Direction Officers' Association is therefore open to Navigating Officers, Direction Officers or SD PR Officers who qualified from the following Royal Navy courses:
| Course | Qualification |
|---|---|
| The Long Navigation Course | N |
| Submarine Navigation Course | N(SM) |
| The Long Submarine Navigation Course | (SM)N |
| The Long Direction Officer's Course | D |
| The Navigation and Direction Course | ND |
| The Direction Officer's Course | d |
| The Principal Warfare Officer (Navigation) Course | PWO(N) |
| The Specialist Navigation Course | Spec N |
| The Dagger Navigation Course | N† |
| The Dagger Direction Officers' Course | D† |
| The Aircraft Controller Officers' Course | AC |
| The Fighter Controller Officers' Course | FC |
| The Special Duties (PR) Course | SD PR |
| Fleet Navigating Officer (FNO) Course - Top Student* | n |
*Membership is offered to only those officers who come top of each Fleet Navigating Officers' Course. Membership to non-N or D qualified Officers may be granted at the discretion of the President and Chairman.