The United States Coast Guard's ratings are general occupations that consist of specific skills and abilities.
Each rating has its own specialty badge, which is typically worn on the left sleeve of their service dress uniform by enlisted personnel in that particular field.
The United States Army and United States Marine Corps use Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes and the United States Air Force use Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSC) that service the same function as U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy ratings.
For instance, Master Chief Electronics Technician is abbreviated as ETCM.
[4] Reference: http://www.uscg.mil/band/careers.asp [1] Note: Electronics Technicians can work for the operations, engineering, or combat systems department, depending on the type of cutter.