Petty officer third class shares the same pay grade as senior airman in the Air Force, which no longer has an NCO rank corresponding with E-4.

It is common practice to refer to the petty officer by this shorthand in all but the most formal correspondence, such as printing an inscription on awards.

The rank insignia for a petty officer third class is a white perched eagle and one specialty mark (rating) above a chevron.

More recently the custom has taken on a different form, being done with a gesture ranging from a light tap to a hard punch over the new petty officer's sleeve insignia.

Commanding officers are also known to direct the ship corpsman to perform physical exams for possible abuse and to report all injuries to newly promoted personnel, so punishment cannot be avoided.

The U.S. Navy's high year tenure policy has made the good conduct variation for a petty officer third class all but obsolete.

Among enlisted sailors 12 consecutive years of good conduct (categorized as no court-martial convictions or non-judicial punishments) entitles the sailor to wear a good conduct variation of their rank insignia, with the normally red chevrons under the specialty mark and perched eagle worn as gold and the eagle itself worn as silver.

All of these initiatives, however, may be waived in the event the sailor holds critical training qualifications, Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) job codes, or special clearances.

The single gold chevron is extremely rare, but can still be found in Navy uniform shops.