Service number (United States Navy)

United States Navy service numbers were created in 1920, one year after the close of the First World War.

The first Navy service numbers, which ranged from 1 to 500, were designated for retroactive presentation to retired naval officers who had served in the First World War and prior.

It was not until 1955, after the Korean War had ended, that a need arose for continued expansion of Navy officer numbers.

In 1971, with the service number cap of 800,000 nearly reached, the Navy extended officers numbers one final time to 999,999 which the Navy felt would cover all future officers to the end of the 20th century.

Navy enlisted numbers were divided into nine distinct "series" beginning with the one hundred series which was intended for retroactive presentations to those enlisted personnel who had served in World War I and the Spanish–American War.

[1] At the same time, the Navy stated that the remaining service number series would be issued to enlisted personnel based on the decade in which they served.

In this way, the Navy felt that this service number system would cover all enlisted personnel to the end of the century.

The intent of the Navy was to continue with higher letters of the alphabet upon the exhaustion of all available numbers.

The "W" suffix was written behind the service number of any officer or enlisted Navy member who was a woman.

These codes would provide additional information about the Naval Reservist and, in this way, were the equivalent of a service number prefix.