List of United States Navy enlisted rates
However, in the U.S. Navy, only officers carry the term rank, while it is proper to refer to an enlisted sailor's pay grade as rate.
Upon completion, they are assigned a four-digit Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) code, which identifies a specific skill within their standard rating.
[3] On 29 September 2016, the United States Navy discontinued enlisted ratings after 241 years of use in an effort to modernize the classification system.
Naval sailors were thereafter to be referred to solely by their rank and would hold a Navy Operations Specialty (NOS) instead of a rating.
[4] Sailors in pay grades E-1 through E-3 are considered to be in apprenticeships while searching or in training for a career path.
[5] Those who have completed the "A" school for Hospital Corpsman wear their Caduceus above their stripes and substitute the word "Hospitalman" for "Seaman" in their rating titles.
[6] Petty officers perform not only the duties of their specific career field but also serve as leaders to junior enlisted personnel.
They must take responsibility for their subordinates, address grievances, inform the chain of command on matters pertaining to good order and discipline, and may even have to place personnel on report.
In medieval England, villages had several "petite" or "petty" officers who were subordinate to major officials.
[10] In 1841 a rate badge was assigned, consisting of a sleeve device displaying an eagle perched on an anchor.
[6] The current insignia for petty officers came about in 1894, and is a perched eagle with spread wings (usually referred to as a "crow", due to its black color on white uniforms and the former light blue working uniforms) above a rating mark, with chevrons denoting their rate below.
[6] Initially, the eagle faced left or right on the rating emblem depending on which sleeve the badge was worn.
Prior to June 2019, those years had to have been without any official record of bad conduct due to punitive action via non-judicial punishment or courts martial.
During that time, the gold rating badges and service stripes were treated distinctly from the Good Conduct Medal, which was and is awarded for three consecutive years of "honorable service", defined as being free of disciplinary infractions.
Black cloth with red or gold embroidered stripes is used on the winter uniforms, while white cloth with black embroidered stripes is used on the summer uniforms, depending on whether or not they have less or more than 12 years of service, respectively.
Additionally, command master chiefs, wear a badge, worn on their left breast pocket (for males) or above the nametag (for females), denoting their title (Command/Fleet/Force).
[22] Three months later, the title was officially changed to "Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy".
[24] The MCPON's current insignia is similar to that of Fleet, Force, or CMDCMs, with the addition of a third star above the perched eagle or anchor.
The SEAC can be chosen from any one of the five military services and is considered the most senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) position overall in the United States Armed Forces.
