List of United States Navy ratings


United States Navy ratings are general enlisted occupations used by the U.S. Navy from the 18th century, which consisted of specific skills and abilities. Each naval rating had its own specialty badge, which is worn on the left sleeve of the uniform by each enlisted person in that particular field. Working uniforms, such as coveralls and the camouflage Naval Working Uniform, bear generic rate designators with no rating insignia attached. For a brief period from September 2016 to December 2016, ratings were not used. However, they were reintroduced in December 2016 and remain in use. U.S. naval ratings are the equivalent of military occupational specialty codes used by the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps, the ratings system used by the United States Coast Guard, and Air Force Specialty Codes used by the United States Air Force.
Just as a naval officer has rank, not a rate, an officer's occupation is classified according to designators for both officers of the line and those of the professional staff corps.
Ratings should not be confused with rates, which describe the Navy's enlisted pay-grades and ratings. Enlisted service members are referred to by their rating and pay-grade. For example, if a sailor has the pay-grade of E-5 and the rating of boatswain's mate, then combining the two—boatswain's mate second class —defines both pay-grade and rating in formal address or epistolary salutation. Thus, boatswain's mate second class would be that sailor's rate. A member that is E-1, E-2, or E-3 that belongs to a general occupational field is considered nonrated. A striker is a nonrated person who is working for promotion towards a specific rating. Example: BMSN, MMFA, AOAR.

History

The U.S. Navy's enlisted occupational system was a product of more than 200 years of Naval evolution. The Navy of the United Colonies of the 1775 era offered only a few different jobs above the ordinary level of seaman. These included boatswain's mate, quartermaster, gunner's mate, master-at-arms, cook, armorer, and coxswain. These were titles of the jobs that individuals were actually performing and became the basis for petty officers and ratings. During this time, ship crews were taken from civilian life and enlisted for only one cruise, thus making the job at hand rather than career possibilities the primary consideration. It was not until 1841 that distinguishing marks for a rating were prescribed in the Regulations of the Secretary of the Navy and specialty marks were not added to enlisted men's uniforms until 1866. The marks consisted of the tools or instruments used in each rating's specific duty. The Master-at-Arms, the police officer of a ship, wore the star of authority and the Gunner's Mate wore two crossed cannons. Currently, all specialty marks for new ratings are approved by the Permanent Naval Uniform Board which is a division of the Bureau of Naval Personnel.
As the U.S. Navy's rating system changed so did the U.S. Navy. The first steamship, mine, radar, torpedo, aircraft carrier, and many other "firsts" all established a new era in the Navy, and each directly impacted the enlisted occupation structure. During World War II, the U.S. Navy also briefly maintained a rating of "Specialist", similar to the rank in the United States Army. The rating of "Specialist" was discontinued in 1948.
Since the establishment of the rating system, the U.S. Navy enlisted rating structure played a key role in career development, served as a basis for training, detailing, advancement, and simply keeping tabs on several hundred thousand U.S. Navy sailors.

Temporary end of ratings

Beginning in June 2016, then Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Michael D. Stevens, oversaw a review of the Navy's existing enlisted rating system. After Stevens's retirement, a group of senior enlisted leaders came to the conclusion that the Navy needed to replace its current enlisted system and announced the changes on 29 September 2016 with the release of NAVADMIN 218/16. The changes would have eliminated ratings in favor of the generic titles of "Seaman" or "Petty Officer" and accompanying Navy Occupational Specialty codes. The Navy stated that the decision was motivated by a desire to assist former sailors obtain employment after their naval service by making naval job titles more congruent with their civilian counterparts, as well as to make said titles more unisex.
However, the "overwhelmingly unpopular decision" was not well received as many sailors had grown accustomed and attached to their ratings, viewing them as a source of morale. Further, they had no desire to be unisex. In response to widespread criticism, ratings were restored on 20 December 2016. CNO John Richardson indicated he still intended to change the personnel system in the future. He left in 2019; as of May 2020, there has been no change.

Rating structure

The pay grades E-4 through E-9 fall within the rating structure. It is further broken down into four types of ratings and classifications:
Paygrades E-1 through E-3 can also have a rating abbreviation preceding their paygrade symbol if they are graduates of Class "A" schools; have received the rating designation in a previous enlistment; are assigned to a billet in that specialty as a striker; have passed an advancement examination and not been selected for advancement for reasons of numeric limitations on advancements; or have been reduced in rate because of punishment. Examples: BMSR is a boatswain's mate seaman recruit ; MMFA is a machinist's mate fireman apprentice ; MRFN is a machinery repairman fireman. HN is hospitalman, which is a hospital corpsman with the paygrade of E-3.

Aviation

Construction ratings

Medical

Administration, deck, technical, and weapons specialty ratings

Engineering and hull ratings

Command ratings

Examples of discontinued and changed ratings (1990–present)