Navy Announces Enlisted Rating Modernization Plan (HISTORIC NAVY RATINGS SYSTEM SCUTTLED!!!)

navy.mil ^ | 29 Sep 16 | Chief of Navy Personnel Public Affairs

[Drew68]

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Following the completion of its review earlier this year, the Navy announced Sept. 29, it will modernize all rating titles for Sailors with the establishment of a new classification system that will move towards occupational specialty codes similar to how the other services categorize skill sets.

"In modernizing our enlisted rating system we are not only giving our Sailors increased opportunities within the Navy, such as a higher level of flexibility in training and detailing, but also increasing their opportunities when they transition out of the service. In aligning the descriptions of the work our Sailors do with their counterparts in the civilian world, we more closely reflect the nation we protect while also making it easier for our Sailors to obtain the credentials they'll need to be successful in the private sector," said Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus.

Chief of Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke emphasized, "We believe that opening enlisted career paths will enhance our ability to optimize talent in our enlisted workforce. This change is the first step of a multi-phased approach to help us do just that."

Former Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Michael Stevens led the review earlier this year for the Secretary of the Navy on behalf of Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson.

"We are all Sailors and changing our rating titles does not affect that," said current Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Steven S. Giordano, who relieved Stevens Sept. 2. "While we certainly understand that this represents a significant cultural shift for the Navy and will take time to become fully adapted throughout the Fleet, this is about giving Sailors more choice and flexibility and ultimately providing the Navy opportunities to get the right Sailors with the right training and experience in the right billets."

Giordano described how this change will work.

"Sailors would no longer be called, 'yeoman second class' or YN2, for example," he said. "Instead they will be 'second class petty officer, or 'petty officer.' However, Sailors' rates will not change: an E-7 will remain a Chief Petty Officer and an E-3 will remain a seaman. Additionally, there will no longer be a distinction between 'airman, fireman and seaman.'"

This change will also allow the Navy to more accurately identify Sailors' skills by creating "Navy Occupational Specialty" (NOS) codes that allow greater assignment flexibility for Sailors throughout their career and will be matched with similar civilian occupations to enable the Navy to identify credentials and certifications recognized and valued within the civilian workforce.

For example, a petty officer who used to be identified as a corpsman will now have a NOS matched as a medical technician. Medical technician better reflects the work and responsibilities of someone in that position and is better aligned with the civilian medical profession.

Sailors will be able to hold more than one NOS, which will give them a broader range of professional experience and expertise and will be grouped under career fields that will enable flexibility to move between occupational specialties within the fields and will be tied to training and qualifications.

As the Navy transforms its training to a mobile, modular and more frequent system called Ready Relevant Learning, combined with recent creation of the Billet-Based Distribution system that provides a more comprehensive picture of billet requirements fleetwide, this enlisted rating modernization plan will provide the ability to much more closely track a Sailor's training and professional development and match it to billets.

Going forward, this transformation will occur in phases over a multi-year period.

A working group was formed in July to identify personnel policies, management programs and information technology systems that may require modifications over the years and months ahead--including changes to recruiting, detailing, advancements, training and personnel and pay processes.

Any follow-on changes that are made will proceed in a deliberate process that will enable transitions to occur seamlessly and transparently. Fleet involvement and feedback will be solicited during each phase of the transformation and we will carefully consider all aspects of enlisted force management as we move forward.

The chief of naval personnel/N1 will lead the Navy's implementation efforts.

[grobdriver]

If it helps transitioning to civilian work by certifying the level of specific education and experience acquired in the Navy, then it’s good.

Oh, you know that was never a problem. Your record of education, schools, training and experience has always been right there in your package for any prospective employer to see.

This mumbo-jumbo is only after-the-fact word games. The decision was made based on feminism, and then a "reason" had to be concocted to make it a legitimate decision... which it will never be.

[Chode]

God i hate what America and the military has become

[aomagrat]

Retired AO1(SW) here.

This politically correct BS is only to remove “man” from rate names. I am so glad I retired before this obamanation.

[Retired Submariner]

Be sad if you want.....I'm not....I'm very proud. Why am I proud?...Because I am old school career Navy....I am a surviving submariner....I've survived the rocks and shoals, and the depths...I survived deep in the belly of the Beast when all the water in the whole World attempted to crush me. And yeah, the fight scarred me, but I am very proud of my scars. PRIDE RUNS DEEP http://i.imgur.com/xCKtYJ5.jpg

[Retired Submariner]

Many years ago.....one of my young seaman misunderstood my efforts to make a sailor out of him....He figured we were friends and decided to get “friendly” with me.

He one day said, “My first name is Paul, what’s yours?

My reply was, “My first name is Senior, and my last name is Chief.”

[Talisker]

Oh, you know that was never a problem. Your record of education, schools, training and experience has always been right there in your package for any prospective employer to see.

This mumbo-jumbo is only after-the-fact word games. The decision was made based on feminism, and then a "reason" had to be concocted to make it a legitimate decision... which it will never be.

Other than disruption for disruption's sake (always a possibility), then if there's no advantage in gaining full civilian acknowledgement, I'm not seeing the justification at all. Even feminism pretends at reasons, but where's the reason then?

[grobdriver]

but where's the reason then?

Exactly.

[AndyJackson]

Now here is the problem. EM1(SS) tells a story about you. I can guess all kinds of things about where you were, who you are, what you are, that you are a sailor worthy of a great deal of respect.

PO1 and I don't know a thing about you.

[dblshot]

I was damn proud of that gear in the middle of my chevron, what goes there now? A f-ing rainbow?

[lacrew]

I think the reason for this is to get ‘man’ out of the titles.

[T-Bird45]

I was damn proud of that gear in the middle of my chevron, what goes there now? A f-ing rainbow?

Don't say that too loud or repeat it very often in a forum. They might get ideas...

[shibumi]

"If it helps transitioning to civilian work by certifying the level of specific education and experience acquired in the Navy, then it’s good."

David Horowitz once quoted an unnamed SDS radical as saying:
"The issue is never the issue. The Revolution is always the issue."

While your statement about ease in civilian transference is of course correct, there is nothing (that I could find at least) in this article about changing the training, certification or essential duties of the various airmen, seamen and firemen affected by this overhaul. From what I can tell, this is a change in accidents without change in essence.

Here's the rub - Changing the accidents of title and designation of military personnel can be a very effective attack on morale. How long before they extend this to the Marine Corps and decide that E-7s will no longer be referred to as "Gunny?"

That may sound like picking a nit, but there's a lot of tradition and emotion (including pride/esprit de corps) tied up in the way uniformed men regard and address one another. This is not just a Navy/Marine Corps thing. It's present (as I know from my own Army experience) in all the uniformed services.

This is just the camel's nose under the tent. The body of the camel brings with it a Brave New World of Alphas, Betas and non gender specific labels intended to destroy the unique effectiveness and charisma associated with career military service.

And *that* is the issue that is the revolution.

(Pinging a few Military type folks to either affirm or refute my statement. Constructive criticism or pointing out if I have made factual errors is always welcomed in the cause of self-improvement.)

[Tallguy]

Bad idea, imo. But I remember back in the 70s, somebody thought it would be a good idea to issue the Chiefs hat to all rates. It looked stupid, and Chiefs became invisible. I believe that got switched back when the next administration picked it’s CNO, and this will be reversed too.

[cva66snipe]

It won't work. Ratings like the one I had Machinist Mate was already too diverse and covered too wide of a spectrum of skills and knowledge. Machinist Mate covered the all the propulsion system after the boiler. That in itself was a lot to learn. But is covered several more fields as well such as hydraulics, Cryogenics, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Servies such as galley equipment repair, laundry equipment repair, locksmith, Potable water production, and a few more I'm certain I left out.

On a carrier for example to have a competent AC&R mechanic it would take two plus years experience to be able to go do any job in that shop you were told to do. By that time you were close to being a Petty Officer usually. That would be true even if the person had went to school for AC&R. Here is something more to the point. You do not want the Personnelmen or a Yoeman running the O2N2 shop and that is not to slight the YN or PN's rating. You can blow the ship to bits if you screw up in that shop. My division ran O2N2 shop as did my rating but I didn't even go in there when they were in operation.

OK this said the Engineering Dept which covers Machinist Mate, Electrician Mate, Interior Communication, Boiler Tech, Hull Tech, Machinery Repairman {a true machinist} Engineman, and Gas Turbine Tech. On a carrier A-Division had O2N2, AC&R, Hydraulics, Boat Shop {engine repair and emergency Diesels}, Machine Shop,& Hotel services. All E-3 and below in A-Division would on deployment when pulling into port go on boat crew duty as what was called the boat snipe. It was usually a crew of three and the two were Bosun-mates.

I see this only as something which is going to make a bunch of ships have crews with jack of all trades and master of none which won't work. A Machinist Mate for example could easily and typically do a 20 year career and never learn what all the rating covered. It should have been split off into two ratings one for the Main Propulsion Rooms and the other for Auxiliaries but instead they widened it. They did the exact same thing when they created the Hull Technician Rating or rather consolidated it from Pipe Fitters, Damage Controlman,Carpenters.

One last point on this. After a recruit leaves Basic Training they went to one of two places either a Specialty Rating School known as an A School or they went to either an Airman, Fireman, or Seaman, Apprenticeship Training School which gave them the basics of the three classes. Seaman without an A-school usually ended up either as non rated cooks or non rated Bosun Mates. Firemen without an A school ended up in B-Division or M-Division in The Hole. Airmen ended up in task like Aviation Bosuns Mate which were responsible moving aircraft, aviation fuels, etc. You learned on the job. BTW an E-4 in the Navy is NCO rank for all E-4's. They were in my time in the 1970's called by their rating such as Electrician Mate Third Class Whoever or Petty Officer Whoever if rating was unknown. You knew the person was a Petty Officer by looking on his shirt sleeve for his crow.

[reed13k]

Sorry typing too fast meant C schools

[phormer phrog phlyer]

Well one good thing we will not have to listen to Dear Leader talk about Corpseman anymore.

So the Marines will yell for Seaman or Petty Officer up?

This Secnav is the the worst that I can recall.

Lord, have mercy on us.

[cva66snipe]

While a break from long tradition, this is no different from the old Navel Enlisted Codes. I see no real change, as it was your NEC that got you assigned to a given billet.

Outside of a very brief B-Division stint in Test Lab I knew nothing about the Main Propulsion System. My specialty was AC&R even before I enlisted. Despite having AC&R Coding the next ship I went to could have just as easily put me in The Hole again because I was a Machinist Mate. That was one of the main reasons I did not reenlist.

The ratings fields as I understand it was Seaman and Fireman before Naval Aviation. This split was done deliberately long ago when ships went from sails to boilers so the ships 1ST Lt who ran the Deck Department could not walk into The Hole and start ordering the men and the Chief Engineer could not order the Deck Department. It was a good policy that ensured the safety and well being of all. There were exceptions such as the ships Damage Control Assistant in Engineering. He had the authority to halt any actions he deemed a hazard to damage control integrity. Ours cut the admirals popcorn machine for not having a safety tag LOL. I seem nothing but trouble coming from this change.

[Jet Jaguar]

Active Duty ping.

[VeniVidiVici]

The argument is that replacing ratings with job codes will allow for a lot more flexibility to move between occupations.

Are you saying the Navy can't distinguish now between what job a person wants to leave and the one they want to transfer to?

[Talisker]

I agree with you, especially after reading all the thread posts. And given Obama is the President, morale damage through the disruption and destruction of tradition is no doubt his goal.