Navy ranks and rates seem to confuse everyone who was not in the Navy. It’s not as complicated as it seems.
Rate’s or Rating is the job you do. They are broken into four main groups, Sea, Engineering, Air and Construction.
Ranks are the Pay Grade
E-2 through E-3 ranks wear different colored diagonal stripes on the Dress Uniforms to indicate what group they belong to. E-1 wears no stripes, E-2 wears 2 stripes, E-3 wears 3 stripes.
White Stripes on Dress Blues or Dark Blue Stripes on Dress Whites indicate the Sea or Seaman group. They would be addressed as Seaman Recruit (SR) for an E-1, Seaman Apprentice (SA) for an E-2, or Seaman (SN) for an E-3
Red Stripes on both Dress Uniforms indicate the engineering or Fireman Group. They would be addressed as Fireman Recruit (FR) for an E-1, Fireman Apprentice (FA) for an E-2, or Fireman (FN) for an E-3.
Green Stripes on both Dress Uniforms indicate the Air or Airman Group. They would be addressed as Airman Recruit (AR) for an E-1, Airman Apprentice (AA) for an E-2, or Airman (AN) for an E-3.
Light Blue Stripes on both Dress Uniforms indicate the Construction or Constructionman Group. They would be addressed as Constructionman Recruit (CR) for an E-1, Constructionman Apprentice (CA) for an E-2, or Constructionman (CN) for an E-3. This Group is also known as the SeaBee’s.
If a person in paygrade E-1 through E-3 has completed an A school they are allowed to wear a rating badge with their stripes and add their rating before their rank. For example an E-2 that completed Machinist Mate A School would be Machinist Mate Fireman Apprentice (MMFA) Because the rating of Machinist Mate is in the Engineering Group.
Pay Grades E-4 through E-9 are Non-Commissioned Officers.
Pay Grades E-4 through E-6 are Petty Officers and would be addressed as Petty Officer with their last name or with their Rate and rank such as AD3 Wilson.
An E-4 is a Petty Officer Third Class and would wear one chevron with an eagle centered above it.
An E-5 is a Petty Officer Second Class and would wear two chevrons with an eagle centered above them.
An E-6 is a Petty Officer First Class and would wear three chevrons with an eagle centered above them.
The Dress Uniforms are the same for E-1 through E-6. They are the traditional Cracker Jack Blues in the winter or Whites in the summer. The Rating Badges are only worn with the Dress Uniforms, for a Petty Officer the Rating would be between the eagle and the chevrons, on the left sleeve on the uniform.
The Dress Blue Uniform will have red chevrons with a Silver Eagle and Rating Mark. A red hash mark is added to the left sleeve at the cuff for every 4 years of service. When the service member has achieved 12 years of service with good conduct, Gold chevrons and hash marks are worn. If the service member does not maintain a record of good conduct they must be removed and changed back to red.
The Dress White Uniform will have all blue rating mark, eagle, chevrons and hash marks. The colors do not change with good conduct.
E-7 through E-9 are Chiefs Ranks.
An E-7 is a Chief Petty Officer They wear 3 chevrons with an eagle centered above and a rocker that encloses the eagle. This would only be seen on the on the Dress Blue uniform. All other Uniforms would be represented by a fouled anchor pin.
An E-8 is a Senior Chief Petty Officer. They would wear the same Chevrons as an E-7 with the addition on a Nautical Star centered above the top Rocker, Again the only time this would be seen is in the Dress Blue Uniform. All other Uniforms would have a fouled anchor pin with a Star centered above the anchor.
An E-9 is a Master Chief Petty Officer. They are a rare and tenacious breed known for their quick mood changes and foul tempers. Upon sighting one many junior officers and enlisted often stop. turn the other direction and run. They tend to form packs with the other chiefs in a place called the goat locker, where they are fed well and often. They wear whatever they want to. Most often it is a wash kakis uniform with a fouled anchor pin with two stars on the collar. Their Chevrons are similar to the E-7 except they have two stars on the outside of the rocker.
By the time one attains the rank of Master Chief they have very little real blood left. It has been replaces by a mixture of salt water, and paint for those that started as a seaman, Black oil and Distilled Water for those that started out as a Fireman, JP5 and Hydraulic fluid for those that started as Airman, and Diesel Fuel and saw Dust for those that started as SeaBees.
No ship they are on is as good as the last ship they were on. None of them even come close to the first one. Never look directly at one wearing full dress whites, it has caused temporary blindness and awkward stammering.
As Jonn posted earlier this week it is the 122 Birthday of the establishment of the Chief Petty Officer. Happy Birthday to all of the Chiefs of TAH.
