Navy gets rid of Enlisted Ratings

[lustindarkness]

http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2016/09/29/enlisted-rating-modernization-plan-five-things-you-need-to-know/

Enlisted Rating Modernization Plan – Five Things You Need to Know

By U.S. Navy – September 29, 2016
Posted in: Career, Navy Life


From Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

Following its review, the Navy announced Sept. 29, 2016, that it will modernize all rating titles for Sailors with the establishment of a new classification system.

Here are five things you need to know about this important change.

1) This decision is the result of a comprehensive review of Navy rating titles completed this year by the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy and his leadership mess. In June, the Navy announced that it would develop a new approach to enlisted ratings that would provide greater detailing flexibility, training and credentialing opportunities, and ultimately translate Navy occupations more clearly to the American public. Establishing a new classification system is the first step of a multi-phased approach. This change will benefit all Sailors with greater career flexibility, both in the Navy and after they depart the service, by being able to better translate their skill sets to prospective employers. Additionally, these changes will provide the Navy opportunities to improve Sailor "Fit" – the right Sailors with the right training and experience in the right billets.

2) Effective immediately, Sailors in paygrades E1-E3 will be addressed as "Seaman," E4-E6 will be called "Petty Officer Third/Second/First Class" as appropriate, and Senior enlisted in paygrades E7-E9 will be "Chief," "Senior Chief," or "Master Chief" depending on their paygrade.
•For example, a Sailor will no longer be called YN2. Instead, they will be called a "Second Class Petty Officer" or "Petty Officer."
•There will no longer be a distinction between "Airman, Fireman and Seaman." They will all be "Seaman."
•This cultural change will not happen overnight. It will take a measured approach to make it the norm.

3) The Navy will more accurately identify a Sailors' skill and training through a "Navy Occupational Specialty" or "NOS" code – a second key component of this change – that will allow greater assignment flexibility for Sailors throughout their career.
•Sailors may hold more than one NOS, which will give them a broader range of professional experience and expertise opportunities.
•NOS codes will be grouped under career fields that will enable flexibility to move between occupational specialties within each field and will be tied to training and qualifications.
•Advances in technical training realized through Ready Relevant Learning and a more comprehensive picture of billet technical requirements afforded through Billet-Based Distribution will provide the ability to much more closely track a Sailor's training and professional development and match it to billets.
•Each NOS 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 hospital corpsman will be matched with the civilian occupation of a medical technician.
•The Navy will aggressively pursue opportunities for Sailors to earn credentials recognized and held by their civilian counterparts and incorporate those credentials into Sailors' professional development.

4) The Navy's Enlisted Rating Modernization Plan 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. There will be no immediate 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 to the Fleet. You should expect to get plenty of advance notice prior any changes to these very important career processes.

5) This change is one step in a larger effort to modernize our personnel systems. 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 Fleet-wide, 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.

I will give you lanlubbers my opinion at a later time. For now just know that since yesterday the Navy and related social media is in an uproar.

[grumbler]

Makes sense to me; of course, that' probably due, in part, to the "new' system being pretty much the same as the old system i grew up with.  I never like the "fireman" and "airman' designations, either, even after we started using engines in ships and getting airplanes.

[CountDeMoney]

I thought the US Navy was the first to train all sailors as firemen.

Meh, only rating that matters is Veterans Preference.

[Malthus]

Makes sense to me; of course, that' probably due, in part, to the "new' system being pretty much the same as the old system i grew up with.  I never like the "fireman" and "airman' designations, either, even after we started using engines in ships and getting airplanes.

You remember when the navy started using engines in ships? 

[lustindarkness]

Makes sense to me; of course, that' probably due, in part, to the "new' system being pretty much the same as the old system i grew up with.  I never like the "fireman" and "airman' designations, either, even after we started using engines in ships and getting airplanes.

As an Commissioned Officer I'm sure you will see it differently than the enlisted folks, different subculture. Back when Moses signed your PQS, you never started as enlisted did you?

[MadBurgerMaker]

Huh. That's.......a thing.

You know, I can't think of very many times where I was actually called "Airman lastname, " vs just my last name in normal, not school type situations.  I was called AW#, and Petty Officer a lot when walking around Pensacola and Camp Pendleton, but just "lastname" on the ship when talking to pretty much everyone except the OIC and the captain.  Everyone not an officer or Chief+ was just "lastname."  vOv

Never heard anyone actually refer to someone else as "Petty Officer X Class lastname" in my life.  Because wtf

E:  lolz that comment:  "Next announcement over the 1MC, "Petty Officer 2nd Class Smith, Report to the Quarterdeck". Within 5 min IT2 Smith, DC2 Smith, YN2 Smith, GMG2 Smith and EN2 Smith all arrive on the Quarterdeck and it was GSM2 Smith they were looking who is on leave. "

[CountDeMoney]

All the Marines called you the Rear Admiral.

[MadBurgerMaker]

All the Marines called you the Rear Admiral.

I worked at the hospital as a petty officer.  Most of them thought I was a corpsman.  The only other time I interacted with Marines a lot was in NACCS, since we were all in the same class and the instructor was a SSgt.  Everyone was lastname there too, no shittalking at all, since were were doing the same exact thing.

[Syt]

Well, I guess that's what the CNO call was about that my nephew mentioned on Facebook yesterday.

[Grinning_Colossus]

Sexist. Should be "person of the sea."

[CountDeMoney]

All the Marines called you the Rear Admiral.

I worked at the hospital as a petty officer.  Most of them thought I was a corpsman.  The only other time I interacted with Marines a lot was in NACCS, since we were all in the same class and the instructor was a SSgt.  Everyone was lastname there too.

Guess they changed the ratings on lowbrow service jokes, too.

#AssburgerStrong

[grumbler]

As an Commissioned Officer I'm sure you will see it differently than the enlisted folks, different subculture. Back when Moses signed your PQS, you never started as enlisted did you?

I did start out as enlisted.

Now, the story posted above refers how sailors "will be addressed as."  That's talking about how you address them (i.e. to their face).  The system outlined here is what it always was for me in the navy - except for E-3 and below, we used titles (petty officer, chief, lieutenant, etc) plus last name.

The story refers to a "Enlisted Rating Modernization Plan."  I don't see where it says it is an Enlisted Rating Elimination Plan.  Ratings have been modernized numerous times over the years - there aren't stewards and messmen, just messmen.  There aren't FTGs and FTMs, just FTs (and even those might have changed since i retired).

If they are actually eliminating ratings rather than just modernizing them and standardizing terms of address, that's a different story.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Guess they changed the ratings on lowbrow service jokes, too.

#AssburgerStrong

No, that one was just particularly stupid.  I expect better from you. 

[DGuller]

I worked at the hospital as a petty officer.  Most of them thought I was a corpsman.

Was it because your patients died frequently?

[CountDeMoney]

Guess they changed the ratings on lowbrow service jokes, too.

#AssburgerStrong

No, that one was just particularly stupid.  I expect better from you. 

That's because Veterans Preference points: N/A.