U.S. Navy & Coast Guard Uniform

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Navy and Coast Guard Uniform
The use of the word "rank" for Navy enlisted personnel is incorrect. The term is "rate." The rating badge — a combination of rate (pay grade) and rating (specialty) is worn on the left upper sleeve of all uniforms in grades E-4 through E-6. E-1 through E-3 have color coded group rate marks based upon their occupational field. Group rate marks for E-1 (optional) through E-3 are worn on dress uniforms only. Chief Petty Officers (E-7 through E-9) wear collar devices on their white and khaki uniforms, and rate badges on their Service Dress Blues.

Pay Grade	Rate	Abbreviation	Upper Sleeve	Collar and Cap
E-1	Seaman Recruit	SR		none
E-2	Seaman Apprentice	SA		none
E-3	Seaman	SN		none
E-4	Petty Officer Third Class	PO3
E-5	Petty Officer Second Class	PO2
E-6	Petty Officer First Class	PO1
E-7	Chief Petty Officer	CPO
E-8	Senior Chief Petty Officer	SCPO
E-9	Master Chief Petty Officer	MCPO
E-9	Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy	MCPON

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This officers' crest is worn on the Navy officer's cap. A large one is worn on the combination cap — the cap with the black bill and cloth cover, and a smaller one is worn on the left side of the garrison cap.

Navy Commissioned and Warrant Officers

Navy officers wear their rank devices in different places on their uniforms, depending upon the uniform. The three basic uniforms and the type of rank devices are: khakis (a working uniform) — pins on the collar; whites — stripes on shoulder boards; and, blues — stripes sewn on the lower sleeve. Shoulder boards are also worn on bridge coats and reefers. The collar devices are also worn on the right side of the garrison cap (a miniature officer's crest is worn on the left) and slightly larger devices are worn on the epaulets of the raincoat and working jacket.


Additionally, line officers wear a star above the stripes of the shoulder boards or sleeves but staff and warrant officers wear specialty insignia.

Pay Grade	Rank	Abbreviation	Collar	Shoulder	Sleeve
O-1	Ensign	ENS
O-2	Lieutenant Junior Grade	LTJG
O-3	Lieutenant	LT
O-4	Lieutenant Commander	LCDR
O-5	Commander	CDR
O-6	Captain	CAPT
O-7	Rear Admiral (lower half)	RDML
O-8	Rear Admiral (upper half)	RADM
O-9	Vice Admiral	VADM
O-10	Admiral	ADM
O-11	Fleet Admiral*	FADM

* The rank of Fleet Admiral has been reserved for war time use only. The last Fleet Admirals were in World War II. Fleet Admirals during that war were Chester W. Nimitz, William D. Leahy, Ernest J. King, and William F. Halsey.

Pay Grade	Rank	Abbreviation	Collar	Shoulder	Sleeve
W-1*	Warrant Officer	WO1
W-2	Chief Warrant Officer	CWO2
W-3	Chief Warrant Officer	CWO3
W-4	Chief Warrant Officer	CWO4
W-5*	Chief Warrant Officer	CWO5	Not yet determined	Not yet determined	Not yet determined

* The grade of Warrant Officer (W-1) is no longer in use. W-5 was established in the Navy in 2002.

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Specialty Insignia - LDO and Warrant

Commissioned officers in the Navy are either Line officers or Staff Corps officers. Some have advanced through the enlisted rates and are designated for duty in certain technical fields. These are Limited Duty Officers (LDO) and commisisoned warrant officers (CWO). CWOs and Staff corps LDOs wear their specialty insignia on the sleeve of the dress blue uniforms and on their shoulder boards in place of the star worn by Line officers. On Winter Blue and khaki uniforms, the specialty insignia is a collar device worn on the left collar while the rank device is worn on the right.

Boatswain	Engineering Technician	Repair Technician	Ordnance Technician
Diving Officer	Aviation Boatswain	Aviation Ordnance Technician	Aviation Electronics Technician
Air Traffic Control Technician	Ship's Clerk	Data Processing Technician	Bandmaster
Cryptologic Technician	Aerographer	Security Technician	Aviation Maintenance Technician

Enlisted Rating Insignia

The enlisted rating badge for Petty Officer Third Class and above consists of two parts. The chevrons indicate pay grade (rate). Between the chevrons and the eagle is an insignia indicating the Sailor's job speciality (rating). Insignia are white on blue uniforms and Navy blue on white uniforms. Sailors in pay grades E-4 through E-6 can be addressed as "Petty Officer (name)" or [as example] "Boatswain's Mate Third Class (name)". The latter would be written as BM3.


Chief Petty Officers are always referred to as "Chief", "Senior Chief", or "Master Chief" as appropriate. As example: "Chief Jones" or in subsequent references, just "Chief".
The tables show the rating insignia for various Navy specialities. For clarity, the insignia are displayed in these groupings:

Administration, Deck, Medical, Technical,
and
Weapons Specialties

BM - Boatswain's Mate	CT - Cryptologic Technician (Note 1)	DK - Disbursing Clerk	DM - Illustrator Draftsman
DS - Data Systems Technician	DT - Dental Technician	ET - Electronics Technician	EW - Electronics Warfare Technician
FC - Fire Controlman	FT - Fire Control Technician	GM - Gunner's Mate (Note 2)	HM - Hospital Corpsman
IS - Intelligence Specialist	IT - Information Systems Technician (Note 3)	JO - Journalist	LI - Lithographer
LN - Legalman	MA - Master-at-Arms	MN - Mineman	MS - Mess Management Specialist
MT - Missile Technician	MU - Musician	NC - Navy Counselor	OS - Operations Specialist
PC - Postal Clerk	PN - Personnelman	QM - Quartermaster	RP - Religious Programs Specialist
SH - Ship's Serviceman	SK - Storekeeper	SM - Signalman	ST - Sonar Technician (Note 4)
TM - Torpedoman's Mate	WT - Weapons Technician	YN - Yeoman	—
			—
Notes
Note 1: "Cryptologic Technician" consists of six branches: CTA (Cryptologic Technician - Administration); CTI (Cryptologic Technician - Interpretive); CTM (Cryptologic Technician - Maintenance); CTO (Cryptologic Technician - Communications); CTR (Cryptologic Technician - Collection); and CTT (Cryptologic Technician - Technical). Note 2: "Gunner's Mate" is used at pay grade E-7 and above. Leading to GM: GMG (Gunner's Mate - Guns) and GMM (Gunner's Mate - Missiles) Note 3: Formerly known as RM (Radioman). DP (Data Processing Technician) merged into the IT (Information Systems Technician) field on 4 Nov 1999. Note 4: "Sonar Technician" has two branches: STG - Surface, and STS - Submarine

Enlisted Rating Insignia

The enlisted rating badge for Petty Officer Third Class and above consists of two parts. The chevrons indicated the pay grade (rate). Between the chevrons and the eagle is an insignia indicating the Sailor's job speciality (rating). These insignia are white on blue uniforms and Navy blue on white uniforms. This table shows the rating insignia for aviation specialities. Additional tables show Administration/Medical/Dental, Engineering/Hull, and Construction specilaty insignia.

Aviation Specialties

AB - Aviation Boatswain's Mate*	AC - Air Traffic Controller	AD - Aviation Machinist's Mate	AE - Aviation Electrician's Mate
AG - Aerographer's Mate	AK - Aviation Storekeeper	AM - Aviation Structural Mechanic*	AO - Aviation Ordnanceman
AS - Aviation Support Equipment Technician	AT - Aviation Electronics Technician	AW - Aviation Warfare Systems Operator	AZ - Aviation Maintenance Administrationman
PH - Photographer's Mate	PR - Aircrew Survival Equipmentman	Notes	Notes
		*Note: "Aviation Boatswain's Mate" is used at paygrade E-9 only. Leading to AB: ABE (Launching & Recovery Equipment), ABF (Fuels), and ABH (Aircraft Handling).	*Note 2: "Aviation Structural Mechanic" is used at paygrade E-8 only. Leading to AM: AME (Safety Equipment), AMH (Hydraulics), and AMS (Structures

Engineering and Hull Specialties

BT - Boiler Technician	DC - Damage Controlman	EM - Electrician's Mate	EN - Engineman
GS - Gas Turbine System Technician*	HT - Hull Maintenance Technician	IC - Interior Communications Electrician	IM - Instrumentman
ML - Molder	MM - Machinist's Mate	MR - Machinery Repairman	OM - Opticalman
PM - Patternmaker	Notes
	*Note: "Gas Turbine System Technician" is used at paygrade E-9 only. Leading to GS: GSE (Gas Turbine System Technician - Electrical) and GSM (Gas Turbine System Technician - Mechanical).

Construction Specialties

BU - Builder (1)	CE - Construction Electrician (2)	CM - Construction Mechanic (3)	EA - Engineering Aide (1)
EO - Equipment Operator (3)	SW - Steelworker (1)	UT - Utilitiesman (2)	-
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NOTES
(1) BU, EA, and SW become CUCM at pay grade E-9, (2) CE and UT become UCCM at pay grade E-9, (3) CM and EO become EQCM at pay grade E-9

Group Rate Marks
for
Pay Grades E-1 through E-3

Sailors in pay grades E-1 through E-3 are considered to be in apprenticeships. As they begin their path towards advancement to Petty Officer in a specific specialty, they begin in the appropriate "group". For example, a Sailor who wishes to be an Electrician's Mate will begin in the Engineering/Hull group. The groups and the general rate marks (stripes) for E-1 through E-3 are shown here. (Note: E-1s do not wear any rate marks.) These rate marks are shown for the dress blue uniform. For whites, the background is white and the stripes are Navy blue. Those who earn it through a training school [an "A" school] or by passing a Navywide examination will wear a rating insignia above the stripes.

Group (linked to rating insignia)	Pay Grade	Rate	Abbreviation	Stripe Color
Deck, Administration, Medical, Dental	E-1	Seaman Recruit Hospital Recruit Dental Recruit	SR HR DR	[none]
	E-2	Seaman Apprentice Hospital Apprentice Dental Apprentice	SA HA DA
	E-3	Seaman Hospitalman Dentalman	SN HN DN
Engineering, Hull	E-1	Fireman Recruit	FR	[none]
	E-2	Fireman Apprentice	FA
	E-3	Fireman	FN
Aviation	E-1	Airman Recruit	AR	[none]
	E-2	Airman Apprentice	AA
	E-3	Airman	AN
Construction (SeaBees)	E-1	Constructionman Recruit	CR	[none]
	E-2	Constructionman Apprentice	CA
	E-3	Constructionman	CN