US Navy and Coast Guard Rating Abbreviations
52 abbreviations · part of Military Abbreviations
Two- and three-letter codes for enlisted ratings, the occupational specialties of the US Navy and Coast Guard. A sailor's rate combines the rating with the pay grade: HM3 is a third class petty officer hospital corpsman, BMC a chief boatswain's mate, ITCS a senior chief information systems technician and ETCM a master chief electronics technician. In 2016 the Navy announced it would drop rating titles in favor of generic job codes, then reversed the decision within three months after strong objections from sailors and veterans.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AB | Aviation Boatswain's Mate | Flight-deck specialists who move, launch, recover and fuel aircraft aboard carriers and amphibious ships. |
| AC | Air Traffic Controller (US Navy rating) | Sailors in this rating control aircraft at naval air stations and in the air traffic control centers of carriers and amphibious assault ships, handling departures… |
| AD | Aviation Machinist's Mate | Engine specialists of naval aviation, maintaining and repairing jet engines, turboprops, fuel systems, propellers and related aircraft components. |
| AE | Aviation Electrician's Mate | Technicians responsible for aircraft electrical power generation and distribution, lighting, batteries, flight instruments and navigation systems on Navy and Marine… |
| AG | Aerographer's Mate | Navy weather and ocean forecasters who take meteorological and oceanographic observations, analyze satellite and radar data and brief commanders and aircrews on… |
| AM | Aviation Structural Mechanic | Maintainers of aircraft airframes, flight-control surfaces, landing gear, hydraulic systems and fuselage repairs, including corrosion control. |
| AO | Aviation Ordnanceman | Sailors who store, assemble, inspect and load bombs, missiles, rockets and gun ammunition onto Navy aircraft and maintain aircraft weapons release and gun systems. |
| AST | Aviation Survival Technician | Coast Guard rescue swimmers who deploy from helicopters to recover people from the sea, ice or shore, and who also maintain aviation survival equipment. |
| AT | Aviation Electronics Technician | Avionics specialists who maintain aircraft radar, communication, navigation, identification, electronic warfare and weapons-control electronics, working at squadron… |
| AW | Naval Aircrewman | Enlisted aircrew who operate sensors, weapons, mission systems and cabin duties in flight. |
| BM | Boatswain's Mate | Seamanship experts responsible for mooring, anchoring, rigging, small-boat operations, deck maintenance and underway replenishment. |
| BU | Builder | Seabee construction specialists who build and repair wooden, concrete and masonry structures, from forward-operating-base huts to schools, clinics and airfield… |
| CE | Construction Electrician | Seabees who install, operate and maintain power generation and distribution systems, interior wiring, telephone and communication lines at construction sites… |
| CM | Construction Mechanic | Seabee mechanics who maintain and repair the trucks, buses, tractors, generators and heavy construction equipment that keep a construction battalion moving, including… |
| CS | Culinary Specialist | Navy cooks and food-service managers who plan menus, prepare meals in ship galleys and shore dining facilities, manage provisions and run officers' and flag messes. |
| CTI | Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) | Navy linguists who translate, transcribe and analyze foreign-language communications for signals intelligence, often after learning a language such as Arabic, Chinese… |
| CTR | Cryptologic Technician (Collection) | Signals intelligence specialists who collect, analyze and report on foreign communications and electronic signals, supporting commanders afloat and national… |
| DC | Damage Controlman | Sailors trained in shipboard firefighting, flood control, chemical, biological and radiological defense and ship stability, who maintain damage-control equipment and… |
| EM | Electrician's Mate | Shipboard electricians who operate and repair generators, switchboards, motors, lighting and power distribution systems. |
| EN | Engineman | Mechanics who operate and maintain diesel engines, reduction gears, refrigeration and air-conditioning plants and other auxiliary machinery, including the engines of… |
| EO | Equipment Operator | Seabees who operate bulldozers, graders, excavators, cranes, dump trucks and rock crushers to build roads, airfields and base camps, and run quarry and well-drilling… |
| ET | Electronics Technician | Maintainers of shipboard radar, communications, navigation and computer systems. |
| FC | Fire Controlman | Surface-ship technicians who operate and maintain weapons control systems, including the Aegis combat system, fire-control radars and the computers that direct missiles… |
| FT | Fire Control Technician | Submarine specialists who operate and maintain the combat control systems that track targets and launch torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles. |
| GM | Gunner's Mate | Sailors who operate and maintain naval guns, missile launchers such as the Mark 41 vertical launching system, small arms and ammunition magazines. |
| GS | Gas Turbine Systems Technician | Operators and maintainers of the gas turbine engines, reduction gears and control systems that propel destroyers, cruisers and other gas-turbine ships. |
| HM | Hospital Corpsman | Enlisted medical professionals who provide emergency care, run clinics and hospital wards, and serve as field medics with Marine Corps units, where every corpsman is… |
| HS | Health Services Technician | Coast Guard medical rating that staffs clinics and sickbays, provides emergency care aboard cutters and at air stations, and manages medical and dental readiness. |
| HT | Hull Maintenance Technician | Shipboard metalworkers and plumbers who weld, braze, cut and fabricate repairs to a ship's structure, piping, ventilation and sewage systems. |
| IS | Intelligence Specialist | Analysts who collect, evaluate and report intelligence, prepare briefings for commanders and aircrews, and build target and threat products. |
| IT | Information Systems Technician | Navy specialists who operate and secure computer networks, satellite and radio communications, message handling and cryptographic systems on ships, submarines and shore… |
| LN | Legalman | Navy paralegals who help prepare courts-martial and nonjudicial punishment proceedings, process legal claims, maintain records and support legal assistance offices for… |
| LS | Logistics Specialist | Supply sailors who order, receive, store and issue parts and material, manage inventories and financial records, and run shipboard post offices. |
| MA | Master-at-Arms | Navy law enforcement and security professionals who conduct patrols, investigations, antiterrorism and force protection, and handle military working dogs. |
| MC | Mass Communication Specialist | Navy journalists, photographers, videographers and graphic designers who produce news, imagery and social media content and support public affairs officers. |
| ME | Maritime Enforcement Specialist | Coast Guard rating focused on law enforcement and security: boarding vessels, enforcing fisheries and drug laws, protecting ports and high-value assets, and operating… |
| MK | Machinery Technician | Coast Guard engineering rating responsible for the diesel engines, propulsion, refrigeration and auxiliary machinery of cutters and small boats, and for maintaining… |
| MM | Machinist's Mate | Sailors who operate and maintain propulsion turbines, pumps, compressors, refrigeration, air conditioning, steering gear and other mechanical systems. |
| MT | Missile Technician | Submarine specialists who maintain and operate the strategic weapons systems of ballistic missile submarines, including the Trident II D5 missiles carried by Ohio-class… |
| MU | Musician | Professional musicians who perform in Navy bands at ceremonies, concerts, recruiting events and community outreach. |
| ND | Navy Diver | Military divers who perform salvage, underwater ship repair, search and recovery, and support for special operations and explosive ordnance disposal teams, using both… |
| OS | Operations Specialist | Sailors who run the combat information center, operating radar and tactical displays, tracking air and surface contacts, assisting navigation and controlling aircraft… |
| PR | Aircrew Survival Equipmentman | Specialists who inspect, pack and repair parachutes, life rafts, flight suits, anti-g garments and survival kits, and fit aircrew with protective equipment. |
| PS | Personnel Specialist | Administrative sailors who manage pay, entitlements, personnel records, travel claims and identification cards for their command's members. |
| RP | Religious Program Specialist | Sailors who support Navy chaplains by organizing worship services, managing religious programs and providing confidential support to people seeking counseling. |
| SB | Special Warfare Boat Operator | Enlisted rating for Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC), who drive and fight high-speed boats that insert and extract SEALs and other special operators along… |
| SO | Special Warfare Operator | Enlisted rating for Navy SEALs, created in 2006 to give SEALs their own career path instead of keeping them in their original ratings. |
| STG | Sonar Technician (Surface) | Surface-ship sonar operators and maintainers who search for, track and classify submarines and underwater objects with hull-mounted and towed-array sonar, supporting… |
| STS | Sonar Technician (Submarine) | Submarine sonar operators who listen for and analyze sounds from ships, submarines and marine life, giving the boat its main means of seeing underwater. |
| SW | Steelworker | Seabees who fabricate and erect steel structures, pre-engineered buildings, towers, bridges and tanks, and who cut, rig and weld metal in the field, often far from… |
| UT | Utilitiesman | Seabees who install and maintain plumbing, heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, water purification, sewage and fuel distribution systems at bases, camps and… |
| YN | Yeoman | Administrative specialists who prepare correspondence and reports, maintain records, manage office operations and handle executive administration for commanding… |
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