Weapons Technician

In existence between 1986 and 1995, the Weapons Technician (WT) rating is right up there with ratings for Sailmaker and Aircraft Carburetor Mechanic in the running for the title of “Shortest-Lived Rating.”

The Weapons Technician rating was established in 1986 from the Gunner's Mate Technician and the previous Nuclear Weaponsman ratings. In 1994, the decision was made to disestablish the WT rating, and the announcement was made in the Navy News Service in an article succinctly titled “Weapons Technician Rating Disestablished.”

It read, in part, “With the removal of all tactical nuclear weapons from Navy commands, the need for a dedicated rating to handle such weapons has diminished."

No WTs remain in the Navy, so this ended a legacy for those that served in one way or another in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear weapons program from 1946 to 1995.

Weapons Technician (WT) rating was established in 1986 from the service rating of Gunner’s Mate Technician, which itself had been created in 1962. The Nuclear Weaponsman rating was established four years earlier in 1958.