Posted on Jun 9, 2017
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I think I have the Navy enlisted ranks down, and I have the Officers down, but it seems the Navy has a lot more history in their ranks. Different colors, insignia, even titles or rates as I understand they're called. Can anyone clarify it?
Edited 7 y ago
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SN Greg Wright
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Edited 7 y ago
So you have the basic enlisted ranks that are:
Seaman Recruit
Seaman Apprentice
Seaman. These will have white stripes (0, 2 or 3 respectively)
However, depending on your eventual job those can instead be Fireman, Constructionman, or Airman (red stripes, light blue stripes, or green stripes). You can tell a Sailor's job at a glance by looking at the rating badge on his rank badge. Too many to list.
@ e4, they all convert to Petty Officers, and wear red crows, unless they've been good for 12 years, then they're gold. Those ranks are
Petty Officer 3rd class
Petty Officer 2nd Class
Petty Officer 1st Class
At E-7 they become Chief Petty Officers, then Senior Chief Petty Officer, then Master Chief Petty Officer. Their rank insignia is an anchor, then an anchor with a star, then two stars on their collar, (This confuses a lot of non-Navy SM's, and they get saluted quite a bit) and one rocker above their crows. You can call a CPO 'Chief', an SCPO 'Senior' but NEVER, EVER call an MCPO 'Master'.

All officer insignia is the same as any other service. However, the ranks are called different things:
Ensign
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Lieutenant
Lieutenant Commander
Commander
Captain
Rear Admiral (lower half)
Rear Admiral (upper half)
Vice Admiral
Admiral.
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SCPO Combat Systems Electronics Leading Petty Officer
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7 y
SPC (Join to see) Please, please don't ever call a Master Chief "Master". Their egos are big enough as is.
MCPO Roger Collins
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MCPO Roger Collins
MCPO Roger Collins
7 y
PO3 Bob McCord - Nope, I was an ENFN for about a microsecond after completing Engineman Class A school. tried for EN1 twice, PNAd, converted to RM and never looked back.
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PO2 Marty Sharpe
PO2 Marty Sharpe
7 y
Well Done
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LCDR Chaplain
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>1 y
SGT Bryon Sergent - PO1 Nagel is completely correct. Also, between WWI and WWI, O-6's would promote directly to Rear Admiral (2-stars), which needless to say, ticked off Brigadier Generals. Also, for the British, O-7 (Commodore or Brigadier) is not a Flag Rank. We tried "Commodore Admiral" for 1-stars in 1983, but it didn't work, so we've just done Rear Admiral (Upper) and Rear Admiral (Lower Half). Interestingly, South Africa uses a Rear Admiral, Junior Grade.
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CAPT Kevin B.
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Now that you got this down, go for the nicknames. Snipe, Twidget, Cookie, O'Shiter etc. Lots of them too. Have fun. Signed, Mustang.
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MCPO Roger Collins
MCPO Roger Collins
7 y
PO3 Bob McCord - Cross the equator in the engine room of a diesel submarine between two water distillers at about 130 degrees for a watch, engines not running so no fresh air. I have left my watch with the dungarees leaking sweat from the cuffs. Then, later years Nirvana, the Radio Shack, air conditioning and locked doors, if you needed a nap.
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MCPO Roger Collins
MCPO Roger Collins
7 y
Funny, I enlisted weighing 143, about three years later 193. We ate pretty good. When I retired I weighed 163 and now less than when I enlisted. As to the boats, its no different than getting in an elevator.
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MCPO Roger Collins
MCPO Roger Collins
7 y
Haven't you bee watching the movies? We have windows and periscopes. When the two guys that talked me into volunteering, I had no preconceived notions, one had bad eyes, the other had claustrophobia, both washed out. Leaving me to carry the torch. Actually I made a tour on the diesel boat at Patriot's Point with my grandsons and wondered what I was thinking.
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CWO3 Us Marine
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7 y
Chop, Cheng add to list.
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LTC Jason Mackay
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Edited 7 y ago
It is an elaborate portion of the Naval OPSEC program, Legalman Apprentice.
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