List of United States Navy enlisted rates

In the United States Navy, a rate is the military rank of an enlisted sailor, indicating where the sailor stands within the chain of command, and also defining one's pay grade. However, in the U.S. Navy, only officers carry the term rank, while it is proper to refer to an enlisted sailor's pay grade as rate. This is not to be confused with the term "rating", which refers to one's area of occupational specialization within the enlisted Navy (see below and also List of United States Navy ratings ). Associated with the enlisted pay grades is a numbering system from the most junior enlisted sailor ("E-1") to the most senior enlisted sailor ("E-9"). This enlisted numbering system is the same across all six branches of the U.S. military. All E-1s through E-3s are known as seaman, fireman, airman, constructionman, or hospitalman. E-4 through E-6 are called petty officers. All E-7s are called chief petty officer, E-8s senior chief petty officer, and E-9s master chief petty officer.^[1] Rates are displayed on a rating badge, which is a combination of rate and rating. E-2s and E-3s have color-coded group rate marks based on their career field. Personnel in pay grade E-1, since 1996, do not have an insignia to wear.^[2]

Ratings are earned through "A" schools, which are attended before deployment and after undergoing initial basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois, or (less commonly) by "striking" for a rating through on-the-job training (OJT) in the Fleet. Some sailors may undergo additional training in a "C" school either before or after a tour of duty. Upon completion, they are assigned a four-digit Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) code, which identifies a specific skill within their standard rating. This defines what jobs they are qualified to do. For example, some billets might not only require a hospital corpsman first class, but might specify that they have NEC 8402 (Submarine Force Independent Duty), NEC 8403 (Fleet Marine Forces Reconnaissance Independent Duty Corpsman), or any other of several NECs depending upon the billet's requirements.^[3]