The Navy, which has used a rating system since, well, pretty nearly forever, is scrapping it.
Enlisted sailors, until now have used a rating as part of their title. I am an ET1 or Electronics Technician, First Class in the Navy Reserve. Or, at least I was until yesterday. Now I am just a PO1, Petty Officer First Class. This will mean that everyone must go out and buy new rank insignias for their dress uniforms.
The reason given in the linked articles was......
This is utter horseshit.Officials say the controversial move will improve sailors' lives and ease their transition into the civilian workforce by broadening their skills in this tectonic shift in Navy’s personnel system to redraw the traditional lines between enlisted job specialties — a massive shake-up that is only beginning. Within the next three to four years, earlier if possible, the service plans to allow sailors to retrain in related skills, expanding their worth to the Navy while reaping broader assignment opportunities as well as increased advancement changes and greater access to special pays and bonuses that come with the most critical skills.
People in the civilian world looking to hire Navy vets know what to look for. You want an electronics tech, you hire a former ET or FC. You need a mechanic, you look for an EN or MM. This system has existed as long as we have had a Navy, although for the first 100 years or so, most everyone was a boatswain's mate, gunner's mate or a cook. We now have 91 rates, or had, I guess. This going to make everything a complete cluster fukk for the forseeable future. The detailers are probably swinging from showerheads as we speak. My guess is that our official titles may change, but the rating system will remain in place in reality for quite a while.
Also, the actual reason behind this is that quite a few of the navy rates end in the sexist word "man". You have yeomans, corpsman, fire controlman. And apparently, dumbfukks in DC who have never served a day just had to fix this. Also, it helps particularly stupid motherfukkers who have trouble with pronunciations of tricky words with silent letters like corpsman.
Fortunately I am coming up on 21 years served which means I can drop my retirement paperwork any time. I prolly won't. Might as well ride it out another year and a half until the high year tenure fairy pays me a visit at the end of my current enlistment.
