Petty officer second class is the fifth enlisted rank in the
U.S. Navy (E-5) and the
U.S. Coast Guard, just above
petty officer third class and below
petty officer first class, and is a
non-commissioned officer. It is equivalent to the rank of
sergeant in the
Army and
Marine Corps, and staff sergeant in the
Air Force. It is the most commonly held rank in the United States Navy, with around 25% of active-duty Navy enlisted personnel and 20% of all active duty Navy personnel (including
commissioned officers) holding that rank.
Overview Promotion to petty officer second class is dependent on time in service, performance evaluations by superiors, and rate (technical specialty) examinations. Advancement to E-5 in the Navy is through a program known as the Billet Based Advancement System. Eligible E-4 sailors compete for a billet with the highest ranked sailors getting promoted first.
Job description Petty Officers serve a dual role as both technical experts and as leaders. Unlike the sailors below them, there is no such thing as an "undesignated Petty Officer." Every Petty Officer has both a rate (rank) and rating (job, similar to an
MOS in other branches). A Petty Officer's full title is a combination of the two. Thus, a Petty Officer Second Class, who has the rating of interior communications electrician would properly be called an Interior Communications Electrician, Second Class (IC2).
Rate abbreviations Each rating has an official abbreviation, such as GM for gunner's mate, BU for builder, or BM for boatswain's mate. When combined with the petty officer level, this gives the shorthand for the petty officer's rate, such as IT2 for "information systems technician second class". before the 2019 change in regulations, gold stripes indicated 12 or more uninterrupted years of good conduct in service. ==Gallery==