Navy Leaders Bring Back Rating Titles

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- On Dec. 21, the Navy announced that effective immediately, Sailors may continue to be addressed by their Rating Titles.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral John Richardson, with the support of Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Steve Giordano, made the announcement in NAVADMIN 283/16.

"Our Navy needs to be a fast-learning organization - that includes Navy leadership," Richardson wrote in the NAVADMIN. "The Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority states that our most junior teammate may have the best idea and that we must be open to capturing that idea. We have learned from you, and so effective immediately, all rating names are restored."

"The SECNAV, MCPON and I, along with other Navy leadership, have had the opportunity to speak with thousands of Sailors during our travels throughout the fleet. The feedback from current and former Sailors has been consistent that there is wide support for the flexibility that the plan offers, but the removal of rating titles was unnecessary and detracted from accomplishing our major goals."

The rating modernization working group will continue its work on the substantive portion of the rating modernization effort.

"As we looked at rating modernization effort over the past few months, we saw that we could still achieve the positive results we want without changing rating titles right now," said the Navy's Chief of Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke. "However, modernizing our industrial-age personnel system in order to provide Sailors choice and flexibility still remains a priority for us. Our personnel system has not fundamentally changed since the 1970s, and just like our ships, aircraft and weapons systems, it needs updates to keep pace with a rapidly changing world. We must not shy away from adapting to meet the needs of a 21st century Navy -- including the way we manage our people."

"As we move forward into the execution stages of the rating modernization, more and more Sailors will have multiple occupational skill sets or ratings," Burke continued. "Before we get there, we will need to tackle the issue of managing rating names. We will involve Sailors throughout the Fleet and leverage the Rating Modernization working group to figure out how to best do that."

Sailor 2025 is a set of initiatives collectively aimed at modernizing the personnel system, improving the training process and improving career readiness of the Navy's Sailors. The program has been a major focus of effort for SECNAV and CNO as they seek to better prepare the workforce for the current and future operating environment.

Sailors have a direct line to provide input to the Rating Modernization working group to make sure their ideas are heard. Send them to NavyRatingMod.fct@navy.mil.

For more news from Chief of Naval Operations, visit www.navy.mil/local/cno/.