Just when you thought Ray Mabus couldn’t get any more lame:
Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Steven Giordano announce changes to the way the Navy classifies its enlisted ratings to modernize the force. Instead of using rating names and their abbreviations, the Navy will now use an alphanumeric code.
From the Navy’s presser,
MCPON: “While we certainly understand that this represents a significant cultural shift for the Navy and will take time to become fully adapted throughout the Fleet, this is about giving Sailors more choice and flexibility and ultimately providing the Navy opportunities to get the right Sailors with the right training and experience in the right billets.
“Sailors would no longer be called, ‘yeoman second class’ or YN2, for example,” he said. “Instead they will be ‘second class petty officer, or ‘petty officer.’ However, Sailors’ rates will not change: an E-7 will remain a Chief Petty Officer and an E-3 will remain a seaman. Additionally, there will no longer be a distinction between ‘airman, fireman and seaman.'”
