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NSW Community Establishes New SO and SB Ratings
Story Number: NNS061005-01
Release Date: 10/10/2006 3:00:00
PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class
Christopher Menzie, Naval Special Warfare Command Public Affairs
SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command commemorated the
creation of the new Special Warfare Operator (SO) and Special Warfare Boat
Operator (SB) ratings in a ceremony Oct. 2 in Coronado, Calif.
The
new ratings replace previous source ratings, which had been used to
distinguish SEALs (Sea, Air, Land) and Special Warfare Combatant-craft
Crewmen (SWCC) by job classifications.
“When candidates made it
through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school (BUD/S) and Basic
Crewmember school, they were required to switch over to one of the chosen
source ratings, such as gunner’s mate and boatswain’s mate,” said Ronald
Cooper, executive director for Naval Special Warfare Center for SEAL and
SWCC.
For many years, the idea of having SEAL and SWCC ratings was
discussed.
“It’s been talked about for at least 20 years that I
know of,” Cooper said. “The problem was, the NSW community always advanced
well under the previous rating system. It was always a concern about
limiting our advancement if we went to a new rating. Once we resolved
that, the new ratings were looked at a little more
favorably.”
“With what this community is doing in combat, we no
longer had the luxury to take people out of their primary job and send
them somewhere else,” said Rear Adm. Joseph Maguire, commander, Naval
Special Warfare Command. “We no longer had the luxury to be anything else
besides SEALs and SWCC.”
To help focus on the professional
development and career management within SEAL and SWCC ratings, Naval
Personnel Development Command and Naval Special Warfare Command
commissioned the Naval Special Warfare Center for SEAL and SWCC.
The center’s first task was to create the SO and SB ratings by
submitting a NEOS (Navy Enlisted Occupational Standards) package. By
establishing new ratings, the NSW community could now lay out
prerequisites for SEAL and SWCC advancement. SOs and SBs would also be
able to take advancement exams relating specifically to their rate rather
than other source ratings.
“We’re looking at the continued long
term health of the community, so SEALs and SWCC being able to take
advancement exams in their own jobs is significant for us,” Cooper
said.
The new ratings will also allow SEALs and SWCC to have
advancement boards composed of special warfare peers.
“Now we will
have our own specific panel of SEAL, SWCC, Explosive Ordnance Disposal
(EOD), and Divers to look solely at members of those communities,” Cooper
said. “When we’re looking at the records of these individuals, we can
scrutinize more thoroughly.”
All active duty graduates of BUD/s
and Basic Crewmember School officially became SOs and SBs, Oct. 1. Navy
Reserve members who are E-5 and below must wait until April 1, 2007, for
the changes to affect them.
The Naval Special Warfare Center,
which trains SEAL and SWCC candidates, will become an “A” school for SO
and SB ratings. Students who graduate from their NSW “A” school will be
advanced to E-4 and will receive their SO or SB ratings. Upon completion
of further advanced training, SEALs and SWCC will receive their warfare
designations.
“There’s a lot of apprehension right now because
we’re going to something new,” Cooper said. “We’ll probably have to
reevaluate the ratings after a couple years, and readjust if need be, but
I think overall it’s going to be a benefit to the whole community.”
For more news from around the fleet, visit http://www.navy.mil/.
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