Some Sailors are now going by a new name. Naval administrative message (NAVADMIN) 226/19, released Sept. 30, 2019, officially announced that the ship's serviceman rating would become the retail services specialist rating, effective Oct. 1, 2019.
According to the NAVADMIN, the rating name change to retail services specialist will more directly translate the skills and expertise of the work performed by the Sailors in the rating to work performed in the civilian sector.
“They did it for Sailors getting out of the Navy and transitioning to the civilian world,” said Retail Services Specialist 1st Class Ryan Davis. “It’s for them to get better jobs and other opportunities.”
In support of the Sailor 2025 efforts, rating modernization, like that from ship’s serviceman to retail services specialist, continues to redefine career fields, offer more career choices, and expand professional development opportunities.
According to a spring 2018 article in Surface Warfare Magazine by Capt. Don Wilkinson, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Manpower and Personnel, Sailor 2025 is focused on the three pillars of personnel system modernization, ready, relevant learning (RRL), and career readiness.
Wilkinson writes that many Sailors who have been in the Navy for a while understand the need for personnel modernization, but he emphasized that it is not simply a matter of manpower and training, but also of development of flexible policies, transparency at all levels, and providing better career tools for Sailors.
The rating of ship’s serviceman itself is a modernization from previous ratings. Combining previous ratings of baker, laundryman, cobbler, and tailor, the change to ship’s serviceman was designed to more accurately reflect the skills and repsonsibilities of the Sailors who accomplished those tasks. The change to retail services specialist, then, is a change that continues the tradition of reflection and modernization. It is also in keeping with the tradition in the Navy of defining the occupation of a Sailor in contemporary terms that better define the tasks to be performed and the skills needed to perform them, according to the NAVADMIN.
“Instead of [potential employers] passing on an application because they don't understand what a retail services specialist is, this will probably make the employer stop to look,” said Retail Services Specialist Seaman Raven Bolton.
The NAVADMIN states that the source rating ship’s serviceman will be revised to retail service specialist on the following Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) codes: L39A, L40A, S00A, S010, S12A and 756A.
“I feel it will definitely be easier to convert into a management position as a civilian with the new title because it explains the biggest part of our rate better,” said Bolton.
According to NAVADMIN 226/19, the change is administrative and will not affect the current billet structure, personnel inventory, or career paths. Requests for conversion from Sailors or commands are not required. Retail services specialists will also be keeping the rating badge of crossed key and quill.
“It’s not going to change anything in the rate,” said Davis. “We are a close-knit family. It might take some time to get used to being called RS1 when I’ve been called SH my whole career.”
“It doesn't affect my career very much with the new name change,” said Bolton. “It will make the transfer from Navy life to civilian life a little easier, but I don't see any changes in advancement.”
According to NAVADMIN 226/19, while retail services specialist candidates may be taking ship’s serviceman exams, the advancement authorized rating will be retail services specialist. The first Navy-wide advancement examinations for the retail services specialist rating will be administered starting with the E-6 and below active duty cycle advancement exams in September 2020.
Sailors interested in learning more about the new NAVADMIN can visit https://www.public.navy.mil/bupersnpc/reference/messages/Documents/NAVADMINS/NAV2019/NAV19226.txt. Additionally, Sailors interested in reading Wilkinson’s article in Surface Warfare Magazine can visit https://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/swmag/Pages/Onboard-with-Sailor-2025-.aspx.