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Commander Naval Education and Training

PETTY OFFICER FIRST CLASS

Advancement to Petty Officer 1st Class (E-6)

The Petty Officer 1st Class' Role and Responsibilities
Petty Officer First Class (PO1) is commonly referred as the point where the "rubber meets the road"; it marks a transition from Junior to Senior Petty Officer.

Your promotion to 1st class also means increased expectations in both your technical expertise and leadership abilities, and a time for you to prepare for the next big step in your career, Chief Petty Officer.

As a Petty Officer 1st Class, you may be expected to step up and take charge, to manage a much larger number of resources including expensive technical equipment, repair shop personnel, and large duty sections.

In addition, as a Petty Officer, you will be responsible both for and to your subordinates. This means that you will be responsible for your subordinates':

  • Well-being
  • Work performance
  • Professional development
  • Morale
  • Education and training
  • Maintaining standards of behavior

    Petty Officer First Class is the sixth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above Petty Officer Second Class and below Chief Petty Officer, and is a non-commissioned officer.

    Each rating has an official abbreviation, such as FT for Fire Control Technician, STS for Sonar Technician Submarines, or TM for Torpedoman's Mate. When combined with the petty officer level, this gives the short-hand for the petty officer's rank, such as FT1 for Fire Control Technician First Class. It is common practice to refer to the petty officer by this short hand in all but the most formal correspondence (such as printing and inscription on awards). Often, the petty officer is just referred to by the short hand designation, without using the surname. Thus CS1 Dimmer would just be called CS1. A First Class Petty Officer may be generically referred to as PO1 when the sailor's rating is not known, although some prefer to be called simply "Petty Officer (Eby)." 

    The rate insignia for a Petty Officer First Class is a perched eagle above three chevrons. On more formal uniforms (summer whites and winter working blues or above), the symbol for the petty officer's rating will be placed between the eagle and the chevrons. On white uniforms, the eagle, rating, and chevrons will be black (this has led to the eagle being referred to as the "crow" in common practice, and often the entire rating badge is simply referred to as the crow). On navy blue uniforms, the eagle and rating are white, and the chevrons are red unless the sailor has been in the Navy for 12 years or more all with good conduct- then that sailor wears gold chevrons on the dress blue uniform. Working uniforms and metal rank devices do not have the rating symbol.

    First Class Petty Officers normally serve as a Leading Petty Officer (LPO) of a division, and may direct the activities of a division in the absence of the division Chief Petty Officer.

    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 First Class, who has the rating of Fire Control Technician would properly be called a Fire Control Technician First Class. The term petty officer is only used in the general sense when referring to a group of petty officers of different ratings, or when the petty officer's rating is unknown, or when someone who is E-3 or below addresses a petty officer while in basic training or during an A school.

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