Petty officer third class is the fourth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and U.S. Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

, just above seaman

Seaman

Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....

 and below petty officer second class

Petty Officer Second Class

Good conductvariation,Petty OfficerSecond Classinsignia&U.S. Coast GuardPetty officer second class is the fifth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S...

, and is the lowest rank of non-commissioned officer

Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

, equivalent to a corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

 in the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 and Marines

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

. Petty officer third class shares the same pay grade as senior airman

Senior airman

Senior airman is the fourth enlisted rank in the United States Air Force, just above airman first class and below staff sergeant. It has a pay grade of E-4...

 in the Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

, which no longer has an NCO rank corresponding with E-4.

Unlike the seaman

Seaman

Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....

 and lower ranks, advancement to petty officer third class is not automatic given time in service, but is also contingent on performance evaluations by their superiors and rate examinations (test of specialty knowledge), except for certain technical ratings which carry automatic advancement to PO3, after successful completion of the rating's "A" school and fulfillment of time in rate requirements. The advancement cycle is currently every 6 months. Only a certain number of billet

Billet

A billet is a term for living quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, it referred to a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier....

s (job openings for this rank) open up biannually and all seamen compete. The top scorers are chosen for advancement, but only in sufficient quantities to fill the billets available.

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 rank and rating (job, similar to an MOS or AFSC in other branches). The rank and rating combined are known collectively as a sailor's rate. A petty officer's full title is a combination of the two. Thus, a petty officer third class who has the rating of fire control technician

Fire Control Technician

Fire Control Technician is a United States Navy occupational rating.Fire Control Technicians perform organizational and intermediate level maintenance on submarine combat control systems, equipment, and associated combat control systems test equipment; operate submarine combat control systems;...

 is called a fire control technician third class. The term petty officer is, then, only used in abstract, the general sense, when referring to a group of petty officers of different ratings, or when the petty officer's rating is unknown.

Each rating has an official abbreviation, such as FC for fire controlman. When combined with the petty officer level, this gives the short-hand for the petty officer's rank, such as FC3 for fire controlman third 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 FC3 Burbie would just be called FC3.

The rate insignia for a petty officer third class is a white perched eagle, and one specialty mark (rating) above a chevron. On dress uniforms, the symbol for the petty officer's rating will be placed between the two. On the dress white uniform, the eagle, rating, and chevron will be navy blue (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 the dress blue uniform, the eagle and rating are white, and the chevron is red. The insignia that appears on working uniforms, such as the coveralls and naval working uniform, and metal rank devices like those on the collar of the naval service uniform have the rating symbol omitted.

When a sailor is promoted the petty officer third class it is traditional for persons already holding that or a higher enlisted rank to "tack on the crow". This is done with a gesture ranging from a light tap to a hard punch over the new petty officers sleeve insignia. This, however, has been deemed as "hazing" in the recent past, and as such can subject individuals involved in this practice to disciplinary action. This disciplinary action often includes the individual being demoted. The "tacking on of the crow" has also been known to cause serious injury. It is not just patches that are tacked on but also metal insignia in the chest area that have sharp attachment pins, such as surface warfare or submarine service. A hard enough punch has been known to cause piercing of the skin by the attachment points. Commanding officers are also known to direct the ship corpsman to perform physical exams for possible abuse and to report all injuries to newly promoted personnel so that punishment for disobeying a direct order ("no 'tacking on of awards'") cannot be avoided.

High year tenure

The U.S. Navy's high year tenure policy has made the good conduct variation for a petty officer third class all but obsolete. Among enlisted sailors, 12 consecutive years of good conduct (categorized as no court-martial convictions or non-judicial punishment

Nonjudicial punishment

Non-judicial punishment in the United States military, is a form of military justice authorized by Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Non-judicial punishment or "NJP" permits commanders to administratively discipline troops without a court-martial...

s) entitles the sailor to wear a good conduct variation of their rank insignia: The normally red chevrons under the specialty mark and perched eagle are worn as gold and the eagle is worn as silver. However, the high year tenure initiative mandates that a petty officer third class may only have 8 years of service. If a PO3 fails to make petty officer second class within those 8 years, the petty officer is involuntarily separated for not meeting advancement requirements. This same restriction has recently been placed upon the rank of petty officer second class, allowing for only 14 years of service before advancement must be attained, and imposing a maximum enlistment of 20 years to a petty officer first class

Petty Officer First Class

Good conductvariation,12 years or moreof good conductPetty officerfirst classinsigniaU.S. Navy &U.S. Coast GuardPetty officer, first class is the sixth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S...

. All of these initiatives, however, may be waived in the event the sailor holds critical training, NEC's or clearances. Today, the few instances when a PO3 has gold chevrons are usually when a sailor has previous military service. The single gold chevron is extremely rare, but can still be found in Navy uniform shops.

All U.S. Coast Guard petty officers wear red chevrons and red service stripes, until the rank of chief petty officer, where both chevrons and service stripes are gold.

Royal Navy

In the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 and navies

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

 of many other Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 counties, the equivalent rank is "able seaman", although this is considered junior to the nearest equivalent ranks of corporal

Corporal

Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

 or bombardier

Bombardier (rank)

Bombardier is a rank used in artillery units in the armies of Commonwealth countries instead of corporal. Lance-bombardier is used instead of lance-corporal....

 in the other military branches.

See also

• Petty officer
  Petty Officer
  A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
  
  
• U.S. Navy enlisted rate insignia
• Comparative military ranks
  Comparative military ranks
  This article is a list of various states' armed forces ranking designations. Comparisons are made between the different systems used by nations to categorize the hierarchy of an armed force compared to another. Several of these lists mention NATO reference codes. These are the NATO rank reference...