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Navy Rating · Support

CS Culinary Specialist

Current service use not established

This code is listed in the directory. Inclusion alone does not confirm current service use.

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Overview

A Culinary Specialist operates Navy messes afloat and ashore by planning menus and preparing and serving meals. Culinary Specialists estimate food requirements, assist with ordering and storage, inspect deliveries, sanitize food service spaces and equipment, and maintain financial records and reports.

Minimum ASVAB: VE+AR 76

ASVAB policy: Not policy-reviewed · coverage unknown · as of 2026-10-19

Program scope has not been reviewed.

Policy applicability and coverage of the program's score routes have not been reviewed. Shown-route arithmetic is not an eligibility decision.

Source: milpersman-1306-618-rating-list-2026-04 (source date 2026-04). Policy applicability has not been established.

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Core Skills

  • Food quantity and supply estimation
  • Delivery verification and quality inspection support
  • Storeroom and refrigerated space sanitation
  • Food service financial transaction recordkeeping

Civilian Career Paths

Career associations are editorial assessments of the cited evidence, not an official crosswalk unless the evidence explicitly says so. O*NET supplies civilian occupation information, not proof of a military match. Related experience does not confer civilian qualifications. Tasks and tools below describe civilian work, not military training.

Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

Planning, preparing, and serving meals for Navy personnel, estimating food quantities, and storing supplies transfer directly to institutional meal production.

How to prepare: Prepare a sample institutional menu with portion counts, ingredient quantities, and a food storage plan to demonstrate your meal-production experience.

What the civilian work involves
  • Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served.
  • Rotate and store food supplies.
  • Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Meals Plus
  • Microsoft Excel

Food Service Managers

Operating and managing Navy messes, coordinating food supplies, maintaining sanitary facilities, and recording financial transactions provide directly relevant food service operations experience.

How to prepare: Build a food service operations portfolio showing a menu, its supply estimate, a sanitation plan, and a sample financial report using non-sensitive examples.

What the civilian work involves
  • Keep records required by government agencies regarding sanitation or food subsidies.
  • Schedule staff hours and assign duties.
  • Investigate and resolve complaints regarding food quality, service, or accommodations.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Intuit QuickBooks
  • Microsoft Excel

Notes & Sources

Evidence for this guidance (3 documents)
  1. NAVPERS 18068F Vol I (NEOCS, Jan 2026 edition): CULINARY SPECIALIST (CS)

    [1] Rating chapter "SCOPE OF RATING"; cached text line 54485; NAVPERS 18068F Vol I, 2026-01 edition

    Supports: Food quantity and supply estimation, Delivery verification and quality inspection support, Storeroom and refrigerated space sanitation, Food service financial transaction recordkeeping, Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria (O*NET 35-2012.00), Food Service Managers (O*NET 11-9051.00)

  2. O*NET: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria

    [2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria (O*NET 35-2012.00)

  3. O*NET: Food Service Managers

    [3] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Food Service Managers (O*NET 11-9051.00)

Defense contractor jobs for CS

Predecessor codes

Historical codes with documented links to CS. Each history page explains the change.

BKRBakerCCStdChief Commissary StewardSCShip's CookSC(B)Ship's Cook (B) (Butchers)

Descriptions may be summarized for clarity. Verify all information with your branch career counselor or official military documentation before making career decisions.

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