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Navy NEC · Combat & Infantry

O26A Special Warfare Operator (SEAL)

Current service use not established

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

A Navy Enlisted Classification: a skill designation sailors hold in addition to their rating. Part of the Special Warfare Operator rating

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Overview

A Special Warfare Operator performs unconventional and special warfare operations for fleet, unified, and specified commanders while collecting hydrographic, terrain, and target intelligence in coastal, riverine, and other restricted waters. The operator also performs static line and freefall parachuting, demolishes explosives, and uses all types of SCUBA operationally.

Core Skills

  • Hydrographic, terrain, and target intelligence collection
  • SCUBA operations in restricted water areas
  • Static-line and freefall parachute operations
  • Explosive demolition for special warfare operations

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.

Commercial Divers

Operational SCUBA experience and hydrographic intelligence collection provide a foundation for underwater work in demanding environments.

How to prepare: Have a commercial-diving training provider assess your military record against OSHA's assigned-task and diving-mode requirements, including relevant equipment, emergency procedures, CPR, first aid, and applicable diving physics and physiology training. Separately assess the ADCI industry card framework, not a government license: Entry Level requires at least 625 documented hours of qualifying formal instruction or a recognized equivalent, while Air Diver requires at least 100 field days and 30 working dives as an Air Diver, with only surface-supplied dives counting toward its dive requirements.

What the civilian work involves
  • Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.
  • Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.
  • Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Diving logbook software
  • Diving table software

Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

Military explosive-demolition duties provide relevant experience for supervised entry into commercial blasting.

How to prepare: Ask a commercial blasting employer to assess your documented demolition experience against OSHA construction-blaster competency requirements for the intended work and applicable state and local rules; New York, as one state example rather than a nationwide standard, requires three years of training and experience under a certified blaster before its written examination. Confirm the separate federal obligations: business licenses cover importing, manufacturing, or dealing, permits address acquisition for use, and license or permit holders must report newly authorized employee possessors to ATF within 30 days for background review as appropriate.

What the civilian work involves
  • Place safety cones around blast areas to alert other workers of danger zones, and signal workers as necessary to ensure that they clear blast sites prior to explosions.

DIA Analysis Officer

Hydrographic, terrain, and target intelligence collection provides operational context relevant to DIA's military-capabilities analysis specialty.

How to prepare: Practice an unclassified assessment of a foreign military capability to prepare for DIA's writing test and analyst interview. DIA requires U.S. citizenship, a granted security clearance before hiring is finalized, and background screening, including any required medical examination or counterintelligence-scope polygraph and a drug-screening urinalysis.

Notes & Sources

Evidence for this guidance (10 documents)
  1. NAVPERS 18068F Vol II (NEOCS, Jul 2026 edition): NEC O26A

    [1] NEC entry "O26A - Special Warfare Operator (SEAL)"; cached text line 9445; NAVPERS 18068F Vol II, 2026-07 edition

    Supports: Hydrographic, terrain, and target intelligence collection, SCUBA operations in restricted water areas, Static-line and freefall parachute operations, Explosive demolition for special warfare operations, Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00), Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00), DIA Analysis Officer

  2. O*NET: Commercial Divers

    [2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00)

  3. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.410: Qualifications of dive team

    [3] Commercial Diving Operations, paragraphs (a) and (b). Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00)

  4. ADCI: Commercial diver classification requirements

    [4] Entry Level and Air Diver card classifications. ADCI framework, not a universal government license. Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Commercial Divers (O*NET 49-9092.00)

  5. O*NET: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

    [5] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

  6. OSHA 29 CFR 1926.901: Blaster qualifications

    [6] Construction blasting, paragraphs (a)-(e). Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

  7. New York Department of Labor: Blasters Certificate of Competence

    [7] Blasters Certificate of Competence; Explosives Licenses. New York example only, not universal national requirements. Verified 2026-09-24.

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

  8. ATF explosives licensing and employee-possessor reporting requirements

    [8] 27 CFR 555.41(b)(1)(i)-(iii) and 555.57(b)-(c), official 2026-09-21 XML snapshots retained. Individual employment and the employer business license are distinct.

    Supports: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (O*NET 47-5032.00)

  9. Defense Intelligence Agency: Analysis Career Field

    [9] Career Specifics, Military Capabilities, Applying to Be an Analyst; public page retrieved through Jina Reader 2026-09-23

    Supports: DIA Analysis Officer

  10. Defense Intelligence Agency: Hiring Process

    [10] Opening hiring overview and Employment Criteria, Initial Employment; public page retrieved through Jina Reader 2026-09-23

    Supports: DIA Analysis Officer

Defense contractor jobs for O26A

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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