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Navy Rating · Combat & Infantry

OS Operations 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

Operations Specialists advise on shipboard warfare operations and navigation while maintaining Combat Information Center and Combat Direction Center displays. They operate surveillance radars, communications and identification equipment, evaluate tactical situations, and distribute information across warfare and search and rescue operations.

Minimum ASVAB: AR+2MK+GS 198 or VE+MK+CS 158

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

  • Strategic plotting for shipboard navigation
  • Radar interpretation and tactical situation assessment
  • Combat information display and dissemination
  • Surveillance and command-and-control equipment operation

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.

Merchant Vessel Mate

Shipboard navigation advice, strategic plotting, and radar interpretation provide a foundation for evaluating vessel movements and navigational safety.

How to prepare: Request a Coast Guard evaluation of your documented military sea service against a specific mate endorsement before choosing training. Entry requires the appropriate Merchant Mariner Credential and endorsements, qualifying sea time, approved training and examinations, and applicable age, citizenship, medical and drug-screening qualifications; most jobs also require a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, and open-ocean service requires USCG-verified STCW training.

What the civilian work involves
  • Consult maps, charts, weather reports, or navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements.
  • Prevent ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations.

Notes & Sources

  • Military sea-service claims require an official transcript or assignment history plus vessel, underway-time and duty details; a DD-214 is not accepted as sea-service evidence, and the Coast Guard determines the credit and endorsement scope.
Evidence for this guidance (5 documents)
  1. NAVPERS 18068F Vol I (NEOCS, Jan 2026 edition): OPERATIONS SPECIALIST (OS)

    [1] Rating chapter "SCOPE OF RATING"; cached text line 57752; NAVPERS 18068F Vol I, 2026-01 edition

    Supports: Strategic plotting for shipboard navigation, Radar interpretation and tactical situation assessment, Combat information display and dissemination, Surveillance and command-and-control equipment operation, Merchant Vessel Mate (O*NET 53-5021.00)

  2. O*NET: Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels

    [2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Merchant Vessel Mate (O*NET 53-5021.00)

  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Water Transportation Workers

    [3] How to Become; training, licenses and related experience; updated August 27, 2026, checked September 23, 2026

    Supports: Merchant Vessel Mate (O*NET 53-5021.00)

  4. USCG: 46 CFR 10.232 military sea-service evidence and credit

    [4] Paragraphs (a) and (d)(1), official eCFR snapshot September 21, 2026; retrieved September 24

    Supports: Merchant Vessel Mate (O*NET 53-5021.00)

  5. USCG: 46 CFR 11.201 officer-endorsement requirements

    [5] Paragraph (a), official eCFR snapshot September 21, 2026; retrieved September 24

    Supports: Merchant Vessel Mate (O*NET 53-5021.00)

Defense contractor jobs for OS

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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