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Navy Rating · Support

QM Quartermaster

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 Quartermaster performs ship control, navigation, and bridge watch duties while assisting the Officer of the Deck and Navigator or serving as Helmsman. Quartermasters maintain charts and navigational instruments, observe and encode weather data, conduct tactical communications, and render honors and ceremonies.

Minimum ASVAB: VE+MK 100 or AR+MK+AO+VE 196

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.

See if you would hit this score: free ASVAB practice test

Core Skills

  • Celestial and electronic ship navigation
  • Electronic chart system and publication maintenance
  • Shipboard weather observation and logkeeping
  • International and inland navigation rules compliance

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

Assisting the Navigator with celestial and electronic navigation, maintaining charts, and monitoring weather directly supports a mate's navigation work.

How to prepare: Request an official sea-service transcript or assignment history, with vessel particulars and assigned duties, for Coast Guard evaluation toward a mate endorsement; a DD-214 is not acceptable sea-service evidence. Officer endorsement applicants must meet Coast Guard age, experience, character, physical-health, citizenship, approved-training, professional-competence, and drug-testing requirements.

What the civilian work involves
  • Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards.
  • Prevent ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations.
  • Consult maps, charts, weather reports, or navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements.

Sailors and Marine Oilers

Shipboard navigation assistance and familiarity with navigational charts and instruments transfer to the deck-watch side of this occupation rather than its machinery duties.

How to prepare: Compare entry-level deck openings with the National Maritime Center's applicable endorsement requirements to identify an accessible starting role.

What the civilian work involves
  • Stand watch in ships' bows or bridge wings to look for obstructions in a ship's path or to locate navigational aids, such as buoys or lighthouses.

Notes & Sources

  • Most water transportation jobs require a TSA Transportation Worker Identification Credential and a Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential with applicable endorsements; requirements may include screening, approved training, and written and physical examinations.
  • Open-ocean service requires USCG-verified STCW training. Roles above entry-level sailor or oiler typically require several years of sea time, with military service evaluated by the Coast Guard for the appropriate endorsement and scope.
Evidence for this guidance (6 documents)
  1. NAVPERS 18068F Vol I (NEOCS, Jan 2026 edition): QUARTERMASTER (QM)

    [1] Rating chapter "SCOPE OF RATING"; cached text line 62045; NAVPERS 18068F Vol I, 2026-01 edition

    Supports: Celestial and electronic ship navigation, Electronic chart system and publication maintenance, Shipboard weather observation and logkeeping, International and inland navigation rules compliance, Merchant Vessel Mate (O*NET 53-5021.00), Sailors and Marine Oilers (O*NET 53-5011.00)

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

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

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

  4. USCG: 46 CFR 11.201 officer-endorsement requirements

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

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

  5. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Water Transportation Workers

    [5] 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), Sailors and Marine Oilers (O*NET 53-5011.00)

  6. O*NET: Sailors and Marine Oilers

    [6] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Sailors and Marine Oilers (O*NET 53-5011.00)

Defense contractor jobs for QM

Predecessor codes

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

BGMSTRBuglemasterSMSignalman

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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