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Navy NEC · Logistics

W13A Quartermaster Journeyman

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 Quartermaster rating

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Overview

A Quartermaster Journeyman serves as the Navigator's direct representative and provides a continuous navigational watch on the bridge. The journeyman assists with navigating the ship, reports discrepancies to designated personnel, and maintains legal records, logs, weather observations, and fix information.

Core Skills

  • Continuous bridge navigation watch support
  • Navigation discrepancy reporting to watch leadership
  • Legal navigation records and log maintenance
  • Weather observations and position fix information

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.

Mate (deck officer)

Supporting the Navigator and Officer of the Deck with continuous navigation watches, weather observations, fix information, and discrepancy reports transfers directly to deck-officer navigation work.

How to prepare: Ask the National Maritime Center to evaluate your documented sea service against a specific mate endorsement before choosing approved training. Officer entry typically requires several years of qualifying sea time and Coast Guard verification of age, citizenship, character, physical health, approved training, professional competence, and drug-testing requirements.

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

Sailors and Marine Oilers

Continuous bridge watchstanding and navigation discrepancy reporting transfer to the lookout and deck-watch side of this occupation rather than its engine-room duties.

How to prepare: Compare entry-level deck-sailor openings and identify the credential and endorsement each vessel requires; entry-level sailors have no educational requirement.

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; open-ocean service requires USCG-verified STCW training.
  • Military sea-time credit requires an official sea-service transcript or assignment history plus vessel and duty details, not a DD-214 alone. The Coast Guard determines equivalence and endorsement scope, normally crediting 60 percent of total time onboard as underway service.
Evidence for this guidance (6 documents)
  1. NAVPERS 18068F Vol II (NEOCS, Jul 2026 edition): NEC W13A

    [1] NEC entry "W13A - Quartermaster Journeyman"; cached text line 16060; NAVPERS 18068F Vol II, 2026-07 edition

    Supports: Continuous bridge navigation watch support, Navigation discrepancy reporting to watch leadership, Legal navigation records and log maintenance, Weather observations and position fix information, Mate (deck officer) (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: Mate (deck officer) (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: Mate (deck officer) (O*NET 53-5021.00), Sailors and Marine Oilers (O*NET 53-5011.00)

  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: Mate (deck officer) (O*NET 53-5021.00), Sailors and Marine Oilers (O*NET 53-5011.00)

  5. USCG: 46 CFR 11.201 officer-endorsement requirements

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

    Supports: Mate (deck officer) (O*NET 53-5021.00)

  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 W13A

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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