Navy Needs to Fill About 9,000 At-Sea Billets in More than a Dozen Ratings, Says Personnel...

The number of at-sea billets the Navy needs to fill continues to grow as the service works to incentivize sailors to take the jobs, according to the latest numbers from the Navy Personnel Command. The Navy needs to fill about 9,000 at-sea billets, Cmdr. Richard Chernitzer, a spokesperson for Naval Personnel Command, said in a statement. The largest gaps are in the sea-intensive ratings, which are positions that have more sea duty assignments than shore duty. There are currently 16 ratings categorized as sea-intensive, according to the service.

Gapped billets on ships have grown since 2017, according to Navy data reviewed by USNI News. In 2012, there were 14,095 empty at-sea billets, but by 2016 the Navy was able to drop that number to just 792. However, in 2017, the gap began trending upward again with 6,592 empty billets. Now, in 2022, that number has grown to 9,000, suggesting the positions are becoming harder to fill.