The Navy is adding new ratings eligible for incentives under the Detailing Marketplace Assignment Policy, the enlisted career management tool introduced last year to reduce manning gaps at sea.
DMAP allows sailors in sea-intensive ratings at E-4 and below who wrap up a four-year apprentice sea tour to receive certain benefits if they sign on to another three-year journeyman sea tour as an E-5.
It comes with incentive bonuses ranging from $200 to $800 a month. The exact amount is contingent upon the location and type of sea duty, and can be modified depending on the popularity of the duty station or other factors, but averages out to approximately $500 a month.
Ratings that are eligible for these benefits starting next month are:
- Aviation boatswain’s mate (launch/recovery?
- Electrician’s mate
- Aviation structural mechanic (safety equipment)
- Quartermaster (surface warfare)
- Aviation ordnanceman
- Gunner’s mate
These new ratings are added as part of the policy’s third phase.
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The Navy first introduced DMAP in December 2021 to gradually replace Sea Shore Flow, which dictated that sea tours were a maximum of five years and allowed sailors the option to extend. However, the Navy said the policy led to gaps at sea, which led to difficulties in implementing circadian rhythm watch bills, degraded materiel readiness and limited training times.
As a result, DMAP eliminated the maximum sea duty tour length constraint.
“At that four-year mark at sea, the sailor is just developing a critical skill set for us,” then-Fleet Master Chief Wes Koshoffer told reporters in December 2021. “We value that, we want that experience to remain at sea, and we’re willing to offer some real incentives to keep it there. Additionally, the sailors are incentivized to do this because a lot of career milestones in our sea-intensive ratings occur at sea or while deployed.”
As of November 2022, the Navy said that there were 9,000 sea-duty gaps, or empty billets, within operational units.
Other ratings also eligible for the benefits under DMAP include:
- Aviation boatswain’s mate (fuel)
- Aviation boatswain’s mate (aircraft handling)
- Gas turbine system technicians (mechanical)
- Culinary specialist
- Machinist’s mate
- Damage controlman
- Interior communications electrician
- Retail services specialist
DMAP is one of several initiatives underway aimed at filling gaps at sea and paved the way for the Senior Enlisted Marketplace the Navy announced last year.
The Senior Enlisted Marketplace Screening Board, which met this spring, conducts screenings of board-eligible E-8s who, if selected, gain access to the marketplace to apply for a qualified billet.
Sailors have 24-months to enter one of 10 of the MyNavy Assignment cycles to apply for a list of jobs in the marketplace aligned with their ratings.
