In reversal, Navy won’t scrap traditional job titles

FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2016, file photo, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Navy is scrapping its decision to eliminate dozens of enlisted sailors’ job titles, including many that end in “man,” after hitting an onslaught of opposition from the force. The decision to drop long-held traditional titles and instead refer to sailors by their rank was announced in September and signaled a sharp cultural shift for the Navy. Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said in a memo that modernizing the job ratings or titles was designed to give sailors more flexibility in training and assignments. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2016, file photo, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Navy is scrapping its decision to eliminate dozens of enlisted sailors’ job titles, including many that end in “man,” after hitting an onslaught of opposition from the force. The decision to drop long-held traditional titles and instead refer to sailors by their rank was announced in September and signaled a sharp cultural shift for the Navy. Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said in a memo that modernizing the job ratings or titles was designed to give sailors more flexibility in training and assignments. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

By Associated Press December 21, 2016 3 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – In the Navy, a corpsman will still be a corpsman.

Navy leaders are dumping a plan announced in September to eliminate dozens of enlisted sailors’ job titles, some ending in “man.” They said sailors’ anger over the changes had become a distraction and they will look for other ways to modernize the system.

“The bottom line is, we’re going to preserve all the good, we’re going to throw all the distractions overboard and we’re going to move on, stay on course,” Navy Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, told sailors gathered in the Pentagon on Wednesday. “You showed us the way forward. … Thanks for teaching us that lesson.”

The decision to drop long-held traditional titles and instead refer to sailors by their rank had signaled a sharp cultural shift for the Navy. Efforts to change titles that ended in “man” were in response to the Pentagon decision to open all combat jobs to women.

In a memo, Richardson said that modernizing the job ratings or titles was designed to give sailors more flexibility in training and assignments. Switching to names more understandable to the civilian world, Navy leaders argued, would make it easier to get jobs once sailors left the service.