US Navy uniform question

[OutHouse]

i have had my dads WWII seabag since he passed in 2003, before that he had it up in the attic and ever since was a kid i remember seeing it it was locked. i asked him for the key but he had lost it. so last weekend i was cleaning out the second floor of my shed and came across the seabag. I said to myself, "ok its time to see whats in this, so i got my grinder out and cut off the brass lock.

inside was 5 sets of navy whites and 5 sets of the dark blue uniform with a set of canvas leggings that look like they were made yesterday. the ink stamp on the inside of the leggings are dark and sharp and stamped with 1941. ill post pics this weekend.

anyway in WWII my dad was a yeoman Chief Petty officer 1st class i know that ranks symbol but he has 1 narrow stripe on the left sleeve. What does this stripe mean? i think it means time in service but how many years does one stripe represent?

I was air force so i am not too hip on navy symbols....

 

[LTC8K6]

Usually it's 3 years per stripe.

Seems like it's 4 years for the Navy.

Not sure if it was the same way back then.

 

[Possessed Freak]

http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/uniforms/uniformregulations/chapter4/Pages/4231.aspx

4. Entitlements. All personnel wear one stripe for each four years of active duty service or reserve service in an active status in any of the armed services.

 

[OutHouse]

http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/uniforms/uniformregulations/chapter4/Pages/4231.aspx

thank you.

 

[etrigan420]

i have had my dads WWII seabag since he passed in 2003, before that he had it up in the attic and ever since was a kid i remember seeing it it was locked. i asked him for the key but he had lost it. so last weekend i was cleaning out the second floor of my shed and came across the seabag. I said to myself, "ok its time to see whats in this, so i got my grinder out and cut off the brass lock.

inside was 5 sets of navy whites and 5 sets of the dark blue uniform with a set of canvas leggings that look like they were made yesterday. the ink stamp on the inside of the leggings are dark and sharp and stamped with 1941. ill post pics this weekend.

anyway in WWII my dad was a yeoman Chief Petty officer 1st class i know that ranks symbol but he has 1 narrow stripe on the left sleeve. What does this stripe mean? i think it means time in service but how many years does one stripe represent?

I was air force so i am not too hip on navy symbols....

Possessed Freak has it right, a stripe for every 4 years...

Which doesn't make much sense, because your father would surely have to have been in longer than 4 years to make 1st Class or Chief (which are 2 different ranks BTW. 1st Class is E-6, Chief Petty Officer is E-7...unless things were vastly different back in '41).

 

[LTC8K6]

It is 3 for the Army, as far as I remember.

 

[OutHouse]

Possessed Freak has it right, a stripe for every 4 years...

Which doesn't make much sense, because your father would surely have to have been in longer than 4 years to make 1st Class or Chief (which are 2 different ranks BTW. 1st Class is E-6, Chief Petty Officer is E-7...unless things were vastly different back in '41).

sorry he was a E-6 so petty officer 1st class.

i was air force and the only chief we have is E-9. so i easily forget when the navy chief ranks start.

I know he was a E-6 when WWII ended and he went into the reserves. Korea broke out and he got recalled and after the Korea tour they offered him a chief rank if he stayed in but he said nope im done and got discharged. I guess teh Captain of the ship really liked his Yeoman abilities. my dad was a stickler with accounting and general office stuff.

 

[etrigan420]

sorry he was a E-6 so petty officer 1st class.

i was air force and the only chief we have is E-9. so i easily forget when the navy chief ranks start.

I know he was a E-6 when WWII ended and he went into the reserves. Korea broke out and he got recalled and after the Korea tour they offered him a chief rank if he stayed in but he said nope im done and got discharged. I guess teh Captain of the ship really liked his Yeoman abilities. my dad was a stickler with accounting and general office stuff.

He certainly could have gone up the ranks quickly back then. My grandfather went from E-2 to E-5 within the span of 6 months back in WWII...mainly due to attrition, sadly.

Do you know how long he served? If he served for more than 4 years, but less than 8, then 1 stripe would be correct. What I would guess happened is that he served longer than 8 years, but just never bothered to update the stripes.

 

[shortylickens]

I was going to contribute, then I realized this thread is full of WTF and decided not to.

HAVE A FINE NAVY DAY!

 

[OutHouse]

He certainly could have gone up the ranks quickly back then. My grandfather went from E-2 to E-5 within the span of 6 months back in WWII...mainly due to attrition, sadly.

Do you know how long he served? If he served for more than 4 years, but less than 8, then 1 stripe would be correct. What I would guess happened is that he served longer than 8 years, but just never bothered to update the stripes.

between WWII and Korea he served 12 years total.

 

[BoomerD]

between WWII and Korea he served 12 years total.

It's possible that those are old uniforms that he replaced and never added his later service stripes. If they're from 41, he may have out-grown them...

 

[PrinceofWands]

He certainly could have gone up the ranks quickly back then. My grandfather went from E-2 to E-5 within the span of 6 months back in WWII...mainly due to attrition, sadly.

Do you know how long he served? If he served for more than 4 years, but less than 8, then 1 stripe would be correct. What I would guess happened is that he served longer than 8 years, but just never bothered to update the stripes.

It's fairly easy to go the bottom 4 in roughly a year, regardless of war, attrition or anything else. I entered as an E1 in Feb '92, made E4 in Jul or Aug '92 and was set to get E5 in the first months of '94 had I stayed in that long. Just have to work a bit and play the system.

 

[OutHouse]

It's possible that those are old uniforms that he replaced and never added his later service stripes. If they're from 41, he may have out-grown them...

he entered the navy in Dec 1944, the leggings were stamped from 1941 because that's when they were made.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Possessed Freak has it right, a stripe for every 4 years...

Which doesn't make much sense, because your father would surely have to have been in longer than 4 years to make 1st Class or Chief (which are 2 different ranks BTW. 1st Class is E-6, Chief Petty Officer is E-7...unless things were vastly different back in '41).

You can certainly make E-6 before the second stripe at 8 years.
Pretty sure Chief is impossible in peacetime due to time-in-rank requirements.

 

[MtnMan]

The stripe on the sleeve indicating time in service, 4 for the Navy, are called "hash marks" probably named after the ones in their shorts.

 

[marvdmartian]

sorry he was a E-6 so petty officer 1st class.

i was air force and the only chief we have is E-9. so i easily forget when the navy chief ranks start.

Easy way to remember. When the Army Air Corps became the Air Force, they wanted their ranks to be different enough from the Army's that it would be noticeable.

So, in their infinite wisdom, they basically took the top 3 ranks from the Navy, and switched them around.

Navy = CHIEF Petty Officer, SENIOR Chief Petty Officer, MASTER Chief Petty Officer

Air Force = MASTER Sergeant, SENIOR Master Sergeant, CHIEF Master Sergeant.

EASY!!

 

[Sonikku]

My grand dad was drafted by the Army he told me he was moving up fairly fast but when the war was over, he just about had had enough of life in the service. He said the officers were dumb as bricks but thought their shit didn't smell bad. I asked him if he ever wanted to be an officer, he said "Nope, never wanted to be a chief. Was always content just to be an Indian." I think the more and more he told me about "the business", the less and less I wanted to enlist.

 

[OutHouse]

Easy way to remember. When the Army Air Corps became the Air Force, they wanted their ranks to be different enough from the Army's that it would be noticeable.

So, in their infinite wisdom, they basically took the top 3 ranks from the Navy, and switched them around.

Navy = CHIEF Petty Officer, SENIOR Chief Petty Officer, MASTER Chief Petty Officer

Air Force = MASTER Sergeant, SENIOR Master Sergeant, CHIEF Master Sergeant.

EASY!!

holy shit i never noticed that before.