LIEUTENANT (LT) — U.S. NAVY O-3
The Navy's senior company-grade officer — department heads-in-training and seasoned aviators.
OVERVIEW
Lieutenant (LT) is the U.S. Navy O-3 commissioned officer rank, equivalent to a Captain in the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force. It is widely considered the first "real" professional grade in the Navy: most officers wear two silver bars by the four-year point in their commissioned service, and many will spend the next four to six years completing a department-head sea tour or accumulating major aviation flight hours.
The insignia is two silver bars ("railroad tracks") worn on the collar or shoulder boards. On the service dress blue uniform, a Lieutenant wears two full stripes of gold lace on each sleeve. Lieutenants typically lead larger divisions, qualify and serve as Tactical Action Officer (TAO) or Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW), and often pin on warfare insignia or department-head qualification during this grade.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Serve as Department Head (DH) on a smaller ship or as a senior Division Officer
- Qualify and stand watch as Tactical Action Officer (TAO), EOOW, or Aircraft Mission Commander
- Lead training, manning, and readiness for a major shipboard department
- Begin building a record for the Lieutenant Commander selection board
HISTORY
The grade of Lieutenant has existed in the U.S. Navy since the Navy's founding in 1775. The title traces to the French "lieu tenant" — literally "place holder" — meaning an officer who held a position in the absence of a more senior commander. In the Royal Navy and early U.S. Navy, Lieutenants were the workhorse junior officers who stood watch on quarterdeck and commanded smaller vessels detached from the main fleet.
Promotion from LTJG to LT is the last "running mate" promotion in the modern Navy — most officers who remain in good standing pin on O-3 at approximately the four-year service mark. The next promotion, to Lieutenant Commander, is the first fully-competitive selection-board promotion in an officer's career.
PAY
- Approximately four years of satisfactory commissioned service
- Successful completion of warfare-pin qualification
- Satisfactory fitness reports (FITREPs) at the LTJG grade
- Department Head aboard a frigate, mine countermeasures ship, or PCU/precommissioning unit
- Naval Aviator or NFO assigned to a fleet squadron
- Submarine Officer in a department-head pipeline
- Junior officer at a Type Commander or Numbered Fleet staff