Data Processing Technician (DP) — Discontinued

RATING EVOLUTION

1. // Decommissioned · 1999
   DP
   Data Processing Technician
   1967–1999
2. // Active Today · Successor
   IT
   Information Systems Technician
   View active rating →

WHY THE RATING WAS DISCONTINUED

Merged with the Radioman (RM) rating into the new Information Systems Technician (IT) rating in 1999, reflecting the convergence of computer systems and radio communications.

OVERVIEW

Data Processing Technician (DP) was the U.S. Navy's enlisted computer-systems rating from 1967 to 1999. DPs operated the Navy's mainframe and minicomputer systems — IBM, Honeywell, UNIVAC, Sperry — running the Uniform Automated Data Processing System (UADPS) supply mainframes, the Source Data System personnel mainframes, the Joint Uniform Military Pay System pay processing, and a host of operational and tactical data systems aboard ship and ashore.

DP was disestablished on 1 October 1999 in the same convergence that ended the Radioman rating: DP and RM merged into the new Information Systems Technician (IT) rating, reflecting the fact that radio communications and computer systems had become a single networked discipline.

WHAT THEY DID

Data Processing Technicians operated mainframe and minicomputer systems; ran tape drives, card punches, and high-speed printers; performed job scheduling and batch processing under JCL or equivalent; supported COBOL and assembly-language programs; maintained operating systems and supported end-user applications; and ran the Navy's central data-processing centers. Senior DPs supervised computer-operations watches and ran the data center's production-control function.

NOTABLE FOR

• Operated the Navy's mainframe and minicomputer systems from the late 1960s through the late 1990s
• Ran the Uniform Automated Data Processing System (UADPS) supply mainframes
• Source rating for the modern IT computer-systems specialty

HISTORY

Data Processing Technician was established in 1967 to provide a dedicated enlisted computer-operations rating. Through the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, DPs ran the Navy's centralized mainframe data centers — Naval Supply Systems Command in Mechanicsburg, the Naval Data Automation Command, the regional Personnel Support Activities — operating tape drives, card punches, and the COBOL/JCL job-scheduling that powered Navy administrative and supply automation.

By the mid-1990s the rise of distributed computing, networked systems, and the convergence of data and communications made the separate DP rating obsolete. On 1 October 1999 the Navy merged DP and RM into the consolidated IT rating.

TYPICAL PLATFORMS & UNITS

• Naval Supply Systems Command Data Center, Mechanicsburg, PA
• Naval Data Automation Command and regional Naval Personnel Support Activities
• Mainframe rooms aboard aircraft carriers and large staff ships

HISTORICAL CAREER PATH

1. E-1/E-3
   Apprentice DP
   Recruit Training followed by DP A-school at Naval Data Automation School, Norfolk, VA; first tour with a fleet unit.
2. E-4/E-6
   Petty Officer DP
   Lead a DP work-center, qualify in core watchstations, and serve as the rating's section leader.
3. E-7+
   Chief Data Processing Technician
   Senior DP leader — Leading Chief Petty Officer of a DP division, instructor at the rating's A-school, or detailer at BUPERS until rating disestablishment in 1999.

SUCCESSOR RATINGS (ACTIVE TODAY)

• IT · Cryptologic & IW
  Information Systems Technician

FOR VETERANS & FAMILIES

If a DD-214, retirement order, or family-history document lists the rating DP (Data Processing Technician), that is a legitimate U.S. Navy enlisted rating that was disestablished in 1999. Sailors who held this rating served in the cryptologic & iw community during 1967–1999.

The mission of DP is performed today by Information Systems Technician (IT). For VA benefits, MOS/rating-translator services, or transcript-of-service requests, reference both the historical DP rating code and the modern successor.

Official records: National Personnel Records Center (St. Louis, MO) holds U.S. Navy enlisted service records for veterans separated more than 62 years ago; later records are held by Navy Personnel Command in Millington, TN.

RELATED HISTORICAL RATINGS

Other decommissioned ratings whose mission was absorbed by the same active rating(s) as DP:

• RM · Decom 1999
  Radioman

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• When was the Data Processing Technician (DP) rating disestablished?
  The DP rating was disestablished in 1999. Merged with the Radioman (RM) rating into the new Information Systems Technician (IT) rating in 1999, reflecting the convergence of computer systems and radio communications.
• What rating did Data Processing Technician (DP) become?
  The successor rating is information systems technician. Active-duty DPs converted to the new rating(s) at disestablishment.
• What did a Navy Data Processing Technician (DP) do?
  Data Processing Technicians operated mainframe and minicomputer systems; ran tape drives, card punches, and high-speed printers; performed job scheduling and batch processing under JCL or equivalent; supported COBOL and assembly-language programs; maintained operating systems and supported end-user applications; and ran the Navy's central data-processing centers. Senior DPs supervised computer-operations watches and ran the data center's production-control function.
• Can I still claim the DP rating on my record?
  Yes — your DD-214 and Navy service record reflect the rating you held. The DP rating was a valid U.S. Navy enlisted rating from 1967 until 1999, and veterans who served in DP continue to use the rating designation in records, reunions, and veteran-affairs paperwork.

SOURCES

• Naval History and Heritage Command — U.S. Navy Ratings History
• NAVADMIN / OPNAV historical-rating disestablishment notices
• U.S. Navy Enlisted Career Path Reference — Data Processing Technician