Personnelman (PN) — Discontinued
Decommissioned 1948–2005. Maintained the Navy's service-record system from the post-WWII era through the modern NSIPS rollout.
RATING EVOLUTION
- // Decommissioned · 2005PNPersonnelman1948–2005
- // Active Today · SuccessorYNYeomanView active rating →
- // Active Today · SuccessorPSPersonnel SpecialistView active rating →
WHY THE RATING WAS DISCONTINUED
Merged with Disbursing Clerk (DK) into the new Personnel Specialist (PS) rating in 2005, with administrative records work consolidated into the Yeoman (YN) rating.
OVERVIEW
Personnelman (PN) was the U.S. Navy's enlisted rating responsible for maintaining personnel service records, processing transfers, advancements, separations, and re-enlistments, and counseling Sailors on benefits and entitlements. Established in 1948 from earlier specialist (P) ratings, the PN spent more than fifty years as the central administrative records keeper aboard ships, in personnel support detachments (PSDs), and at every shore command in the Navy.
In 2005 the Navy reorganized its administrative ratings: PN was disestablished and merged with the Disbursing Clerk (DK) rating to create the modern Personnel Specialist (PS) rating, while a portion of the rating's correspondence and command-administrative work consolidated into the Yeoman (YN) rating. The convergence eliminated parallel admin-records and pay-records pipelines and produced a single, fully cross-trained personnel-and-pay specialist.
WHAT THEY DID
Personnelmen maintained Sailors' permanent and field service records, processed enlistment and re-enlistment paperwork, executed advancement and frocking actions, prepared transfer orders and reporting endorsements, ran the command's awards and decorations program, and counseled Sailors on benefits, entitlements, and career options. Senior PNs ran the Personnel Support Detachments (PSDs) ashore and the Personnel Office afloat, supervising junior PNs and YNs.
NOTABLE FOR
- Maintained the Navy's service-record system from the post-WWII era through the modern NSIPS rollout
- Backbone of every command's admin office for nearly six decades
- Source rating for many of today's senior PSs and YNs
HISTORY
The Personnelman rating was established on 2 April 1948 when the Navy reorganized its specialist (P) ratings into permanent enlisted classifications. From the late 1940s through the Vietnam era, PNs maintained handwritten and typed service records, processed enlistment contracts, and ran the personnel office on ships and at shore stations.
Through the 1980s and 1990s the PN rating absorbed the rollout of the Source Data System and the early Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS), shifting from paper records to electronic personnel data. By the early 2000s the Navy concluded that maintaining separate personnel-records (PN) and pay (DK) ratings produced redundant skill-pipelines, and on 1 October 2005 the PN rating was disestablished. Active-duty PNs were converted to the new PS rating, while reserve and shore-administrative work in command headquarters consolidated into YN.
TYPICAL PLATFORMS & UNITS
- Personnel Support Detachments (PSDs)
- Every fleet command — ship, squadron, shore station
- Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) and detailing shops
HISTORICAL CAREER PATH
- E-1/E-3Apprentice PNRecruit Training followed by PN A-school at Naval Technical Training Center, Meridian, MS; first tour with a fleet unit.
- E-4/E-6Petty Officer PNLead a PN work-center, qualify in core watchstations, and serve as the rating's section leader.
- E-7+Chief PersonnelmanSenior PN leader — Leading Chief Petty Officer of a PN division, instructor at the rating's A-school, or detailer at BUPERS until rating disestablishment in 2005.
SUCCESSOR RATINGS (ACTIVE TODAY)
FOR VETERANS & FAMILIES
If a DD-214, retirement order, or family-history document lists the rating PN (Personnelman), that is a legitimate U.S. Navy enlisted rating that was disestablished in 2005. Sailors who held this rating served in the admin & logistics community during 1948–2005.
The mission of PN is performed today by Yeoman (YN) and Personnel Specialist (PS). For VA benefits, MOS/rating-translator services, or transcript-of-service requests, reference both the historical PN 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 PN:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- When was the Personnelman (PN) rating disestablished?The PN rating was disestablished in 2005. Merged with Disbursing Clerk (DK) into the new Personnel Specialist (PS) rating in 2005, with administrative records work consolidated into the Yeoman (YN) rating.
- What rating did Personnelman (PN) become?The successor ratings are yeoman, personnel specialist. Active-duty PNs converted to the new rating(s) at disestablishment.
- What did a Navy Personnelman (PN) do?Personnelmen maintained Sailors' permanent and field service records, processed enlistment and re-enlistment paperwork, executed advancement and frocking actions, prepared transfer orders and reporting endorsements, ran the command's awards and decorations program, and counseled Sailors on benefits, entitlements, and career options. Senior PNs ran the Personnel Support Detachments (PSDs) ashore and the Personnel Office afloat, supervising junior PNs and YNs.
- Can I still claim the PN rating on my record?Yes — your DD-214 and Navy service record reflect the rating you held. The PN rating was a valid U.S. Navy enlisted rating from 1948 until 2005, and veterans who served in PN 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 — Personnelman