YEOMAN (YN)
The Navy's administrative, personnel-records, and executive-assistant rating — every command's admin office runs through a YN.
OVERVIEW
Yeoman (YN) is the U.S. Navy's enlisted administrative and personnel-records rating. YNs maintain officer and enlisted service records, draft and route correspondence, manage the command's official-message traffic, run the legal yeoman billets supporting the command Judge Advocate, and serve as the executive assistants and aides to flag officers and senior commanders.
The YN rating absorbed the legacy Personnelman (PN) rating in 2005, consolidating administrative and personnel-records work into a single rating. A separate Yeoman (Submarine), or YNS, sub-track handles the unique submarine-force administrative environment.
The administrative and logistics community keeps the Navy running — pay, personnel, legal, public affairs, religious ministry, retail services, and supply support. Admin-community Sailors serve in nearly every shore command and ship and are essential to readiness, retention, and quality of life for the entire force.
A-school for the rating runs ~9 weeks at Naval Technical Training Center, Meridian, MS, where Sailors complete the technical foundation needed to report to their first fleet command. Entry requires the ASVAB line score VE+MK+CS=155 and an enlistment obligation of 4–6 years. YNs advance through the standard enlisted paygrade structure (E-1 through E-9), competing in the Navy-Wide Advancement Examination (NWAE) at E-4 through E-6 and via the Selection Board at E-7 through E-9. Senior YNs typically serve as Leading Petty Officer (LPO), Work Center Supervisor, Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO), or Command Master Chief (CMC), and may pursue Limited Duty Officer (LDO), Chief Warrant Officer (CWO), or commissioning programs such as STA-21, MECP, or OCS.
Across the active force, YN Sailors are essential to the Navy's mission readiness, and the rating remains an in-demand career field with strong reenlistment bonuses (SRB), advancement opportunities, and pathways into Navy Reserve, civilian DoD, and industry careers after service.
WHAT YNs DO
Yeomen draft and route command correspondence, naval messages, and official paperwork; maintain officer and enlisted service records (PSR, OMPF inputs, fitness reports, evaluations); manage the command's administrative budget and supply; serve as the legal yeoman supporting the Command Judge Advocate; staff the command's personnel office; and serve as administrative aides to flag officers, commanding officers, and senior staff. Senior YNs serve as Command Yeomen, executive assistants to admirals, and as Command Career Counselor support staff.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Yeomen draft and route command correspondence, naval messages, and official paperwork; maintain officer and enlisted service records (PSR, OMPF inputs, fitness reports, evaluations); manage the command's administrative budget and supply; serve as the legal yeoman supporting the Command Judge Advocate; staff the command's personnel office; and serve as administrative aides to flag officers, commanding officers, and senior staff. Senior YNs serve as Command Yeomen, executive assistants to admirals, and as Command Career Counselor support staff.
- Stand watches and qualify on the rating's Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS), maintain training jackets, and mentor junior YNs as required by the chain of command.
- Lead the YN work center as Leading Petty Officer or Work Center Supervisor — managing maintenance documentation in 3M/MFOM, parts ordering, and personnel qualifications.
- Support general military training (GMT), damage control, force protection, and watch-bill assignments common to every Sailor regardless of rating.
THIS RATING ABSORBED
The YN rating's mission today includes work that flowed from the following decommissioned U.S. Navy ratings:
HISTORY
Yeoman is one of the oldest U.S. Navy ratings, dating to the early 19th century when the "yeoman of the powder room" maintained the records of shipboard ammunition and stores. The modern YN rating handles the entire command-administrative mission and remains the rating most likely to serve as a flag aide or executive yeoman.
In 2005 the Navy disestablished the Personnelman (PN) rating and merged it into YN, broadening the rating to include personnel records and pay-administration responsibilities.
The Navy's administrative ratings trace to the 19th-century Yeoman of the Watch and Ship's Writer billets and were progressively restructured through the 1948 enlisted-rating consolidation, the 1972 Zumwalt-era reforms, and the 21st-century rating modernization initiatives that merged, split, and renamed several legacy specialties.
Today the Yeoman (YN) rating is overseen by the Enlisted Community Management (ECM) office at My Navy HR and the Center for Personal and Professional Development. Modern YNs benefit from the Sailor 2025 personnel-system reforms, the Ready Relevant Learning (RRL) training continuum, and credentialing through the Navy COOL program — turning rating qualifications into industry-recognized certifications and licenses.
The rating's structure, training pipeline, and operational employment continue to evolve alongside the Navy's transition to Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO), Project Overmatch, and the Force Design 2045 fleet architecture, ensuring YNs remain central to the warfighting mission.
TRAINING PIPELINE
- 1. Recruit Training (Boot Camp)~10 weeksNaval Station Great Lakes, ILInitial entry training for all U.S. Navy enlisted Sailors at the Navy's only boot camp.
- 2. Yeoman A-School~9 weeksNaval Technical Training Center, Meridian, MSInitial rating-skills training for YN accessions.
- 3. Fleet / Operational TourFirst sea or operational tourEvery U.S. Navy command — ship, squadron, shore command, staffOn-the-job training and qualifications in the YN rating with a fleet unit.
TYPICAL CAREER PATH
- E-1/E-3Apprentice YeomanA-school at NTTC Meridian; first tour in a ship or shore command admin office.
- E-4/E-6Petty Officer YNQualify as Records Yeoman, Legal Yeoman, or Flag Aide; serve as Command Yeoman.
- E-7+Chief YeomanCommand Master Chief, Flag Aide to a numbered fleet commander, or instructor at NTTC Meridian.
TYPICAL PLATFORMS & UNITS
- Every U.S. Navy command — ship, squadron, shore command, staff
- Numbered Fleet headquarters administrative staffs
- Pentagon and Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV)
- Submarines (YNS sub-track)
EXAMPLE NECs
- YN-2514 Legal Yeoman
- YN-2516 Flag Yeoman
- U.S. citizenship and minimum ASVAB VE+MK+CS=155
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Pass the Navy physical and medical screening
- Every U.S. Navy command — ship, squadron, shore command, staff
- Numbered Fleet headquarters administrative staffs
- Pentagon and Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV)
- Submarines (YNS sub-track)