Is STG (Sonar Technician (Surface)) a Good Rating?
United States Navy · Navy Rating
Quick Facts — STG (Sonar Technician (Surface))
AIT / Training
14 weeks
Training Location
Great Lakes, IL
Career Field
Warfare Systems
Verdict: Not enough data
Based on 0 community reviews from verified service members
Score Breakdown
About STG Sonar Technician (Surface)
Operates sonar and undersea warfare systems aboard surface ships. Detects, tracks, and classifies submarines and other underwater contacts to support anti-submarine warfare operations.
14 weeks
Great Lakes, IL
Warfare Systems
Recruiter vs. Reality
What the Recruiter Says
You'll hunt submarines from the Combat Information Center of a Navy surface ship. The sonar tradecraft takes years to develop and the acoustic analysis skill is genuinely rare — contact classification from a passive signature is something you can't learn in a classroom and can't un-learn after you've done it. Raytheon, L3Harris, and the major sonar contractors know what STG experience means and will pay for it. It's one of the most niche and specifically valued specialties in the surface Navy, and the defense contractor demand for experienced STGs is consistent.
What It's Actually Like
You sit in a space called the sonar shack, wear headphones connected to an AN/SQS-53 hull-mounted sonar or the AN/SQR-19 towed array, and listen to the ocean. The acoustic environment of the deep ocean is not silent — it is full of biologics (whales, shrimp, fish), merchant shipping noise, environmental clutter, and the occasional thing that doesn't quite belong that you have to classify, track, and report. The discrimination between a real contact and a false alarm is a trained skill that takes years to develop and a specific kind of patience that not everyone has. The SQQ-89 combat system integrates your sonar data with the ship's tactical picture — you are an essential piece of the ASW (anti-submarine warfare) team. STG billet ships are primarily destroyers and frigates; ASW is a surface warfare core competency, not an add-on. The ocean acoustics knowledge, signal processing background, and technical depth of the training translate to civilian acoustics roles in marine research, underwater survey operations, and defense contracting. NAVSEA contractors working on sonar systems specifically recruit experienced STGs. The environmental acoustics research community (NOAA, WHOI, Scripps) values the operational background in a way that formal academic programs do not produce. You know what the ocean sounds like when something is wrong. That is not a trivial thing to know.