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HTE5

Hull Maintenance Technician

E-5 (Sergeant) · Navy

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

HT2 is when the LPO stops asking whether you can run the section and starts asking whether you are ready to be the LPO. The AWS CWI exam path is real now — your weld-experience hours should be accumulating in a log you started at HT3. The HT2 who starts that log at HT1 lost 18-24 months that the exam requires. The Chief selection board is not as far away as it seems from this seat.

The Honest MOS Read
HT2 is the working senior HT — the petty officer the LPO sends to the complex penetration refit or the tank structural inspection when he does not want to babysit the evolution and when the HT3 is not yet ready to own it alone. The title is Petty Officer Second Class; the functional role is section supervisor, PQS signature authority, CSMP work-order manager, and the most technically credible person in the work center who is not the first class. The 3-M PMS compliance posture is yours at the section level. The LPO briefs the DCA off the division numbers; your section's numbers are a component of that brief. The HT2 whose section is running above-average PMS completion rates and zero discrepancies is the HT2 the LPO presents to the DCA as evidence the division's junior leadership is producing. The HT2 whose section is the caveat in the brief — 'everything except Second Class Jones's work center' — is the HT2 who does not get the eEVAL block that supports chief-board selection. The CSMP (Current Ship's Maintenance Project) input is another section-level accountability. Every corrective maintenance item your section identifies — hull wastage, pipe corrosion, structural discrepancy, DC equipment defect — goes into a CSMP work order with the correct cost and labor data. The work orders you open today become the planning inputs for the next dry dock or scheduled maintenance availability. The HT2 who identifies a hull wastage measurement outside the S9086 allowable limit but does not open a CSMP work order because 'the chief already knows about it' is the HT2 who creates a documentation gap the INSURV team finds later. The AWS Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) examination path is the most consequential professional development decision of the HT2 tour. The CWI is a commercial credential administered by the American Welding Society — it requires a combination of documented weld-experience hours (by process and position, per AWS QC1 standard), an open-book reference exam, and a closed-book fundamentals and practical exam. The experience-hour requirement is the long-lead item. An HT2 with a log that started at HT3 may already have the hours; an HT2 who is starting the log now is looking at 18-24 months before the application is complete. The CWI credential does three things for the career: it differentiates the chief-board package in a way eEVAL bullets cannot; it is the credential NAVSEA afloat-repair contracts reference when describing the senior HT/civilian counterpart role; and it is the civilian-portable professional credential that opens $90,000-$130,000+ annual-compensation roles in the shipyard, construction, and nuclear-energy industries after the Navy career ends. Start the log. Build the hours. The exam is achievable. NEC-coded billets define the technical trajectory at this paygrade. The HT2 with NEC 4604 (advanced welding) or the pipe/valve NEC is a more competitive candidate for production-shop billets on tenders, IMA work-center lead roles, and RMC technical positions. The NEC also determines which eEVAL billet the detailer can send you to — the HT2 without an NEC competes for general-purpose HT billets, which are available but are not the ones the chief-board competitive packages come from.
Career Arc
  • 01HT2 pin-on post-NWAE advancement cycle.
  • 02Section LPO responsibility: 3-M PMS compliance, CSMP work-order input, HTFN/HT3 PQS management.
  • 03AWS CWI weld-experience log building — hours accumulating toward the application threshold.
  • 04NEC awarded or in-pipeline (NEC 4604, pipe/valve, or diver-track documentation confirmed).
  • 05Repair-locker DC petty officer of the locker watchstation qualified and standing.
  • 06NWAE BIB for HT1 pulled and study log running.
  • 07Surface Warfare device pinned and current.
  • 08eEVAL trait average and ranking supporting EP/MP recommendation.
  • 09Advancement to HT1 via NWAE cycle — exam + service record review.
Common Screwups
  • ×Letting an HT3 execute a weld repair without verifying the WPS selection. Your sign-off as section supervisor is the production record; if the Inspector rejects the weld, the repair log cites the supervisor, not the welder.
  • ×Signing off a Hotwork Permit evolution without personally verifying the fire-watch post and the atmosphere test. One permit shortcut and the JAGMAN opens with your name as permit initiator.
  • ×Calling a tank inspection 'complete' after a visual scan from the access hatch. S9086 structural-inspection criteria require contact inspection of the plating — the INSURV inspector and the IG team inspect differently than a visual sweep.
  • ×Treating the AWS CWI study investment as something to do after you make HT1. The exam is open at HT2 with the right experience hours documented — HTs who start the log early close the exam clock faster. Every month of delay is documented experience-hours the application requires.
  • ×Going directly to the DCA with a maintenance-authorization dispute instead of the LPO. The DCA hears it either way, and which path you chose is on every eEVAL and chief-board conversation afterward.

A Day in the Life

  • 0500Wake up. Check the section's watchbill — who is in duty section, who is at a training evolution, who needs a schedule adjustment before morning quarters.
  • 0530PT formation. Take accountability for your section HTFNs and HT3s, report to the LPO. You are responsible for knowing where your people are before the LPO asks.
  • 0545-0700Unit PT. The section runs to your standard. If you sandbag the 1.5-mile run, the HT3s will sandbag it the next week and you will spend an afternoon explaining why your section fell out.
  • 0700-0900Hygiene, chow. Pull the OMMS-NG compliance report before morning quarters — know today's PMS cards and CSMP work-order status before the LPO can ask. Morning quarters at 0745: section work assignments, safety brief, any admin actions.
  • 0900-1130Work call. You are supervising the HT3 on the Frame 44 pipe replacement — reviewing the P&ID trace, verifying the tagout, checking the WPS selection. You are not holding the torch; you are checking the sequence.
  • 1130-1300Knock off work. Log partial completion status. Brief the LPO on the section's afternoon plan — what completes today, what carries tomorrow, any resource conflicts.
  • 1300-1500Afternoon: CSMP work-order input for the hull wastage the HTFN found during this morning's inspection. HT3 mentoring session — review NEC application timeline, confirm next action, scheduled follow-up.
  • 1500-1700Work-center clean-up, tool inventory, OMMS-NG completion logging for everything that closed today. Thursday section briefing to the LPO: three-line update, no surprises.
  • 1700-1900AWS CWI log update: today's weld evolutions, hours by process and category, running total against the QC1 threshold. BIB study — HT1 advancement cycle, 45 minutes on whichever chapter is up.
  • 1900-2100Personal time or PQS signature administrative catch-up. Any HTFN PQS demonstrations pending that can be run in the work center during off-hours.
  • Underway rotationRepair-locker petty officer of the locker watch plus section-supervisor accountability. During GQ drills you own the locker; before and after you are tracking your section's drill performance for the eEVAL quarterly report.

Weekly Cadence

The HT2's week is built on three parallel tracks: production supervision, 3-M compliance management, and people development. Production supervision dominates Tuesday through Thursday — the pipe jobs, structural repairs, and tank inspections that are on the work-order queue. The HT2 who is not physically present on the complex jobs does not know whether the WPS is right, whether the fire watch is in position, or whether the NDE was performed correctly. Monday is the planning day: pull the OMMS-NG compliance report, identify the week's risk items, distribute work assignments to the HT3s, and confirm the HTFN PQS demonstrations scheduled for the week. Friday is the close-out day: completion logging, discrepancy reporting, the Thursday-by-1600 section brief to the LPO, and the weekly AWS CWI log update. The brief is three lines every week without exception — completion rate, open CSMP items, risk items for next week. The people-development track runs in parallel all week. The monthly HT3 mentoring sessions are 30-minute calendar events that do not get cancelled for a work order unless the work order is a genuine emergency. The monthly sessions with the LPO about your own progression — eEVAL positioning, NEC timeline, CWI log status — are the same. The HT2 who manages these conversations into the calendar rather than catching them in the passageway is the HT2 whose professional development is actually progressing rather than perpetually 'in progress.'

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Supervise a structural repair or pipe-replacement evolution as the senior HT: P&ID line-up verified, tagout complete, WPS selected, fire watch posted, work executed, NDE accepted, system restored — without the first class at your elbow.
    Own the sequence, not just the weld. Before work starts: P&ID trace documented, tagout package complete with your name on the responsible-petty-officer line, WPS pulled and reviewed with the performing HT3. During work: fire watch positioned at the weld location, atmosphere test logged, hotwork permit signed by you and the authorizing officer. After work: visual inspection of the weld and adjacent base metal, NDE performed to the applicable procedure, pressure test at the required test pressure, 3-M completion log entered, tagout closed and logged. The LPO's job is to verify the quality of your sequence documentation — not to manage the sequence for you.
  2. 02
    Run the section's 3-M PMS compliance and CSMP work-order input, defend the section's due-date posture at division sync, and hand the brief to the LPO with no surprises.
    Pull the section's MRC due-date report from OMMS-NG every Monday morning. Identify which cards are due this week, which are carrying over from last week, and whether any are approaching their allowable carry-forward limit. Build your brief from the report, not from memory. When a card is going to miss its due date, tell the LPO before the due date — not after. The LPO who hears about a missed card from the TYCOM spot-check rather than from you is the LPO who considers the eEVAL block before the conversation is over.
  3. 03
    Conduct a full damage-control readiness inspection of a repair locker or DC equipment space: equipment serviceability, stowage, consumable counts, weigh-in dates, AFFF and extinguisher service dates — logged and reported to the DCA.
    Walk the locker with a printed copy of the locker SOP and a calibrated scale. Every item gets a physical check — not a visual sweep. AFFF containers weighed against the posted minimum weight; extinguisher service dates checked against the posted schedule; hose-kit components inventoried by type and count; portable submersible pump operability tested. Log each item status on the inspection worksheet. Any item out of tolerance gets a CSMP work order opened before you close the inspection. Report the results to the DCA through the LPO — not verbally, in writing.
  4. 04
    Mentor an HT3's NEC / weld-qualification progression from application to selection, signing the training documentation as the senior.
    Know the current NEC application requirements better than the HT3 you are mentoring — pull the NAVADMIN and the NETC course description before the counseling session. Build a written timeline from current status to application-complete, identify the blockers (experience hours, sea-time requirement, LPO endorsement, medical), and schedule the next action for each blocker before the meeting ends. Follow up monthly. The HT3 who comes out of that conversation with a written timeline and a scheduled follow-up moves forward; the one who comes out with a verbal 'keep working on it' is statistically likely to still be 'working on it' at the HT2 board.
  5. 05
    Write the section's input to the repair division's engineering readiness brief — PMS completion, CSMP work orders, personnel qual currency — clean enough that the LPO presents it without alteration.
    The section's readiness brief should answer three questions with numbers: (1) What percentage of this week's PMS schedule is complete? (2) How many CSMP work orders are open and what is their estimated completion date? (3) How many HTs in the section are qual-current for their assigned watchstations? If you can answer all three without looking at a note, you are managing the section. If you have to pull up OMMS-NG in the middle of the briefing, you are reacting to it.
  6. 06
    Start and maintain the AWS CWI weld-experience log — process, position, base metal, thickness, and hours — cumulative from every weld evolution.
    AWS QC1 standard governs the CWI experience-hour requirements by process (SMAW, GTAW, SAW, FCAW, etc.) and position. Pull the current QC1 requirements from the AWS website and build your log to match those categories from day one. Log every qualifying evolution: date, ship, WPS reference, process, joint type, base metal, and hours. The log is the application — the AWS reviewing examiner verifies hours from it. An HT2 who started this log at HT3 with consistent entries will meet the experience threshold years before the HT2 who waited.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • NSTM Chapter 074 — Welding and Allied Processes
    You supervise weld jobs against these criteria and train HT3s off them. Know the WPS qualification tables, the welder performance qualification requirements, and the NDE acceptance criteria cold enough to answer a Welding Inspector's question mid-evolution without looking at the manual. The HT2 who says 'I'll check the manual' for a basic criteria question loses credibility in that space.
  • NAVSEA S9086-CH-STM-010 — Hull Structures
    You sign structural repair write-ups that reference this manual — know the structural inspection chapter, the wastage-measurement procedures, the allowable-tolerance tables, and the correction-by-repair threshold. When you find a measurement outside the allowable limit, you cite the chapter and section in the CSMP work order, not just the number.
  • NAVSEA OD 45845 — Damage Control
    Your repair lockers are maintained and inspected against this reference. Know the equipment categories, the inspection frequencies, and the serviceability criteria for each equipment type in the DC locker. When the DCA asks about locker readiness, your answer starts with NAVSEA OD 45845 chapter references, not with 'I think everything is good.'
  • AWS D1.1 — Structural Welding Code – Steel; AWS QC1 — Standard for AWS Certification of Welding Inspectors
    D1.1 is the standard your WPS families reference. QC1 governs the CWI application requirements — the experience-hour categories, the examination format, and the certification maintenance requirements. Both are civilian-portable standards that the shipyard and industrial employer will ask about in the post-Navy interview. Know them as professional documents, not just as test references.
  • OPNAVINST 4790.4 series — 3-M Systems; OMMS-NG documentation procedures
    You own the section's PMS compliance posture and defend it at the TYCOM 3-M spot-check. Know how to pull a section-level compliance report from OMMS-NG, how to open and close CSMP work orders correctly, and what the audit trail looks like when the inspector pulls a random card. The HT2 who is operationally fluent in OMMS-NG is the HT2 who never gets a surprise at the spot-check.
  • NWAE Bibliography for Advancement (BIB) for HT1 cycle — current from MyNavyHR / NETC
    The BIB is the test; build a study plan with milestones, not a stack of PDFs. The HT1 advancement exam is materially harder than the HT2 exam — it includes leadership and administrative topics in addition to technical content. Add the personnel-administration and leadership sections of the BIB to the study plan early.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • NWAE for HT1 prep documented on the LCPO's timeline; EAW clean; BIB study log defensible.
    Pull the current BIB for the HT1 advancement cycle on HT2 pin-on day. Build a written study plan — chapters by week, 30-45 minutes per session, four days per week. Show the plan to the LPO when asked. The study log goes to the LCPO as evidence of self-directed professional development — the HT2 who shows a 90-day study log earns study time on the watchbill; the HT2 who asks for study time without a log is the one the LPO says no to.
  • NEC awarded or in-pipeline — the HT2 without a specialty track is visible at the next ranking board.
    The LCPO builds the eEVAL ranking from a combination of performance data and professional development markers. NEC awarded or in confirmed pipeline is a visible positive marker; no NEC and no application moving is a visible gap. If the NEC you want has a waiting list or a prerequisite you are building, document the timeline and show it to the LPO — 'working on it with a plan' is materially different from 'working on it.'
  • Section PMS completion rates at or above command average every cycle — the DCA reads the 3-M spot-check printout, not your verbal summary.
    Pull the section's compliance report on the last Monday of each month — before the LPO asks. If the section is below average, identify the cause (missed MRC, inaccurate scheduling, personnel shortage) and present the corrective action when you report the number. The DCA's 3-M brief is a command metric; the HT2's section is a component of it. Being above average is the floor, not the achievement.
  • eEVAL trait average and ranking that supports EP/MP recommendation — your LCPO knows your number before the EVAL board.
    The eEVAL ranking is built from the LCPO's observation record — performance on evolutions, PMS compliance, production quality, PQS management, drill performance, and professional development markers. The HT2 who is doing excellent technical work but not tracking his own professional development (NEC, CWI log, SWE qualification, advancement study) is the HT2 who gets the 'Must Promote' recommendation instead of the 'Early Promote.' Know your ranking number and ask the LPO directly what the gap is.
  • AWS CWI weld-experience log current and submitted hours increasing — the exam application window is 18-24 months from now if the log started at HT3.
    Log every qualifying weld evolution — date, WPS reference, process, joint type, base metal, hours. Run a quarterly tally against the AWS QC1 experience-hour categories. When the log shows you are within 3-4 months of the threshold, request the AWS CWI exam application packet and review the examination requirements. The exam window can be scheduled 60-90 days out from the application date.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Letting an HT3 execute a weld repair without verifying the WPS selection before work starts.
    The Welding Inspector's production quality audit cites the supervising petty officer on every work order. When the Inspector finds a weld that was performed to the wrong WPS — wrong filler metal, wrong preheat temperature, wrong position — the work order shows the HT2's name as section supervisor. The weld is cut out. The HT3's performance is not the story; the supervision failure is.
  • Signing off a Hotwork Permit evolution without personally verifying the fire-watch post and atmosphere test.
    The JAGMAN investigation of a post-weld fire or an atmosphere-related casualty opens with the permit initiator's name. If you signed the permit without personally verifying the fire watch and the atmosphere test result, you cannot defend the permit. 'I trusted the HT3' is not a defense — the permit is a personal accountability document.
  • Calling a tank inspection 'complete' after a visual scan from the access hatch instead of contact inspection of the plating.
    NAVSEA S9086 structural-inspection procedures require contact measurement of suspected wastage areas — a flashlight visual from the access hatch is not a structural inspection. The INSURV team's inspector physically enters the tank and contacts the plating. When he finds wastage outside the allowable limit in a compartment your inspection record shows as 'within tolerance,' the discrepancy report cites the responsible petty officer.
  • Bypassing the LCPO to go directly to the DCA with a maintenance-authorization dispute.
    The DCA hears from the LPO within the same working day. Whether or not you were technically correct, the DCA now knows you bypass the chain. The LPO knows you bypassed him. Both of those facts are in the room at the next eEVAL ranking board. The path is: make your case to the LPO in writing; if the LPO's decision is wrong and the system has a safety impact, the chain above him is the escalation path, but only after the LPO has heard the case.
  • Treating the CWI weld-experience log as something to formalize later.
    The AWS QC1 experience-hour requirements are specific by process and joint type. Reconstructed experience logs — built from memory years after the fact — are not defensible under an AWS audit. The hours you logged last year are documented; the hours you 'remember doing' are not. Every month you delay starting the log is documented experience hours the application cannot use.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • AWS CWI exam timing
    The CWI exam is the most consequential professional development decision of the HT2 tour. AWS QC1 requires documented experience hours by process category — verify the current requirements against the AWS website, not from a peer's memory. The exam consists of a Part A fundamentals closed-book exam, Part B specification-and-code open-book exam, and Part C practical exam. The Part B code book is AWS D1.1 — the same code you use daily. The HT2 who is already fluent in D1.1 passes Part B at a higher rate than the HT2 who is learning it for the exam. Take the exam when your experience hours are complete and your D1.1 fluency is genuine — not on a forced timeline because your chief-board packet is due.
  • NEC selection and C-school timing
    The HT2 window is the last practical window for NEC selection before the chief-board packet starts forming at HT1. The NEC you hold determines which billets the detailer can send you to, which directly affects the quality of the eEVAL blocks available at those billets. A production-shop billet on a tender with an NEC 4604 produces a different chief-board packet than a general-purpose HT billet on a small combatant without an NEC. Pick the track that matches the work you want to do and get the C-school application complete before the LPO has to bring it up.
  • Re-enlistment and SRB math
    The HT2 re-enlistment window opens when the prior contract's EAOS is approaching and the Navy has a retention interest in the rate. Pull the current SRB NAVADMIN from MyNavyHR and read the fine print — zone definition, bonus amount, any NEC-conditional bonus tiers, and contract length options. The trap at HT2: a maximum-length contract for the bonus money before you have walked into the chief-selection-process reality. The chief board is approximately three years away; know whether you want to compete before you sign six years.
  • Shore-duty versus sea-duty on next orders
    The detailer's assignment offer at HT2 typically includes a choice between a sea-duty repeat and a shore-duty tour at an IMA or RMC. Shore duty produces work-center lead experience and IMA administrative depth; sea duty produces eEVAL blocks from DCA and department-head senior raters who carry more chief-board weight. The honest math: an IMA shore tour with an HT2 NEC and a CWI credential in progress produces a better post-service credential set; a second sea tour on a different hull type produces a better chief-board packet. Know which you are optimizing for.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • Surface combatant R-Division (DDG, CG, LHD)
    The DCA's direct chain of command. Every production decision the section supervisor makes is visible to the repair division chain in real time. High accountability, high visibility, high-quality eEVAL senior-rater signature. The foundational chief-board building environment.
  • Tender or afloat repair ship
    Production shop with multiple customer ships. Higher welding volume, more WPS families, more NAVSEA technical authority interaction. The quality-assurance program is more formal because the customer ships' INSURV records depend on the production records. Strong NEC 4604 development environment.
  • IMA (Intermediate Maintenance Activity)
    Work-center lead role in a depot-scale environment. More administrative depth — work-order management, quality-assurance program compliance, NAVSEA technical-authority interface. Lighter operational pressure than a combatant but stronger civilian-sector-comparable workflow discipline. Good for CWI exam preparation because of the documentation rigor.
  • Regional Maintenance Center (RMC)
    The level of maintenance above the IMA. More diverse work packages, more civilian-contractor interaction, broader exposure to hull types and structural challenges. Senior HT billets at the RMC level are visible chief-board differentiators. The HT2 who performs well at an RMC is the one the HTCM at the RMC recommends for Chief by name.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good HT2 is the petty officer the LPO sends to the complex penetration refit while the chief is at department-head sync — and the job comes back two hours later with the P&ID trace in the work order, the Hotwork Permit filled out and signed, the weld visual clean, the dye-penetrant pass logged, the system pressure-tested at the correct test pressure with the test gauge calibration date recorded, the tagout closed, and the 3-M completion record in OMMS-NG before the petty officer walked out of the space. The LPO did not call once. The AWS CWI weld-experience log is on the HT2's tablet. The quarterly tally shows he is 340 hours from the SMAW structural application threshold. He pulled the QC1 requirements six months ago, built a spreadsheet with the categories, and has been logging every qualifying evolution since HT3. He is not waiting for someone to tell him when to apply. He knows within a quarter when the application will be complete and has already identified the exam site and the testing window he wants. His section's PMS completion rate has been at or above division average for four consecutive months. The LPO does not have to ask on Thursday afternoons because the HT2 sends a brief update every Thursday at 1600 without being told to. The update is three lines: completion rate, open CSMP work orders with estimated close dates, and any items at risk for the next week. The LPO forwards it to the DCA unchanged. The HT2 knows it gets forwarded unchanged — which is why he writes it to that standard.

Preview — The Next Rank

HT1 is the LPO seat. The DCA briefs the wardroom off your division's numbers. The chief is building your anchor package, or he is telling you what is missing. The eEVAL blocks you write at HT1 move HT2s forward or they do not. The Hotwork Permit program is yours to administer. The INSURV readiness assessment is yours to own. The difference between HT2 and HT1 is the difference between running a section and running a division. The section was four to six people and a portion of the PMS schedule. The division is twelve to twenty people, four to six eEVALs per cycle, the whole PMS posture, the whole CSMP queue, and the Chief board timing conversation with the LCPO happening whether or not you are ready to have it.
FAQ

HT E5 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E5 HT (Hull Maintenance Technician) actually do?
You run a work-center team or section under the first class — structural repair, pipe and valve, DC equipment maintenance, tank inspection, or the tender production shop if you are on a repair ship.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E5 HT?
HT2 is when the LPO stops asking whether you can run the section and starts asking whether you are ready to be the LPO.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E5 HT?
Time-blocked day at the E5 HT rank tier: 0500 Wake up. Check the section's watchbill — who is in duty section, who is at a training evolution, who needs a schedule adjustment before morning quarters, 0530 PT formation. Take accountability for your section HTFNs and HT3s, report to the LPO. You are responsible for knowing where your people are before the LPO asks, 0545-0700 Unit PT. The section runs to your standard. If you sandbag the 1.5-mile run, the HT3s will sandbag it the next week and you will spend an afternoon explaining why your section fell out, 0700-0900 Hygiene, chow.…
Q04What mistakes get E5 HT soldiers fired or relieved?
Letting an HT3 execute a weld repair without verifying the WPS selection. Your sign-off as section supervisor is the production record; if the Inspector rejects the weld, the repair log cites the supervisor, not the welder; Signing off a Hotwork Permit evolution without personally verifying the fire-watch post and the atmosphere test. One permit shortcut and the JAGMAN opens with your name as permit initiator; Calling a tank inspection 'complete' after a visual scan from the access hatch.…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E5 HT rank tier?
AWS CWI exam timing — The CWI exam is the most consequential professional development decision of the HT2 tour. AWS QC1 requires documented experience hours by process category — verify the current requirements against the AWS website, not from a peer's memory. The exam consists of a Part A fundamentals closed-book exam, Part B specification-and-code open-book exam, and Part C practical exam. The Part B code book is AWS D1.1 — the same code you use daily. The HT2 who is already fluent in D1.1 passes Part B at a higher rate than the HT2 who is learning it for the exam.…
Q06What's next after E5 for a HT (Hull Maintenance Technician) in the Navy?
HT1 is the LPO seat.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E5 HT need to know cold?
NSTM Chapter 074 — Welding and Allied Processes. You supervise weld jobs against these criteria; know the qualification tables, WPS families, and NDE acceptance criteria cold.; NAVSEA S9086-CH-STM-010 — Hull Structures. You sign structural-repair write-ups that reference this manual — know the chapters, not just the cover.; NAVSEA OD 45845 — Damage Control. The platform-agnostic DC reference that governs your locker operations, flooding response procedures, and equipment inspection requirements.

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Published by the Honest MOS Editorial DeskVerified against DoD/.gov sourcesUpdated May 2026Editorial standards