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MCE5

Mass Communication Specialist

E-5 (Sergeant) · Navy

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

MC2 is the LPO rank — the rank where the PA shop's daily product quality rests on your decisions, not the chief's supervision. The MC2 who still needs the PAO to find every story is behind. At MC2 you are expected to bring the editorial agenda, not just execute someone else's list. The Chief board starts being built at this tier whether you intend it or not.

The Honest MOS Read
MC2 (E-5) is the engine room of the Navy PA shop. At this rank you are the most experienced working journalist in the section on most days — the chief is managing the program, the PAO is managing the command relationship, and the MC3s and SN/SAs are executing your assignments. You are the filter between the raw product and the PAO's review queue: the photo cull that lands in front of the PAO is the cull you approved, the news release that the PAO reads is the draft you shaped, the social media calendar that went to the command is the one you built. The daily editorial responsibility at MC2 is something DINFOS cannot fully prepare you for. At school you learned to take a good photo and write a clean story. At MC2 you decide which story is worth telling, who should shoot it, how much of the PA shop's week it deserves, and whether the product is ready for the PAO's queue or needs another pass. These are editorial judgment calls, and the MC2 who makes them consistently well is the MC2 whose PAO stops correcting and starts relying. The section leadership piece runs parallel to the editorial work. You are mentoring the MC3s who are sitting where you were 18 months ago, writing their eEVAL input, running them through gear sustainment, and building their NWAE study plans. You are the person who takes the new SN fresh from DINFOS and tells them what the command PA shop is actually like — not what the recruiter described. The way you do that mentoring is read by the chief and by the PAO. The MC2 who builds a good MC3 out of a shaky DINFOS graduate is the MC2 who belongs on the Chief board. The Chief board conversation is no longer abstract at MC2. Your LCPO or the chief who is your section lead is watching your eEVAL trajectory. The MC2 whose eEVAL profile reads EP / EP / MP across three consecutive cycles has a defensible packet. The MC2 who earned one MP in the first cycle and has been steady-performer since has a less defensible packet. The board reads the trajectory, not just the last year. The time to build the trajectory is now — every coverage event, every mentoring interaction, every clean product that makes the PAO's job easier adds to it. The NWAE for MC1 runs through the FMS system, but the Chief selection process — which is what MC2s on the senior track are actually preparing for — operates on a different engine. The Chief Petty Officer selection board reads your total service record, your eEVAL narrative, your qualifications, your education, and the career diversity that your billets represent. The MC2 who has only been in one type of billet — carrier-only or shore-only — has a narrower record than the MC2 who has documented both operational and shore-duty work. Think about the next assignment request with the Chief board file in mind.
Career Arc
  • 01Pinned MC2 via NWAE FMS — exam, eEVAL ranking (EP or MP), TIR, awards, education.
  • 02First LPO billet: leading petty officer of a small PA section (carrier MC division, shore installation PA office, fleet PA detachment).
  • 03Writing eEVAL input for MC3s and SN/SAs; own eEVAL narrative built by LCPO or chief.
  • 04NEC sub-specialty C-school completed (if not done at MC3) — broadcast, photojournalism, or print/online NEC awarded.
  • 05Warfare qualification: Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) or Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist (EAWS) depending on platform assignment — visible credential on the Chief board packet.
  • 06MC1 NWAE cycle preparation: eEVAL trajectory, documented study log, chief's endorsement.
  • 07Chief board packet awareness: every billet decision, award submission, and eEVAL at MC2 is a Chief board document.
Common Screwups
  • ×Treating the LPO role as a production role rather than a leadership role — continuing to be the best shooter in the section while the MC3s stagnate because the MC2 never taught them. The chief board reads the mentoring record, not just the personal byline count.
  • ×Letting the eEVAL input for the MC3s drift until the period is closing. The MC2 who cannot produce a list of specific, citable accomplishments for each MC3 in the section at the counseling session is the MC2 whose eEVALs read generic — and the chief who reads generic eEVALs on the MC2's section members tells the PAO.
  • ×Missing the warfare qualification window. ESWS or EAWS (depending on platform) is a visible credential on the Chief board packet. The MC2 who is three-quarters through the PQS and lets it lapse at a PCS is the MC2 with a gap in the qualification record the board notices.
  • ×NJP, DUI, or financial misconduct. In a small rating these are read by everyone. The MC2 with any UCMJ action on the record has a Chief board conversation that starts with explaining the action, not defending the eEVAL.

A Day in the Life

  • 0530-0630Command PT — section PT or department PT depending on assignment. MC2 LPO may run his own PT block if the section has a separate PT schedule.
  • 0645-0715Pre-standup review: check the PAO review queue for overnight submissions, review the event calendar for the next 48 hours, confirm gear checkout status, review any overnight social media notifications on command accounts.
  • 0715-0800Section standup: assignments distributed, coverage calendar reviewed, product queue status briefed to section, any PAO guidance from the previous day's command sync relayed.
  • 0800-1100Primary production block — own coverage assignment or oversight of the MC3's coverage event, PAO review queue submission review, eEVAL input drafting, section training if scheduled.
  • 1100-1200PAO sync (daily or every other day at most commands) — present week's coverage status, upcoming calendar review, any media inquiry forwarding, social media calendar alignment.
  • 1200-1300Lunch and administrative block — MC3 mentoring check-in, NWAE counseling if scheduled, Chief packet planning if approaching career milestones.
  • 1300-1600Afternoon production — broadcast edit, second-pass draft review, DVIDS upload queue, archive maintenance, gear accountability.
  • 1600-1700End-of-day product status to PAO (verbal or email). Gear secured, accountability logged. PAO queue updated with day's submissions.
  • 1700-2200Personal time — Chief packet research and prep, professional reading, personal portfolio development, NWAE study if MC1 cycle is open.

Weekly Cadence

The MC2 LPO week is built around the PA shop's event calendar and the PAO's sync schedule. Monday is planning: the LPO has the week's coverage calendar, confirms assignments, checks gear readiness, and runs the section standup. If the command has a significant event mid-week, Monday is coordination day — access clearances, media ground rules if embed is involved, equipment checkout schedule confirmed. Tuesday through Thursday are the production core. Coverage events run; edit cycles follow. The MC2 manages the section's output while maintaining their own production accountability — the LPO who stops producing and only manages is the LPO who loses the craft edge that makes the editorial judgment credible. Thursday is often the PAO's busiest review day as the week's products close out, so the MC2 who has clean products in the queue by Wednesday gives the PAO review time instead of deadline pressure. Friday is closeout and next-week planning. Products ship or roll with documented justification. The weekly section debrief — what published, what missed, what needs improvement — is the MC2's section training moment. The MC2 who uses the Friday debrief as a teaching opportunity rather than a status report is the MC2 whose section gets better every week. At sea the weekly rhythm is replaced by the ship's cycle — flight operations, port calls, underway replenishments — and the MC2 LPO who cannot adapt the production calendar to the operational calendar is the MC2 the chief replaces with someone who can.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Run a complete PA section standup — assignments distributed, coverage calendar synchronized with PAO, product queue reviewed — without the chief having to re-run it.
    The standup is the section's synchronization point. Know before the standup which events are on the calendar for the next 48 hours, which products are in the PAO queue awaiting approval, which gear needs to be checked out and by whom, and which MC3 is covering which assignment. The chief who walks into a standup where the MC2 LPO has it organized is the chief who lets the MC2 run the section. The chief who has to reorganize the standup is the chief who starts attending every standup.
  2. 02
    Write and coach an eEVAL input for an MC3 that reflects specific, citable accomplishments rather than generic performance phrases.
    Keep a running accomplishment log for every MC3 in your section from day one of the evaluation period. Log dates, product names, coverage events, published DVIDS credits, PAO compliments. When the evaluation period closes the MC2 who can hand the chief a list of 15 specific, dated accomplishments for each MC3 is the MC2 the chief can write a credible narrative from. The MC2 who hands the chief a list of adjectives is the MC2 the chief has to invent accomplishments for — and the chief remembers which kind of LPO you are.
  3. 03
    Manage a media embed from credential review through post-embed clearance of imagery — ground rules enforced, no OPSEC violations, journalist's access needs met.
    The MC2 who runs a clean media embed is the MC2 the PAO trusts with higher-visibility embeds. Start the pre-embed checklist the moment the embed request comes in: credential verification through the PA chain, ground rules review and updates, access-limitation brief for the journalist, escort assignment (usually you), imagery review protocol for any photos the journalist takes on a restricted platform. Brief the journalist in person, not by email. The ground rules brief is a conversation, not a handout. The post-embed clearance review should be the same MC2 who watched the journalist shoot — you know what is in the camera.
  4. 04
    Edit and finalize a broadcast package to broadcast-ready standard — color correction, audio mix, graphics, export — without a round-trip to the PAO for technical revisions.
    The technical revision round-trip (wrong aspect ratio, muffled audio, title card typo) is the MC2's quality control failure, not the PAO's editing task. Before you submit a package to the PAO review queue, run the technical checklist yourself: export at the right codec and resolution for the intended platform, audio levels normalized to -12 to -6 dB for narration, color correction applied and consistent across the sequence, lower-thirds spelled correctly and in regulation Navy typography. The PAO's review should be editorial — story structure, message, accuracy — not technical. A technical return is a time-waster for both of you and tells the chief the LPO's quality gate is not closed.
  5. 05
    Conduct a pre-publication OPSEC review of a news release, photo package, or video product and document the review in the PA shop's release authority log.
    OPSEC review is not optional and is not the PAO's responsibility to initiate — it is part of the MC2's LPO quality gate before submission. For every product: check photo backgrounds for classified markings, unit designations, grid coordinates, and recognizable sensitive equipment. Check news release text for unit deployment windows, personnel numbers, capability specifics, and anything that references ongoing or planned operations. Log the review with your name and date in the PA shop's release authority record. The PA shop that has a documented OPSEC review log for every published product is the PA shop that survives the IG inspection.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • SECNAVINST 5720.44 — Department of the Navy Public Affairs Policy and Regulations
    At MC2 LPO you are applying this instruction to operational decisions daily — media embed ground rules, release authority chain, clearance procedures. Know Chapters 3, 4, and 6 well enough to brief the MC3s during section training without consulting the document.
  • OPNAVINST 5510.1 — Department of the Navy Information Security Program
    The OPSEC framework you apply to every product review. At MC2 the OPSEC review is your responsibility before the PAO sees the product. Know the imagery review annex and the release authority documentation requirement.
  • MILPERSMAN 1616-series — Navy Enlisted Evaluation System
    You are writing eEVAL input for MC3s and SN/SAs. Know the evaluation system well enough to write input that translates into a defensible narrative. The MILPERSMAN tells you what the eEVAL blocks mean, what the recommended ranking criteria are, and what the documentation requirements are for the counseling record.
  • AP Stylebook — current edition, digital subscription
    At MC2 you are the style-sheet enforcer, not just the style-sheet follower. The MC3's draft that goes through your LPO review should come out AP-clean before it reaches the PAO. Know the AP Style entries for military ranks, dates, addresses, and digital media well enough to correct on sight.
  • NAVADMIN — current enlisted advancement cycle message for the MC rating
    The advancement NAVADMIN for each cycle contains the cutoff score data, the FMS components, the cycle timeline, and the specific NEC-group advancement statistics. The MC2 LPO who reads the NAVADMIN for the current MC1 cycle before counseling the MC3s is the LPO who can give honest advancement guidance instead of generic encouragement.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • Section products in the PAO review queue on the command's published turnaround standard — no extensions without documented justification.
    The turnaround standard is the PA shop's service-level agreement with the command. If the standard is same-day delivery for event photography and 48-hour turnaround for broadcast packages, those are your section's metrics. Post them on the PA shop whiteboard. Track them weekly. When a deadline is missed, the MC2 LPO knows why before the PAO asks — resource constraint, gear failure, or execution gap — and presents the explanation along with the plan to prevent recurrence.
  • ESWS or EAWS PQS completed and qualification awarded before the MC1 NWAE cycle.
    The warfare qualification timeline needs to be in motion from day one of the assignment on a qualifying platform. Sign the PQS book out, identify the line-item signatories, and work the sign-off schedule into the monthly calendar alongside the production calendar. The MC2 who waits until the PCS orders arrive to start the PQS discovers the qualification requires more time than the remaining tour allows.
  • All MC3 and SN/SA eEVAL inputs submitted with specific, citable accomplishments and the MILPERSMAN counseling documentation complete.
    The accomplishment log is the work — not the eEVAL submission itself. Run a monthly accomplishment-log update for each sailor in your section at the first Monday of each month. By the time the evaluation period closes you have 12 months of dated, specific events in the log. The PAO who countersigns the narrative and the chief who reads the recommendation are both reading the quality of the LPO's documentation.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Approving a photo package for the PAO review queue without running a full OPSEC background check on every frame.
    An OPSEC violation in a published product is an incident report, a CHINFO notification, and a command investigation. The MC2 who approved the package without checking is the MC2 the investigation names. At this rank the OPSEC review is your responsibility, not the MC3's.
  • Submitting a broadcast package to the PAO queue with incorrect lower-third spelling or wrong official title for a senior officer.
    The PAO either catches it pre-publish (embarrassment and a resubmit) or does not catch it and it publishes (potential command correction, PAO notification to the officer's office, and a retraction). Either way the MC2 LPO owns the quality gap.
  • Allowing the command photo archive to become disorganized or metadata-incomplete across the MC2 tour.
    The PA shop that cannot quickly locate a specific photo from six months ago when a congressional inquiry or an Inspector General request arrives cannot support the command's information needs. The PAO names the LPO when explaining to the XO why the archive pull took three days.
  • Writing a generic eEVAL input ('performed duties in a satisfactory manner') for an MC3 who had a documented performance gap rather than addressing it in the counseling record.
    A sailor who needed a documented performance counseling and did not get one takes the problem to the next command. The receiving command's chief asks the LPO chain what happened. The MC2 who never documented the gap is the MC2 who has no answer.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • Building the Chief board packet now vs. focusing on the next NEC or school slot
    The Chief board is built across the career, not in the year before the packet is due. The MC2 who is thinking about SCPO selection at MC2 is not obsessing — they are being rational about career math. The board reads eEVAL trajectory, billet diversity, warfare qualifications, education, and community involvement. None of those are built in the six months before the packet drops; they are built across the MC2 tour and beyond. A C-school NEC or a second billet type adds to the packet; it does not delay it.
  • Shore-duty assignment vs. sea-duty assignment for the next tour
    Sea-duty preference points and sea-pay matter for the long-term retirement calculation. The Chief board also reads operational experience — the MC2 who has only served at shore-duty PA offices has a less diverse record than the MC2 with both a carrier deployment and a shore-duty tour. If the career plan includes making Chief, the next assignment request should lean toward the billet type that fills the biggest gap in the current record. The detailer and the career counselor are the honest advisors on what the billet market looks like — use them.
  • Applying for a commissioning program (STA-21 for 1650 PAO) vs. staying enlisted through Chief
    The Navy Public Affairs Officer (1650) commissioning path is real but narrow. STA-21 accepts applicants across rates; the 1650 designator competes against other commissioning program candidates and has limited annual accession numbers. The MC2 who commissions as a 1650 PAO is building on their enlisted PA foundation and becomes a commissioned PA officer — a fundamentally different career path. The enlisted Chief path offers more stability and a known promotion structure. Both are legitimate; neither is wrong. The MC2 who has not researched the 1650 board competitiveness and the service obligation math before making the decision is making it blind.
  • Pursuing a CCAF degree (Community College of the Air Force equivalent — Navy has the NCPACE / Tuition Assistance program) vs. focusing on production output during the MC2 tour
    Education credit shows up in the FMS calculation and in the Chief board review. The MC2 who has completed CLEP exams, Tuition Assistance courses, or an online degree program while maintaining a high-production billet record is demonstrating the time management and intellectual engagement the Chief board values. The MC2 who delayed education because production demands felt more urgent has a weaker packet than the MC2 who did both. The TA program is there; use it while the Navy is paying for it.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • Aircraft carrier MC division (MC2 LPO of the junior section)
    Highest operational tempo in the MC career. The MC2 LPO on a carrier deployment runs the ship's social media, coordinates the flight-deck photography rotation, supervises the ship's newspaper layout, and manages media embeds during fleet exercises. The chief is running the program; the MC2 is running the daily production floor. The deployment portfolio an MC2 LPO builds on a carrier is the strongest Chief board material in the rating.
  • Fleet PA detachment / NAVSUR PA staff
    Products go to flag public affairs. The editorial standard is the highest in the enlisted MC career. The MC2 LPO at a fleet PA detachment is producing content that may appear on national news, in Congressional testimony support packages, or in the Secretary of the Navy's communication strategy. The pressure is real and the feedback loop from flag-level PAOs is fast and direct.
  • Naval Station / NAVBASE shore PA office (sole MC2 or senior MC in section)
    The MC2 at a small installation PA office may be the most senior enlisted MC in the building with an O-3 or O-4 PAO and one or two junior sailors. The autonomy is high and so is the accountability. You are running the section's production output and managing the command's PA program. Good for developing initiative; lacks the peer mentoring from senior MCs that a larger shop provides.
  • CHINFO / OSD PA support assignment
    Reachable for the MC2 with a strong eEVAL profile and a documented high-visibility production record. Products go to national media. The CHINFO PA team operates at a strategic communication level that most enlisted MCs do not reach until MC1 or MCC. An MC2 at CHINFO is visible to the most senior PA officers in the Navy and the career impact is commensurate — both ways.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The high-performing MC2 is the sailor the PAO calls when there is a high-visibility event with no room for a mistake. Congressional visit, flag change of command, SECNAV media availability — the PAO does not assign these to the MC3 who is still building confidence. They go to the MC2 whose work has been consistently clean across the cycle, who has not triggered a single OPSEC review flag, and who can manage the on-site logistics of a media embed without supervision. At the section level the good MC2 is visible through the MC3s, not just through their own bylines. The MC3 who graduated from DINFOS nine months ago and is now writing publishable releases on the second draft instead of the fifth is the evidence the good MC2 leaves behind. The chief reads that trajectory. The PAO reads it. The MC2 whose eEVAL says 'mentored two MC3s to advancement' has that sentence backed by a documented record of what those sailors did on their watch. The good MC2 is also the MC who has started thinking like a program manager rather than just a journalist. The coverage calendar for the next 30 days is mapped. The equipment maintenance schedule is on the whiteboard. The DVIDS upload queue is current. The PAO knows what the section is working on without asking. The PA shop that runs itself when the PAO is in a command meeting is the PA shop the MC2 LPO built — and the MC2 who built it is the MC2 the chief is watching for the next selection.

Preview — The Next Rank

MC1 (E-6) is the senior petty officer tier — the rank where the PA shop's institutional knowledge lives. The promotion math shifts from the pure NWAE FMS system toward the Chief selection board system, which operates on a competitive records review rather than a scored exam. The MC2 → MC1 advancement still runs through the NWAE FMS cycle; the MC1 → MCC (Chief) selection is the board-based transition. At MC1 the scope expands again. You are the LCPO of the PA section, the PAO's primary enlisted advisor, and the institutional memory of the command's PA program. The MC1 who walks into a new command and can read the state of the PA shop, identify the gaps, and build a plan to address them in the first 30 days is the MC1 the PAO relies on. You are no longer primarily a journalist — you are a program manager who happens to be an excellent journalist. The editorial product continues to matter; the program management is the new weight on the scale. The Chief board preparation becomes the dominant career project at MC1. Your eEVAL narrative for the MC1 period will be the most-read document in your packet. The billets you serve in at MC1 — operational vs. shore, fleet staff vs. command, CONUS vs. OCONUS — determine the diversity of the record the board evaluates. The MC1 who serves one tour at a shore installation and calls it 'enough billet diversity' is the MC1 whose packet reads thin next to the MC1 who has a carrier deployment, a fleet PA staff tour, and a shore command PA office. The detailer conversation and the career counselor conversation at MC2 should be building this picture before the orders are written.
FAQ

MC E5 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E5 MC (Mass Communication Specialist) actually do?
You run a section — ship PA department, base public affairs office photo desk, fleet PA support element, or a joint PA team where you are the Navy voice.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E5 MC?
MC2 is the LPO rank — the rank where the PA shop's daily product quality rests on your decisions, not the chief's supervision.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E5 MC?
Time-blocked day at the E5 MC rank tier: 0530-0630 Command PT — section PT or department PT depending on assignment. MC2 LPO may run his own PT block if the section has a separate PT schedule, 0645-0715 Pre-standup review: check the PAO review queue for overnight submissions, review the event calendar for the next 48 hours, confirm gear checkout status, review any overnight social media notifications on command accounts, 0715-0800 Section standup: assignments distributed, coverage calendar reviewed, product queue status briefed to section,…
Q04What mistakes get E5 MC soldiers fired or relieved?
Treating the LPO role as a production role rather than a leadership role — continuing to be the best shooter in the section while the MC3s stagnate because the MC2 never taught them. The chief board reads the mentoring record, not just the personal byline count; Letting the eEVAL input for the MC3s drift until the period is closing. The MC2 who cannot produce a list of specific,…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E5 MC rank tier?
Building the Chief board packet now vs. focusing on the next NEC or school slot — The Chief board is built across the career, not in the year before the packet is due. The MC2 who is thinking about SCPO selection at MC2 is not obsessing — they are being rational about career math. The board reads eEVAL trajectory, billet diversity, warfare qualifications, education, and community involvement. None of those are built in the six months before the packet drops; they are built across the MC2 tour and beyond. A C-school NEC or a second billet type adds to the packet; it does not delay it;…
Q06What's next after E5 for a MC (Mass Communication Specialist) in the Navy?
MC1 (E-6) is the senior petty officer tier — the rank where the PA shop's institutional knowledge lives.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E5 MC need to know cold?
SECNAVINST 5720.44C — you execute it and you advise your MC3s on it; you are the shop's policy reference before the chief.; DoDD 5122.5 — joint-level PA policy for every joint or coalition assignment you plan or execute.; AP Stylebook (current edition) — you are the shop's first-line AP Style reviewer; your corrections teach the MC3, not embarrass them.

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