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QME5

Quartermaster

E-5 (Sergeant) · Navy

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

QM2 (E-5) is the working navigation petty officer — the one the QM1 trusts to run the plot on the sea-and-anchor detail while he briefs the captain. Navigation evaluator qualification and a pinned SWS device are the baseline expectation, not stretch goals. You build the voyage plans the navigator signs and you write the eEVAL bullets that decide whether your QM3s advance. The NWAE for QM1 is the next gate, and the QM2 who does not open the BIB on pin-on day is already behind the peer group at the first eEVAL ranking board. And the spine never bends: you approve a passage plan with a missed danger bearing, the ship clips the shoal, and the investigation starts with your name on the plan.

The Honest MOS Read
Quartermaster Second Class (QM2, E-5) is the working navigation petty officer of the division — the one the QM1 trusts to run the plot on every sea-and-anchor and navigation detail, build the passage plans the navigator approves, manage a portion of the portfolio, and produce eEVAL input for QM3s and strikers that the chief can defend at the wardroom ranking board. The QM2 runs the plot. Not from a distance — hands on the chart, set and drift in your head, the next-course recommendation to the OOD before he asks, and the standard the whole watch section reads off your example. The navigation evaluator watch at QM2 is not a qualification in progress; it is the watch you stand on the rotation. As the navigation evaluator or senior watch QM, you run the plot on the detail, enforce the fix interval, compute and announce set and drift, recommend tracks and turns and danger bearings, and control the whole evolution from the chart table. The OOD who gets 'recommend come right to 030, steady on the next turn bearing, set is pushing us 200 yards left of track' before he has to ask is the OOD who trusts the QM2 with the strait. The OOD who has to pull the recommendation out of a slow plot is the one who stops trusting the chart table — and on the bridge, the QM2 who loses the OOD's trust on the plot has lost the core of the job. The voyage and passage plan is the QM2's deliverable that the navigator signs his name to. Building it means assembling and correcting the chart portfolio for the transit, laying the track in safe water, marking turn bearings and ranges, drawing danger bearings so a single line of position warns the watch of standing into danger, working the tides and currents, and loading and verifying the ECDIS-N route against the corrected paper. The navigator approves the plan, but the navigator also signs it — and when the ship clips a shoal because a danger bearing was missed or a turn was laid too tight for the ship's tactical diameter, the navigation investigation starts with who built the plan. The QM2 who builds a plan the navigator signs without a rebuild is the QM2 the navigator pulls into the planning meetings; the one whose plans get rebuilt every time is the one who is not yet trusted with the transit. The ECDIS-N route library is the QM2's discipline to keep honest. A loaded route the watch trusts that was never checked against the corrected paper chart is how a clean bridge runs a warship onto a charted rock — the screen is confident, the watch is comfortable, and the route is wrong. The QM2 owns verifying every route against paper, setting the safety contour and depth right for the ship and the transit, and enforcing the paper-backup discipline on the QM3s below him. The QM2 who lets the route library carry stale or unverified routes is the QM2 whose name comes up when the grounding investigation pulls the route file. The section management deliverable at QM2 is the training and readiness picture for your portion of the division. You manage PQS and qualification progress for your QM3s and strikers, run the preventive maintenance — the 3-M/PMS — on the division's navigation gear (gyro, magnetic compass, fathometer, ECDIS-N, chronometers, the alidades and peloruses), and produce your input to the department training plan with specific names, dates, and milestone status. The QM1 briefs this up to the navigator and the department head. The QM2 whose section picture is 'on track' without specifics is the QM2 whose input the QM1 rewrites before the brief; the QM2 whose picture has names, dates, and status by name is the one whose section the navigator trusts to execute without close supervision. The eEVAL writing at QM2 is the skill that compounds most directly into the advancement package for the QM3s under you. Action-result-impact with measurable outcomes: 'Ran 24 navigation-detail plots across a 7-month deployment, zero position-keeping errors, section named in the navigator's deployment summary.' That is a countable bullet. 'Demonstrated superb seamanship and professional excellence' is the phrase the chief kills at the first ranking board. The QM2 who writes good eEVAL input for his QM3s is the QM2 whose QM3s advance on pace and whose own eEVAL the QM1 writes to the same standard. The NWAE for QM1 runs on the same bibliography discipline as every previous NWAE — but the exam is harder because the QM1 knowledge base is broader, reaching into voyage planning, navigation casualty response, leadership, and administration that reflect the LPO responsibility profile. Pull the current QM BIB from MyNavyHR or NETC on the day QM2 pins and work it on a twelve-month plan. The QM2 who does not sit for the QM1 exam at the first eligible cycle is the QM2 the navigator is counseling about peer-group standing — and the rate is small enough that everyone in the division knows where everyone else stands on the slate.
Career Arc
  • 01QM2 pin-on via NWAE; first section leader counseling with the QM1 — section PMS, training plan input, and the eEVAL responsibility framework.
  • 02Navigation evaluator (or senior watch plotter) qualified on current ship class before the midpoint of the sea tour; you run the detail plot from day one.
  • 03Voyage and passage plans built and approved by the navigator; a portion of the chart and publication portfolio owned outright.
  • 04SWS device pinned — the QM2 without a warfare device at the eEVAL ranking board is visibly behind the peer group.
  • 05Section training input produced for the department plan — PQS completions by name, qualification pipeline, NWAE study milestones — defended to the QM1 without a rewrite.
  • 06NWAE for QM1 study plan documented from pin-on day; first exam at the first eligible cycle.
  • 07Chief board package conversation with the QM1 at QM2 mid-tour — the package is built now, across the QM2 and QM1 tours, not the month before submission.
Common Screwups
  • ×Approving or running a passage plan without a signed, walked check of the corrected charts and the verified ECDIS-N route — when the ship clips the shoal and the navigation investigation team arrives, the plan is the first exhibit and the QM2's name is on it.
  • ×Falsifying or backfilling navigation records — the deck log, the bearing book, the chart-correction record, the PMS log — to close a gap. The deck log is legal, the records are evidence, and an integrity hit on the bridge is the kind the Chief board reads and the navigator never forgets.
  • ×Letting QM3s sign off PQS for each other and rubber-stamping the section — one fraudulent plotter qual exposed under a dark, rainy strait transit comes back on the QM2 who supervised it, and the eEVAL profile reflects the navigator's lost confidence.
  • ×Skipping the navigation-evaluator development and the QM1 NWAE because the chart-table work fills the day — the warfare pin, the evaluator qual, and the exam are how QM2s separate at the ranking board, and the deck work alone does not carry the advancement package.
  • ×Financial mismanagement or a first NJP at QM2 — the Chief board package is built across this tour, and a disciplinary mark at this rank is a visible entry in the service record the Senior Chief slate reads. A DUI here does not just cost a cycle; it can cost the anchors.

A Day in the Life

  • 0500Wake up. Check overnight watch-bill changes, section assignments, and any navigation-gear casualties flagged by the duty section. If there is a navigation detail today, confirm the timing and who is on each watch station before PT.
  • 0545-0700Division PT. At QM2 section lead you set the pace from the front rank — your PT performance is read by the QM1 as a proxy for the section's standard. The QM2 who falls out or dogs the run is the QM2 whose section eventually mirrors it.
  • 0700-0730Hygiene, working uniform, section pre-quarters check. Walk your section's space briefly — chart table squared, your QM3s and strikers in the correct uniform and ready. The section lead who shows up to quarters having already walked the space has information the one who walks in cold does not.
  • 0730-0800Quarters. The navigation officer and the QM1 put out the plan. At QM2 you absorb the day's plan and put it out to your section — you do not wait for the QM1 to direct each of your Sailors individually. After quarters breaks, your section has assignments before they ask.
  • 0800-1130Section lead execution — building a voyage plan for an upcoming transit, verifying an ECDIS-N route against corrected paper, running the section's chart-correction work with a QM3 quality check, PMS on the navigation gear, training and PQS testing. You work the task and supervise the section at the same time.
  • 1130-1230Chow. Check the section's afternoon watch bill — navigation watch or detail starting at 1300, PMS deadlines, PQS testing scheduled.
  • 1230-1500Navigation evaluator / detail plot watch or afternoon section evolution. On the detail: you run the plot, enforce the fix interval, compute and announce set and drift, recommend tracks and turns to the OOD. Off the detail: voyage-plan building, PMS completion with quality review, section training.
  • 1500-1600PMS closeout with QM3 quality review. Discrepancy chits submitted. NWAE study — this hour is non-negotiable at QM2. The QM2 who opens the QM1 BIB consistently in this window advances at the first eligible cycle; the one who cedes it to administrative catch-up stalls.
  • 1600-1630End-of-day section check. Chart table squared, portfolio corrections logged, next morning's watch bill checked, any evening evolution prepared. The section lead who walks the space before release is the one whose section does not have a problem because she left before confirming everyone was squared away.
  • 1630-1800Secured — in port liberty or underway transition to evening watch. If standing the 1800-2200 navigation watch, relieve on the bridge by 1745 with a full pre-watch brief from the off-going evaluator.
  • 1800-2200Navigation watch or off-duty. On watch: full bridge watch as evaluator or senior plotter, fix discipline, deck log accountability, contact and traffic management under OOD authority. Off-duty: NWAE study, eEVAL draft work, section training-plan update, personal time.
  • 2200Watch relief or rack. Clean turnover to the oncoming watch section — chart status, current fix and set, contacts, the navigator's standing orders, any pending OOD-directed actions.

Weekly Cadence

Monday is framing day. The QM1 published the plan of the week on Friday; the QM2 section lead spent the weekend knowing what the week's section work will look like — which transits are coming and need voyage plans built, which charts need correcting, which PMS deadlines fall this week, which PQS testing sessions are scheduled, and which navigation-watch and detail slots the section owns. Monday morning quarters puts the plan out; the QM2 who walks out of quarters with the section work already mentally allocated is the one who executes the week without asking the QM1 for direction. Monday afternoon is the section sync — review the training picture with the QM3s, confirm PMS and portfolio status, and identify any milestone at risk before it becomes a lapsed deadline. Tuesday through Thursday are the execution core. On detail days the section is on station from the pre-detail brief through clearing the channel and securing the plot; the QM2 is running the navigation plot. Off the detail, the voyage-plan building, the portfolio corrections, the PMS cycle, and the PQS testing fill the operational window. The navigation-watch block falls wherever the rotation places it — at QM2 you stand it regardless of how heavy the rest of the day was. The 1500-1600 NWAE study window is protected. Any underway period reorders the week around the navigation detail and the watch bill, and the QM2 who has the section's voyage plans built and routes verified ahead of the transit is the one who runs a calm bridge instead of a scramble. Friday is the plan-of-the-week output to the QM1 — the section training picture update, the PMS forecast for next week, the upcoming transit prep and navigation briefs, and any section personnel issues that should not wait the weekend. The QM1 who receives a clean Friday brief from the QM2 section lead — portfolio current, PMS green, QM3s on pace, plans built — is the QM1 who gives that section more latitude the following week and names the QM2 in a good light when the navigator asks who is Chief-board material.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Run the navigation plot as the senior watch QM or navigation evaluator — fix interval enforced, set and drift computed and announced, next-course recommendation to the OOD before the turn bearing, the evolution controlled from the chart table.
    At QM2 the plot is yours to run, not just to keep — so you are thinking a turn ahead of the ship, computing the set between fixes, and feeding the OOD the recommendation before he needs it. Know your ship's tactical diameter, advance, and transfer cold so your turn recommendations match how the ship actually swings. Position yourself to supervise the bearing taker and the QM3 plotter while you maintain the picture. The OOD reads the quality of your plot as the truth about where the ship is; the QM2 whose recommendations are early and right is the one the navigator leaves on the chart table for the hardest transits, and the one whose plot lags is the one the navigator stands behind.
  2. 02
    Build a voyage and passage plan the navigator approves — portfolio assembled and corrected, tracks laid with safe water and turn bearings, hazards and danger bearings annotated, tides and currents worked, ECDIS-N route loaded and verified against paper.
    Build the plan off NAVDORM and Bowditch, not off the last ship's lay-down — every turn bearing and range marked, every danger bearing drawn so one LOP warns the watch, the tides and currents worked into the timing and the under-keel clearance, the route verified against the corrected paper chart before it ever goes on watch. Walk the navigator through the plan and be ready to defend every turn, every danger bearing, and every contingency for loss of GPS or gyro. The QM2 who hands the navigator a plan he signs without a rebuild is the QM2 in the planning meetings; the one whose plan has a missed correction or a too-tight turn is the one whose plan becomes the investigation exhibit.
  3. 03
    Train and qualify a QM3 as a plotter — and defend the qualification when the navigator tests the sign-off under a hard transit.
    Test the QM3 cold and under pressure — make him run a round of fixes, compute set and drift, and make a turn recommendation in conditions that matter, not in flat water on a quiet afternoon. Your initials on his qual are a statement that he can hold the plot when the strait is dark and rainy, so do not sign until he can. Document what you tested. When the navigator pulls the new plotter onto a hard transit and watches him, the QM2 who trained him cold has a plotter who holds; the QM2 who rubber-stamped to fill the watch bill has a plotter who folds and a sign-off he cannot defend.
  4. 04
    Manage PMS for the division's navigation gear — gyro, magnetic compass, fathometer, ECDIS-N, chronometers, alidades and peloruses — with zero overdue work orders at the monthly PMS review.
    Build a monthly PMS view before the first of the month: every Maintenance Requirement Card due, the assigned maintainer, the scheduled date, the last completion. Read the MRC before the work and verify the QM3's completion quality before it goes in the log. When a card cannot be completed because of a parts shortage or degraded gear, submit the discrepancy chit the same day — not the day before the review. Zero overdue safety-critical cards is the absolute standard, because the gyro or the fathometer that misses its interval is the gear that fails on the detail, and explaining why it was late is always a worse conversation than the one you could have had three weeks earlier about getting it fixed.
  5. 05
    Write eEVAL bullets for QM3s and strikers with measurable navigation outcomes — detail plots run, qualifications earned, PQS completed — not generic bridge-watch filler.
    Every bullet needs action, result, and impact: what the Sailor did, what happened because of it, and why it mattered to the ship's safe navigation. Count everything — navigation-detail plots run, fixes cross-checked, PQS sections signed, position-keeping errors avoided, qualifications earned. Draft the input at the midpoint of the evaluation period, not the week before it is due, and share it with the QM1 early enough for feedback. The QM3 who advances on time because the QM2 wrote a real, countable eEVAL is the QM3 who names that QM2 years later; the QM3 who loses the slate because the input was generic filler is a Sailor the QM2 failed.
  6. 06
    Advise the OOD on a rules-of-the-road or restricted-visibility situation by the Navigation Rules — light, shape, sound signal, give-way or stand-on, in plain language the watch can act on.
    Keep the COLREGS instant, not approximate — when a contact develops on a crossing or overtaking bearing, the OOD needs your read fast and right: 'Bridge, contact dead ahead, masthead lights and a red over white — vessel engaged in fishing, we are the give-way vessel, recommend come right to pass astern.' Read the contact's lights and shapes by night and day, know the restricted-visibility sound-signal procedure cold, and apply the steering and sailing rules without hesitation. The QM2 who can turn a developing traffic situation into a clear, rules-based recommendation is the one the OOD leans on when the picture gets crowded; the one who hesitates or gets the give-way logic backward is the one the OOD stops asking.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • Bowditch — American Practical Navigator, NGA Pub. No. 9
    At QM2 you run the plot off Bowditch and you teach it — the piloting and the tides-and-currents chapters are the ones you work from on the detail and quote to the QM3s when they ask why a method works. When a QM3 asks how to compute set and drift or which fix method to trust in degraded conditions, the answer is Bowditch plus the reasoning, not 'because the navigator said so.' The QM2 who teaches to Bowditch builds a section that can solve a navigation problem the screen cannot; the one who teaches from memory builds a section that repeats whatever the last ship happened to do.
  • Navigation Rules, International–Inland (the Rules of the Road / COLREGS)
    At QM2 you are the OOD's rules-of-the-road reference on watch — lights, shapes, sound signals, the steering and sailing rules, and the restricted-visibility rules have to be instant and exact. When a crossing or overtaking situation develops, the OOD needs your read in plain language he can act on, and you are also the standard the QM3s learn the Rules from. The QM1 NWAE tests the Rules hard, and so does every busy transit; the QM2 who owns them is the one the bridge leans on when the picture gets complicated.
  • NAVDORM — Surface Ship Navigation Department Organization and Regulations Manual
    You enforce NAVDORM now, not just follow it — the voyage-planning requirements, the fix-interval standards, the navigation-brief content, and the watch organization are yours to hold the section to. When the navigation brief or the passage plan has to meet the standard, NAVDORM is the standard, and the QM2 who can cite the manual builds plans and briefs that survive the navigator's review and the investigator's hindsight. Read the voyage-planning and watch-organization sections until you can build to them without gaps, because the QM3s are learning the standard from how you apply it.
  • OPNAVINST 3120.32 — Standard Organization and Regulations of the U.S. Navy (SORN)
    Watch-section standing orders, deck log standards, and log accountability live in the SORN, and at QM2 you are responsible for your watch section keeping the records to that standard. When the navigator or the XO asks why a log standard was not held, the answer that starts with the SORN's actual requirement is the one that holds up. The QM2 who knows the SORN's deck-log and watchstanding sections owns the conversation about how the watch is run; the one who improvises is the one whose section's records become a problem after an incident.
  • MILPERSMAN 1306 series + OPNAVINST 1306.2 — detailing and C-school pipeline
    At QM2 the detailing conversation about the next assignment is real, and these documents cover the detailing process, the sea-shore rotation, and the C-school eligibility — ECDIS-N, master helmsman, navigation supervisor — that builds a Chief-board-competitive record. Understanding the detailing math before the window opens means you can advocate for the billet and the school you need rather than taking what the system hands you. The career counselor uses these documents; the QM2 building toward Chief should too.
  • QM Rate Training Manual (NAVEDTRA) + current QM BIB from MyNavyHR
    The QM1 NWAE bibliography is longer than the QM2 BIB and adds material on navigation leadership, casualty response, and administration that the QM2 exam did not test. Build the QM1 reading plan from the current published BIB — not from what you remember of the QM2 list — pulled on QM2 pin-on day. The sections on voyage planning, navigation casualties, and the LPO responsibilities are tested directly. Own the material rather than summarizing it, because the QM1 gate is the study discipline you either kept or did not.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • Navigation evaluator (or senior watch plotter) qualified on current ship class before the midpoint of the sea tour.
    Start the qualification on day one of the tour and push it harder than you did the plotter qual, with less hand-holding — if you transferred from another ship class with the qual, notify the QM1 in the first week and get the equivalency and the new-ship qualification moving. The qualification wants to see you run a full detail plot, build a passage plan, and respond to a navigation casualty, so prepare the way you would for a board, not a quiz. The QM2 who arrives at a new command with documented quals and re-qualifies within the first months is the one the navigator notices before the first sea-and-anchor detail.
  • Surface Warfare Specialist (SWS) device pinned — no warfare device at this tour is visibly behind the peer group.
    If you did not pin SWS as a QM3, close it out early at QM2 — work the PQS with the QM1 and the division officer and treat it as a priority, because at the eEVAL ranking board the QM2 without a warfare pin is behind regardless of how good the plot is. If you are already SWS-pinned, the device is the baseline and the differentiation moves to the navigation-evaluator qual, the voyage-plan quality, and the QM1 NWAE. Do not let the warfare device be the thing the navigator has to ask you about at the ranking board.
  • Division navigation-gear PMS completion rate at or above department average every monthly review — zero safety-critical gear overdue without a chit in the chain.
    Build the monthly PMS view before the month starts, with a name, a date, and a verification step for every card. Verify the QM3's completion quality before it goes in the log, and when a card is going to miss its due date, tell the QM1 and submit the discrepancy chit before the review — never let the QM1 find an overdue gyro or fathometer card without warning. A section running at 98-100% month over month is the section the navigator holds up as the standard; a section at 80% with unexplained lates is the one the XO discusses at the department head sync, with the QM2's name attached.
  • NWAE for QM1 documented study plan from pin-on day — exam taken at the first eligible cycle.
    Pull the current QM BIB on QM2 pin-on day and build a twelve-to-eighteen-month plan with milestones by reference. Log your sessions in a notebook the QM1 can review, so when the QM1 asks about your QM1 study plan at the first section sync you can show a plan in motion, not describe one you meant to build. The QM2 who fails the QM1 exam at the first eligible cycle with a documented log has grounds for review; the QM2 without a log who fails gets counseled about academic commitment — and on a small rate, the navigator and the chief both know the difference.
  • PRT Good High or better; BCA in standard.
    Set the section's PT standard by being in the front of the run and passing the PRT with margin, not at the minimum — the QM3s mirror what the QM2 does. Train through the twice-yearly cycle under OPNAVINST 6110.1 rather than sprinting the test, and put the cycle dates on the calendar so a deployment workup does not eat the prep window. A BCA failure at QM2 is a visible mark that undercuts the leadership posture you are trying to build and that the Chief board package cannot afford.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Approving or running a passage plan with an uncorrected chart, a missed danger bearing, or a turn laid too tight for the ship's tactical diameter.
    When the ship clips the shoal or overshoots the turn into shallow water, the navigation investigation starts with who built and approved the plan — and the missed danger bearing or the too-tight turn is the finding. A danger bearing exists precisely so one line of position warns the watch before the ship stands into danger; the plan that omits it removes the warning, and the plan that lays a turn tighter than the ship can make sends the ship wide into the shoal. The QM2's name is on the plan, and the consequence is a grounding the plan should have prevented.
  • Letting the ECDIS-N route library carry stale or unverified routes.
    A loaded route the watch trusts that was never checked against the corrected paper chart is how a clean bridge runs a warship onto a charted rock — the screen is confident, the route walks the ship across a hazard the chart shows, and nobody catches it because nobody verified it. After the grounding the investigators pull the route file and ask who verified it; the QM2 who let the library carry unverified routes is the one who cannot answer. The verification takes an hour; the grounding takes a ship out of the fight.
  • Letting QM3s sign off PQS for each other and rubber-stamping the section.
    One fraudulent plotter qual exposed under a dark, rainy strait transit — when the unqualified QM3 cannot hold the plot and the ship's position picture degrades in restricted waters — comes back on the QM2 who supervised the sign-offs. The navigator's confidence in the QM2's judgment drops, the eEVAL profile reflects it, and a single exposed fraudulent qual can delay the QM1 advancement by a full cycle. The integrity standard on the plot is not negotiable because the plot is what keeps the ship off the rocks.
  • Missing a PMS due date on safety-critical navigation gear — gyro, fathometer, ECDIS-N — without submitting a discrepancy chit.
    The gear that misses its maintenance interval is the gear that fails on the detail, and a gyro or fathometer casualty in restricted waters degrades the ship's ability to fix its position when it matters most. The investigation asks who last signed the PMS card and what the overdue interval was; a discrepancy chit in the chain before the failure shows the system worked and the QM2 escalated, while no chit means the problem was invisible until the casualty — which is the conversation the navigator has with the section lead in the captain's presence.
  • Failing to brief the OOD on a navigation casualty, a position-keeping disagreement, or a gyro error because you handled it.
    The SORN requires significant navigation events to be reported to the OOD, and the OOD needs to know the ship's position confidence is degraded so he can adjust the watch and the maneuvering. A gyro error or a fix disagreement that the QM2 quietly works around is a hazard that recurs — and when it recurs with the ship in a tight channel, the investigation finds the earlier unreported event and the QM2 who withheld it. The omission always looks worse in hindsight than the casualty would have; the QM2 who reports it immediately is the one the OOD keeps trusting with the deck.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • Chief board package construction — start at QM2, not QM1
    The Chief Petty Officer selection board reads the full service record: NWAE history across all cycles, eEVAL profile and ranking across the QM2 and QM1 tours, warfare device and qualification record, duty-station diversity, awards, education, and the navigation leadership accomplishments. The QM2 who starts building the package at QM1 mid-tour is building it too late — the early NWAE history, the QM2 eEVAL ranking, and the warfare-device timing are already locked. Talk to the QM1 at month six of the QM2 tour about what the Chief board package requires and what gaps exist. The QM1 who has that conversation with a QM2 has investment in the outcome, and the navigation rate is small enough that a clean, deliberate record stands out at the board.
  • LDO / CWO commissioning — the QM2-to-QM1 application window
    The Limited Duty Officer and Chief Warrant Officer programs accept applications from E-5 through E-7 with the right academic, professional, and leadership profile, and the deck and navigation-related officer tracks specifically value the QM's piloting and watchstanding expertise. A QM2 with navigation-evaluator qual, SWS device, a strong NWAE history, and a college transcript in progress is building a competitive package. The application requires the quals, a strong eEVAL profile, command endorsement, and the academic credentials, and the timelines are annual with requirements that must be started twelve to eighteen months before the board — so talk to the officer selection program coordinator at NPC well before the window.
  • C-school pipeline — master helmsman, navigation supervisor, ECDIS-N, advanced navigation
    The MILPERSMAN 1306 series and the NPC website publish the C-schools available to QM2s — master helmsman, navigation supervisor, ECDIS-N maintenance and operation, and advanced navigation credentials that differentiate the career profile and strengthen the Chief board package. Each pipeline has a sea-tour and command-endorsement requirement. The QM2 who wants to differentiate should talk to a QM1 who holds the credential she wants, not just to the career counselor's posting — the right C-school at the right point in the tour is a record-builder, and the wrong one is just time away from the ship.
  • Second sea tour ship class — chase the big-deck navigation picture or stay where the reps are
    Your next ship class shapes the navigation experience the Chief board will read. A small combatant keeps you running the plot constantly with high visibility; a carrier or large amphib offers a broader, more complex navigation picture, duty-station diversity, and the kind of high-stakes capital-ship transits that build a deep record. Duty-station diversity matters at the Chief board, so the QM2 weighing the second tour should consider what mix of platforms tells the strongest career story. Talk to the detailer and to QMs who have served the platforms you are considering before the orders are written.
  • Re-enlistment for a full career vs. transitioning with a portable navigation skill set
    By QM2 the honest question is whether you are building toward Chief and a full Navy career or whether the transition is the better move. The QM skill set — bridge watchstanding, voyage planning, ECDIS-N, the COLREGS — has real civilian-maritime portability toward merchant-marine and commercial-mariner paths, and a QM2 who is thinking about transition should look at how the sea time and the qualifications translate to a Coast Guard mariner credential. Pull the current QM SRB from the NAVADMIN before re-enlisting, and weigh the bonus against the path you actually want. The QMs who make Chief and beyond are the ones who decided deliberately at QM2 to build for it; drifting into a second term without that decision is how a good QM ends up six years deeper without a plan.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • DDG Arleigh Burke (small navigation division)
    The QM2 section lead on a destroyer runs a small section and is personally visible on every navigation detail — the navigator and the OOD know the QM2's name by the second underway period. Navigation-evaluator watch on a destroyer is consequential: the ship is small, the maneuvering is frequent, and the OOD notices every fix and every recommendation. The QM1 NWAE is tracked by name in the QM1's section plan, and a strong QM2 on a destroyer advances ahead of the peer group because the visibility runs hard in both directions.
  • LHD/LPD (amphibious, larger navigation division)
    On a large-deck amphib the QM2 section lead runs a bigger section and a broader navigation picture — amphibious-operations timing, well-deck evolutions, complex approaches, and a deeper watch bill. The scale of the navigation work is larger, but individual visibility per Sailor is lower because the division is bigger. The QM2 who manages up — keeping the QM1 current on the section's status rather than waiting to be asked — is the one who advances despite the visibility gap, and the MEU workup cycle drives the rhythm.
  • Aircraft carrier (CVN, large navigation team)
    On a carrier the QM2 is a section lead within the largest and most layered navigation team in the fleet, running the plot on capital-ship transits where the stakes and the supervision are both at their highest. The flight-operations schedule and the deep-draft handling shape the navigation picture, and the cross-check discipline is enforced hard. Individual visibility is lowest, so the QM2 who documents the section's readiness and manages his own QM1 NWAE and Chief-package timeline is the one who stands out in a deep, competitive division.
  • MCM / patrol craft / small combatant
    On a mine countermeasures ship, a patrol coastal craft, or another small combatant, the QM2 is effectively the senior navigation watchstander and may be the senior QM aboard, with more independent authority than at the same rank on a large ship. Precise piloting in tight, shallow, or mined waters is the operational point of the platform, so the QM2's craft is central to the mission and the proximity to the actual ship-handling is high. The autonomy and responsibility build the navigation craft fast, though the total portfolio is narrower than a big ship's — a strong option for the QM2 who wants high responsibility early.
  • Shore duty / staff / schoolhouse
    A QM2 shore tour — staff navigation, the QM 'A' School or another schoolhouse, a training command — usually follows a sea tour and is a real opportunity to build the Chief package through instructor duty, staff work, and college credit, all of which the board reads. The trap is letting the QM1 NWAE and the navigation edge dull during the predictable schedule; the QM2 who keeps the BIB moving and the skills sharp ashore comes back to the fleet ready, while the one who coasts is behind the afloat peer group at the QM1 board.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good QM2 is the navigation evaluator the navigator names when the ship gets a new XO and someone has to explain how the sea-and-anchor detail actually runs — because this QM2 has run it without incident for seven months and can walk the XO through the fix discipline, the danger bearings, the set-and-drift math, and the ECDIS-N-versus-paper cross-check from memory in four minutes flat. His portion of the portfolio is current. His QM3s are SWS-pinned plotters who hold the plot under a hard transit because he trained and tested them cold. His navigation-evaluator qual was done by month six of the tour. The navigator pulls him into voyage-planning meetings — not because the SORN requires it, but because his recommendation is accurate and his set-and-drift is never wrong. His eEVAL input for the QM3s under him is counted and specific — detail plots run, PQS sections completed, qualifications earned, position-keeping errors avoided — and the chief can defend every EP recommendation he writes because the documentation is there. The navigation-gear PMS in his section has no overdue safety-critical cards; when a card is at risk, he has already chitted it and proposed a fix. He is not waiting to be managed, and the navigator can open his section's training picture at any point and see current status without asking. The Chief board conversation is already on the table at QM2 mid-tour. He knows his service-record gaps, the NWAE history the slate reads, the eEVAL profile the Senior Chief packet requires, and the navigation accomplishment bullets that distinguish a Chief-board-competitive record from a technically-proficient-but-generic one. The QM1 is already drafting the endorsement language, and the goat locker has already had the conversation about him without him in the room. He is, in the simplest terms, the QM the navigator trusts to keep the ship off the dirt and to build the next generation that will too.

Preview — The Next Rank

QM1 (E-6) is the LPO billet — Leading Petty Officer of the navigation division and the navigator's right hand. The navigation officer handles the wardroom and the captain; you run the QMs, own the entire chart and publication portfolio, build the major voyage plans for the navigator's signature, and run the sea-and-anchor detail as the senior enlisted on the plot. The QM2 who runs a section has a reference point; the QM1 who owns the whole division's watch bill, PQS pipeline, PMS, and eEVAL input carries a materially different leadership load that does not get a warm-up phase at the pin-on ceremony. The eEVAL writing at QM1 scales up further — you write for every QM2 and QM3 in the division, and those bullets are the inputs the chief defends at the wardroom ranking board. The QM1 who writes generic input is the QM1 whose QM2s lose advancement opportunities and whose own eEVAL the chief scores accordingly. And the Chief board conversation that was on the table at QM2 mid-tour becomes the active project: the LCPO is editing your record, you are building your package across the QM1 tour, and the Senior Chief who speaks for you at the Chief board is reading your record before you know she is reading it. The cross-check standard you enforce on yourself at QM1 — paper backs the screen, the fix is verified three ways, the danger bearing is live — is the thing that keeps the division from being the one in the next grounding headline, and the navigator is watching whether you hold it when no one is making you.
FAQ

QM E5 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E5 QM (Quartermaster) actually do?
You stand the navigation watch as the navigation evaluator or senior plotter, run the plot on every sea-and-anchor and navigation detail, and build the voyage and passage plans the navigator approves.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E5 QM?
QM2 (E-5) is the working navigation petty officer — the one the QM1 trusts to run the plot on the sea-and-anchor detail while he briefs the captain.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E5 QM?
Time-blocked day at the E5 QM rank tier: 0500 Wake up. Check overnight watch-bill changes, section assignments, and any navigation-gear casualties flagged by the duty section. If there is a navigation detail today, confirm the timing and who is on each watch station before PT, 0545-0700 Division PT. At QM2 section lead you set the pace from the front rank — your PT performance is read by the QM1 as a proxy for the section's standard. The QM2 who falls out or dogs the run is the QM2 whose section eventually mirrors it, 0700-0730 Hygiene, working uniform, section pre-quarters check.…
Q04What mistakes get E5 QM soldiers fired or relieved?
Approving or running a passage plan without a signed, walked check of the corrected charts and the verified ECDIS-N route — when the ship clips the shoal and the navigation investigation team arrives, the plan is the first exhibit and the QM2's name is on it; Falsifying or backfilling navigation records — the deck log, the bearing book, the chart-correction record, the PMS log — to close a gap. The deck log is legal, the records are evidence,…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E5 QM rank tier?
Chief board package construction — start at QM2, not QM1 — The Chief Petty Officer selection board reads the full service record: NWAE history across all cycles, eEVAL profile and ranking across the QM2 and QM1 tours, warfare device and qualification record, duty-station diversity, awards, education, and the navigation leadership accomplishments. The QM2 who starts building the package at QM1 mid-tour is building it too late — the early NWAE history, the QM2 eEVAL ranking, and the warfare-device timing are already locked.…
Q06What's next after E5 for a QM (Quartermaster) in the Navy?
QM1 (E-6) is the LPO billet — Leading Petty Officer of the navigation division and the navigator's right hand.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E5 QM need to know cold?
Bowditch — American Practical Navigator, NGA Pub. No. 9 (you run the plot off it; you teach the piloting and tides-and-currents chapters).; Navigation Rules, International–Inland (COLREGS; you are the OOD's rules-of-the-road reference on watch).; NAVDORM — Surface Ship Navigation Department Organization and Regulations Manual (voyage-planning, fix-interval, and navigation-brief requirements are yours to enforce).

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