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ICE6

Interior Communications Electrician

E-6 (Staff Sergeant) · Navy

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

You are LPO. The chief is editing your Chief board packet whether you know it or not. The XO calls you by name when the 1MC drops before an all-hands formation, and the IC2s are watching how you carry the division the same way you used to watch your chief. The packet is built from this year's eEVALs and this year's CSMP posture — not from the week before submission.

The Honest MOS Read
Interior Communications First Class (IC1, Petty Officer First Class) is the rate's LPO billet and the rank where the Chief selection board becomes the concrete near-term goal rather than an abstract future aspiration. You write four-to-six eEVALs per cycle that directly shape the next IC advancement slate. You run the work center's full CSMP and 3-M program. You brief the department head on IC system readiness, defend the work center's posture to the ISIC coordinator, and manage the parts pipeline, the NEC pipeline, and the personnel pipeline simultaneously. The IC systems suite you now own as LPO spans everything the division officer briefs: every announcing circuit on the ship, every gyrocompass and repeater network, every battle lantern on every damage-control deck, the IC switchboard, every sound-powered phone circuit, course recorders, and rudder angle indicators. When the XO cannot talk to the repair lockers during a damage-control evolution because the 5MC loop is down, you are the person he calls — and the repair timeline you give him is the one that makes it into the CO's readiness picture. The most important skill the IC1 LPO develops that the IC2 did not have is the ability to disagree with the wardroom on maintenance decisions, make the case clearly, and walk out aligned. The division officer will occasionally want to defer a PMS evolution for operational reasons. The correct response is to document the request, explain the risk in plain language, and if the DivO proceeds, ensure the deferral is authorized in writing in the 3-M log. The incorrect response is to quietly skip the entry. The ISIC inspector does not distinguish between 'the DivO told me to' and 'I made the call independently' — both produce the same finding. The LDO/CWO conversation at IC1 is not hypothetical — it is either happening or it has been decided against. The IC rate feeds the 620X Ship's Electrical LDO and CWO designators, and competitive LDO/CWO packets are built from IC1 records that show consistent technical leadership: CSMP posture clean across multiple sea tours, eEVAL profiles producing advancement selectees, NEC pipeline output, and INSURV and ISIC results that demonstrate the division was in better material condition when the IC1 LPO left than when he arrived. The LCPO shapes the Chief packet and the LDO/CWO packet simultaneously; if neither conversation is happening in the first six months of your IC1 tour, initiate it. The Chief board packet is built from the eEVAL record, the service record, and the LCPO's recommendation. The eEVAL record is built from what you did as a LPO every day — not from what you write on the packet application form. The IC1s who arrive at the Chief board with a packet the LCPO can brief in 30 seconds are the ones who ran their division as if someone was going to read every CSMP entry and every eEVAL bullet someday. Someone is.
Career Arc
  • 01IC1 advancement via NWAE — FMS combining exam, eEVAL grade, TIR, awards, education.
  • 02LPO assumption: formal work-center ownership — CSMP, 3-M program, parts pipeline, 4-6 eEVALs per cycle.
  • 03Chief board packet construction starts on pin-on day, not submission day — LCPO mentors the record, not the paperwork.
  • 04NEC pipeline management: producing NEC selectees, LDO/CWO candidates, and commissioning accessions from the division.
  • 05INSURV and ISIC preparation: the IC suite's material condition during the IC1 LPO's tenure is the visible metric.
  • 06eEVAL profile defending at wardroom level — senior rater can brief every recommended trait block from the bullet narrative.
  • 07Chief Petty Officer selection board: selective, competitive, record-based — the LCPO's recommendation is the final gate.
Common Screwups
  • ×Briefing CSMP readiness numbers to the department head that you have not personally validated against the 3-M coordinator's current report. The DH catches the delta once, and the Chief packet feels it every cycle after — because the LCPO heard about it.
  • ×Letting a senior IC2 carry the ESWP tag-out log authority unsupervised because he is reliable. When he transfers PCS, the gap surfaces during the next upkeep. The LPO's name is on the tag-out authority log and the LCPO is the one who asks why the safety petty officer found an unsigned clearance entry.
  • ×Mistaking current seniority for current technical depth on a gyrocompass variant you have not maintained since your last sea tour. The IC2 who just came out of the advanced course may know the current configuration better — say so, stand by him during the brief, and tell the wardroom you know where the expertise lives. That is not weakness; it is the technical leadership the LPO billet requires.
  • ×Going around the LCPO to the department head or the XO over a maintenance decision disagreement. The disagreement happens in the chief's mess or the LCPO's office — you walk out aligned. The goat locker hears about the end-around before the watch is over and the Chief board reads it in the recommendation narrative.
  • ×Treating the LDO/STA-21 mentoring conversation as a one-time checkbox. The ICs you put into the officer and warrant officer corps from your division are the technical leaders the Navy's surface IC community depends on a decade from now — and the Chief board remembers the LPO who produced them.

A Day in the Life

  • 0530Reveille. LPO is at the work center before the IC2s. Check the overnight OMMS-NG entries and watch log for any unresolved casualties from the night rotation.
  • 0630Breakfast. Review the day's PMS schedule and any CSMP items due for status update at the department head's 0800 sync.
  • 0730Work-center muster. Brief the division: CSMP status, today's PMS tasking, any parts arrivals from supply, and the week's upcoming milestone.
  • 0800Department head sync: IC system material condition brief — one page, all open CSMP items with status, any ISIC or INSURV liabilities. Have the resolution dates current.
  • 0900LCPO counseling (as applicable): weekly touchpoint on Chief board packet progress, pipeline status, and any personnel issues in the division that require LPO and LCPO alignment before they become formal actions.
  • 1000Work-center walk: physically check IC room, gyrocompass room, and IC switchboard space. Verify the IC2's morning maintenance work before it closes in OMMS-NG. Sign the CSMP entries that require LPO review.
  • 1100eEVAL draft work: update the accomplishment log for each IC2 and IC3 based on this week's maintenance results. One specific bullet per sailor per week adds up to a defensible EVAL narrative by cycle close.
  • 1130Noon meal.
  • 1230Personnel administration: parts requests, school nomination paperwork, NEC pipeline status, any MILPERSMAN actions pending in the division.
  • 1330LPO training session with IC2: walk through the department-head brief format and the CSMP entry standards. The IC2 who inherits the LPO billet should be able to run it on day one.
  • 1500Unscheduled: casualty response if anything surfaces, battle-lantern spot-check of highest-risk zones, or advanced NWAE study (Chief leadership PDC material).
  • 1600Pre-liberty accountability: all ICs accounted for, all open MRCs documented, OMMS-NG current, any overnight watch assignments briefed to the duty section.
  • 1700Evening meal. In port: liberty call per rotation. Underway: IC room watch turnover if on the LPO rotation.
  • 1900-2100Chief board packet study — Chief leadership development materials, MILPERSMAN review, current NAVADMIN reading. The LCPO asks what you read this week.

Weekly Cadence

The IC1 LPO's week runs on a different clock than the petty officer's week. Monday the LPO opens the week at the department head's maintenance sync — not as the person receiving tasking, but as the person briefing material condition. The ICs under you receive the week's tasking from the Monday work-center muster you run. The distance between 'receiving' and 'running' is the whole difference. Mid-week the weight falls on people, not just systems. An IC2 whose eEVAL narrative is going sideways because his maintenance documentation is vague needs a Tuesday afternoon counseling session, not a Friday afternoon conversation before liberty call. A CSMP item that is trending toward a CAT-II ISIC finding needs to surface at the Wednesday department sync, not at the inspection. The LPO who surfaces problems before they are problems builds a different reputation than the one who surfaces them after. Friday close has a different standard at IC1 than at any earlier rank. The IC1's work center closes clean — every IC has a current status, every open CSMP item has a documented resolution path, every eEVAL accomplishment log has the week's entries. That standard is visible every week, and it is the standard the IC2s will carry into their own LPO tours based on what they watched you do.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Run a department-level IC PMS review — CSMP status, deferred MRCs across all work centers, parts pipeline, ISIC and INSURV liabilities — in a brief the department head can defend at the CO's readiness sync without rewriting your numbers.
    The department-head PMS brief format that works: one page per work-center area (IC room, gyrocompass suite, announcing plant, battle-lantern zones), each with a material condition summary (FMC/PMCM/PMCS percentage of systems in each state), open CSMP items with TM references and parts-order status, and the two or three ISIC/INSURV liabilities that represent actual operational risk. The DH is not an IC technician — 'the gyrocompass repeat coil is showing intermittent heading error within the NSTM Chapter 430 tolerance range but approaching the limit' is a brief that tells him something. 'Gyrocompass has a minor issue' does not.
  2. 02
    Lead a complex multi-system IC casualty — 1MC amplifier failure implicating the IC switchboard power distribution and the 5MC damage-control announcing loop simultaneously — and report status to the wardroom with a TM reference behind every decision.
    A multi-system casualty brief to the wardroom has three elements: what is down (specific system and affected zones), what the diagnostic shows (fault isolated to a specific assembly or circuit, TM section cited), and when you expect recovery (parts on hand vs. parts on order, repair labor estimate in hours). Never brief 'we are working on it.' Brief 'the 5MC loop failure isolates to the forward IC switchboard power supply — we have the replacement power supply on board, ESWP tag-out authorized, estimated recovery in 4 hours.' The CO can make decisions from that brief.
  3. 03
    Maintain LPO-level technical authority on the full IC suite: the IC2s ask you the chapter reference before they look at the TM themselves.
    LPO-level technical authority does not mean you have every TM section memorized — it means you know exactly where the answer lives and you can navigate to it faster than the IC2 can. The practical standard: when an IC2 calls you on a casualty at 0200 and describes the symptom, you can name the NSTM Chapter 430 section and the applicable TM fault-isolation tree before he finishes the sentence. That knowledge comes from actively studying the manuals throughout the tour, not from assuming your sea time taught you everything.
  4. 04
    Defend the IC system readiness brief to the department head and XO — CSMP status, deferred PMS with reasons, equipment deadlined, TSTA/ISIC/INSURV liabilities — in plain language with a specific resolution date for every open item.
    Every open item in the brief needs four elements: what is down, why it is down, what is being done, and when it will be resolved. An open CSMP item without a resolution date is an LPO who does not know how long his own repair will take — and the department head will ask the date if you do not provide it. The IC1 who anticipates the question before it is asked is the one the DH calls by name at the wardroom sync.
  5. 05
    Write an eEVAL block the senior rater can defend at a wardroom board: measurable accomplishments, named outcomes, not generic maintenance descriptors.
    An eEVAL bullet that works: 'Maintained 100% operability across 14 IC battle-lantern zones through 7-month WESTPAC deployment; zero zone failures across 22 GQ evolutions, directly supporting ship's GQ readiness certification.' An eEVAL bullet that does not: 'Supervised maintenance of interior communications systems, ensuring operational readiness.' The difference is not writing skill — it is the habit of documenting specific measurable results throughout the year rather than reconstructing them from memory in October.
  6. 06
    Mentor an IC2's LDO/CWO or commissioning packet from idea to selection — and counsel honestly when the path does not match the sailor's actual career goals and family situation.
    The LDO/CWO packet requires a specific service record profile: minimum TIS, specific warfare qualifications, eEVAL trend, and LCPO endorsement. Walk the IC2 through the actual requirements from the current selection board precept — not the version on the goat-locker bulletin board from two years ago. Then be honest about whether the IC2's record is competitive and what he needs to do in the next 12 months to close the gap. Telling a sailor his packet is ready when it is not produces a rejection letter and damages the trust the mentorship relationship depends on.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • NSTM Chapter 430 — Interior Communications
    At IC1 LPO level you are the technical authority the IC2s consult on a casualty and the reference the ISIC inspector verifies against. Know the full chapter — announcing system architecture, gyrocompass system types and calibration requirements, IC switchboard design and protection schemes, battle-lantern standards, sound-powered phone system requirements — not just the sections your section commonly touches.
  • NAVSEA IC system TMs across the full IC suite on your ship
    Announcing system amplifier TMs, gyrocompass and repeater TMs by equipment model, IC switchboard documentation, battle-lantern technical data packages — know which TM covers which equipment configuration. At LPO level the standard is knowing which TM answers which question before the IC2 finishes describing the symptom.
  • OPNAVINST 4790.4 — Ships 3-M Systems Procedures
    You are the petty officer who defends the work center's 3-M posture at ISIC and INSURV level. Know the deferral authorization chain, the CSMP maintenance code standards, the quarterly coordinator report format, and the ISIC finding categories (CAT-I, CAT-II) and what generates each. The inspector's citation on a finding will reference a specific OPNAVINST 4790.4 paragraph — know the paragraphs before the inspection.
  • MIL-STD-461 — EMC Requirements for Equipment and Subsystems
    IC system modifications and new equipment installations require EMC compliance verification by a NAVSEA technical representative. At IC1 LPO level you coordinate the pre-installation conference, ensure the installation meets the applicable MIL-STD-461 limits, and brief EMC compliance posture to the combat systems officer. Know the standard well enough to ask the right questions, even if the detailed verification is done by the NAVSEA rep.
  • NAVPERS 18068F + current NEC source-rating NAVADMIN
    Build NEC pipeline and LDO/commissioning packets off the current cycle NAVADMIN, not the NAVPERS version on the shared drive. The NEC source-rating management NAVADMIN changes cycle to cycle; the wait times and priority billets reflect current fleet manning, not historical averages. The LDO board precept is published annually — read it before you mentor a packet.
  • MILPERSMAN articles governing enlisted personnel actions at LPO visibility
    You will need MILPERSMAN articles on advancement, retention, NJP, administrative separations, and financial hardship before the Chief board, not after. The IC1 LPO who has to call the legal office to understand what the article says while the sailor is sitting in front of him has already lost the counseling session.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • Chief board packet under construction with the LCPO's eye on every line from pin-on day.
    The Chief board packet is not a document you write in September for a November board — it is a record you build every day from the moment you pin IC1. The LCPO mentors the trajectory, not the paperwork. Ask the LCPO in the first month: 'What does my record need to show in each of the next 18 months to be competitive?' Then run the division as if the board is reading every eEVAL bullet and every CSMP entry.
  • Division-level PMS completion rate and CSMP posture defensible at department head level — no ISIC-attributable CAT-I maintenance findings with your name on the discrepancy during your LPO tenure.
    CAT-I ISIC findings are the visible blemishes on an LPO's record that the Chief board reads in the command's ISIC assessment report. The way to avoid them is not to be lucky during the inspection — it is to run the CSMP as if the inspector is reading it every Monday. The IC1 who catches his own CAT-I-potential findings before the ISIC inspector does is the one with a clean ISIC report.
  • NEC pipeline output: at least one IC advanced course selectee, LDO/CWO candidate, or commissioning packet per year from the division.
    Track the pipeline annually, not at the end of the tour. One school nomination per year, one LDO/CWO packet conversation per cycle, one NWAE selectee per cycle. The pipeline output the wardroom can name without asking for the list is the output that appears in the Chief selection board recommendation narrative.
  • Battle lantern operability rate by damage-control zone at or above the ship's required readiness threshold going into every major evolution.
    The damage-control assistant briefs the CO on battle-lantern operability by zone before every INSURV, TSTA, and major evolution. That brief comes from your zone inspection data. Run zone inspections on the cadence the PMS schedule requires plus an unscheduled spot-check of the two or three highest-risk zones before every major event. The DCA should never have to tell you about a dead zone — you should be telling him.
  • Surface Warfare device pinned, current, and backed by an actual qualification record.
    The SWS device at IC1 level means a full qualification record — written exam, oral board, watchstation qualifications, damage-control certification. The device that is 'pinned' but not backed by a signed qualification record is a safety discrepancy during an INSURV inspection and a credibility gap when the Chief board reads the evaluation package. Keep the qualification record current through the tour.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Briefing CSMP readiness numbers you have not personally validated against the 3-M coordinator's current report.
    The department head briefs the CO with your numbers. The ISIC coordinator produces a report with different numbers from the same database. The CO asks the DH where the delta came from. The DH asks you. The answer 'I briefed from my own records, not the coordinator's report' produces a trust gap that takes six months of consistent accurate briefing to repair — and the LCPO heard about it before the CO did.
  • Letting a senior IC2 carry ESWP tag-out log authority unsupervised because he is reliable.
    When that IC2 transfers PCS mid-tour, the person behind him does not have the tag-out authority or the depth of knowledge to maintain the log to the same standard. The safety petty officer finds the gap during the first post-transfer upkeep, and the investigation traces to the LPO who allowed the authority to run through one person without building depth.
  • Confusing seniority with current technical depth on a gyrocompass variant you have not maintained since your previous sea tour.
    You brief the combat systems officer on a gyrocompass calibration problem and quote the wrong TM section for the installed equipment variant. The NAVSEA technical representative corrects you at the pre-INSURV brief, in front of the department head. The IC2 who just completed the advanced course knows the current baseline better than you do — that is not a criticism, it is a fact of technology evolution, and the LPO who acknowledges it and leverages the expertise builds a stronger division than the one who covers it.
  • Going around the LCPO to the department head or the XO over a maintenance decision you disagreed with.
    The LCPO hears about it from the DH before the next watch rotation. The Chief's mess hears about it from the LCPO before the week ends. The next Chief board recommendation narrative is written by the LCPO. The Navy's chain of command is not a preference — it is the organizational architecture that makes the work center function during a casualty when the LPO is simultaneously managing the 0200 fault, the parts request, the OOD brief, and the IC2's tag-out log question.
  • Treating LDO/STA-21 mentoring as a one-time conversation rather than an ongoing relationship.
    The IC2 you gave one LDO packet conversation to 18 months ago submitted a packet that was not competitive because the EVAL narrative from the year after your conversation did not continue building the trajectory you discussed. The packet was rejected, the IC2 lost a cycle, and the mentoring relationship stopped being a relationship and became a one-time transaction. ICs who commission from your division cite specific counseling sessions years later — make those sessions worth citing.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • Chief Petty Officer selection board — is the record competitive?
    The Chief selection rate in the IC rate varies year over year with manning requirements and board composition. The record that competes is built from: consistent EP or MP eEVAL trend across at least two sea tours, specific measurable LPO accomplishments (pipeline output, INSURV posture, CSMP metrics), warfare device current, NEC awarded, and an LCPO who will write a recommendation the board reads as genuine rather than formulaic. The IC1 who asks the LCPO 'is my record competitive?' six months before the board is asking too late. Ask in the first month of the IC1 tour, update the answer every six months.
  • LDO or CWO application — the 620X window is at IC1.
    The Ship's Electrical LDO (620X) and CWO (7XX) designators are the commissioned paths built from the IC rate's technical pedigree. The competitive IC1 LDO/CWO packet shows: LPO-level technical leadership with specific CSMP and INSURV results, NEC awarded, NWAE advancement selectees from the division, warfare qualification, and a community recommendation from the LCPO and commanding officer. The minimum TIS requirement is roughly nine years; the competitive window is IC1. If commissioning is on the list, apply — do not wait for the ICC board and apply as a chief, because the record the LDO board reads is built at IC1.
  • Extended shore tour vs. final sea tour before retirement or ETS.
    The IC1 approaching the 16-18 year mark faces the shore-tour/sea-tour calculus that every senior petty officer faces. A final shore tour at FTSC or a NAVSEASYSCOM technical command builds post-Navy network connections with the contractor and federal civilian community. A final sea tour as LPO on a deploying DDG builds the CSMP and INSURV record that completes the Chief board packet. If you are inside the Chief selection window, a deploying sea billet is the stronger play for the record. If you have missed the Chief window and are building toward retirement, the FTSC or technical command shore tour builds the post-Navy network that converts a 20-year IC pedigree into a federal civilian or contractor position.
  • Post-Navy career planning — start the contractor and federal civilian conversation at IC1, not at terminal leave.
    The IC rate's post-Navy market is specific but real: NAVSEASYSCOM and PEO Ships GS billets for IC system program support, NASSCO and Bath Iron Works ship maintenance positions, marine electronics integrators (L3, Raytheon, Harris), and DoD contractor positions supporting fleet maintenance activities. The IC1 who has spent two sea tours building relationships with the NAVSEASYSCOM technical representatives, FTSC detachment chiefs, and shipyard engineering contacts is the one who gets the call before the resume goes in. Cultivate those relationships during the IC1 tour — not because it feels strategic, but because they are the professional community you will work with for the next 20 years.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • Surface Combatant (DDG, CG) — deploying
    The highest-visibility LPO billet in the IC rate. A DDG LPO runs a work center with 4-8 ICs, a full CSMP, and the operational demands of a deploying surface combatant — including GQ drills, TSTA events, INSURV approach workup, and deployment-surge maintenance. The eEVAL profile from a deploying DDG LPO billet with clean CSMP and INSURV results is the strongest Chief board record in the surface IC community.
  • Fleet Technical Support Center (FTSC) Detachment — shore
    The FTSC IC1 is the field-service team leader for IC system casualty repairs and technical assessments across multiple ship classes. The breadth of cross-platform system exposure is genuinely distinctive — an IC1 LPO who has troubleshot IC switchboard casualties on three ship classes in one tour is a rare resource. The Chief board reads FTSC tours differently from sea tours; the eEVAL profile reflects leadership across a team with a different accountability structure than a shipboard division.
  • NAVSEASYSCOM / PEO Ships Staff
    A shore billet at a NAVSEASYSCOM technical directorate or PEO Ships program office gives an IC1 LPO exposure to the program management, acquisition, and technical governance layer of the IC system community — the people who write the TMs, fund the equipment upgrades, and set the INSURV inspection standards. These billets are less common for IC1s than for ICs, but when available they build the post-Navy contractor and federal civilian network faster than any other tour option.
  • Independent Duty (Small Command)
    On a small combatant, small shore command, or deployed support element where the IC1 is the only IC technician, the LPO responsibilities collapse into the technical responsibilities simultaneously. The IC1 runs the CSMP, executes the PMS, and is also the most advanced technician available for every casualty. The division officer's relationship with the IC1 in these billets is unusually direct — the chief's mess may not be present at all if the command is too small. These billets build independence and technical range but require more deliberate effort to maintain the eEVAL narrative visible to an advancement board.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good IC1 is the LPO the LCPO trusts to run the division during a pre-INSURV workup without daily check-ins — because his CSMP posture is clean before the LCPO asks, his IC2s are producing OMMS-NG entries that don't require revision, and his battle-lantern zone operability numbers brief accurately to the damage-control assistant without an asterisk. His eEVALs advance IC2s above expectation because he documents specific measurable results throughout the year, not during evaluation season. The IC2 he mentored two cycles ago picked up IC1, and the chief knows the name of the sailor and the specific counseling session that shaped the trajectory. His pipeline produces NEC selectees, LDO candidates, and NWAE advancement selectees the wardroom can name without asking him for the list. The thing the LCPO and the Chief board actually read in a Chief board recommendation is not the eEVAL summary — it is the answer to 'was the division better when he left than when he arrived?' The IC1 who can point to specific, measurable improvements — CSMP posture went from three CAT-II liabilities to zero over 18 months, battle-lantern operability rate improved from 82% to 98% across the deployment, the IC advanced course nomination pipeline produced two selectees in two years — is the one the LCPO signs without hesitation.

Preview — The Next Rank

ICC (Chief Petty Officer) is the rank where everything you did as an IC1 LPO becomes your management style rather than your technical contribution. The gold fouled anchors mean the goat locker is yours, the department head briefs around you on personnel decisions, and the division reads the maintenance standard not from the CSMP but from how you walk the spaces and whether your word and your data match. The hardest transition in the IC rate is not from IC2 to IC1 — it is from IC1 to ICC. At IC1 your credibility was built on the cleanness of your CSMP and the accuracy of your briefs. At ICC your credibility is built on those things plus whether the IC1 you mentored can run the division independently, whether the IC2s pick up IC1 on your watch, and whether the announcing plant has never been a variable in a real damage-control event during your tenure. The LCPO standard is a different kind of accountable than the LPO standard. The Chief's Mess transition is real and non-trivial. The CPO Initiation process is a leadership development experience the goat locker takes seriously; the chiefs who treat it as a formality do not receive the same investiture from the mess that the ones who enter genuinely do. Walk in with humility, leave with anchors that mean something to the chiefs who watched you earn them.
FAQ

IC E6 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E6 IC (Interior Communications Electrician) actually do?
You are LPO of the IC work center or division — interior communications division LPO on a surface combatant or amphibious ship, the senior IC technician at a shore technical command or Fleet Technical Support Center (FTSC) detachment, or the leading petty officer of a ship's electrical department shop that owns the IC systems baseline.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E6 IC?
You are LPO.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E6 IC?
Time-blocked day at the E6 IC rank tier: 0530 Reveille. LPO is at the work center before the IC2s. Check the overnight OMMS-NG entries and watch log for any unresolved casualties from the night rotation, 0630 Breakfast. Review the day's PMS schedule and any CSMP items due for status update at the department head's 0800 sync, 0730 Work-center muster. Brief the division: CSMP status, today's PMS tasking, any parts arrivals from supply, and the week's upcoming milestone, 0800 Department head sync: IC system material condition brief — one page, all open CSMP items with status,…
Q04What mistakes get E6 IC soldiers fired or relieved?
Briefing CSMP readiness numbers to the department head that you have not personally validated against the 3-M coordinator's current report. The DH catches the delta once, and the Chief packet feels it every cycle after — because the LCPO heard about it; Letting a senior IC2 carry the ESWP tag-out log authority unsupervised because he is reliable. When he transfers PCS, the gap surfaces during the next upkeep.…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E6 IC rank tier?
Chief Petty Officer selection board — is the record competitive? — The Chief selection rate in the IC rate varies year over year with manning requirements and board composition. The record that competes is built from: consistent EP or MP eEVAL trend across at least two sea tours, specific measurable LPO accomplishments (pipeline output, INSURV posture, CSMP metrics), warfare device current, NEC awarded, and an LCPO who will write a recommendation the board reads as genuine rather than formulaic.…
Q06What's next after E6 for a IC (Interior Communications Electrician) in the Navy?
ICC (Chief Petty Officer) is the rank where everything you did as an IC1 LPO becomes your management style rather than your technical contribution.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E6 IC need to know cold?
NSTM Chapter 430 — Interior Communications: you are the LPO the IC2s come to with the chapter question, not just the citation; know the difference between an R-MC and an R-MF amplifier fault path before you quote it.; NAVSEA system TMs across the full IC suite on your ship: announcing system amplifiers, gyrocompass and repeater TMs, IC switchboard documentation, battle lantern technical data packages — know which TM covers which equipment configuration.;…

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