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ICE8-E9

Interior Communications Electrician

E-8 to E-9 (Senior NCO) · Navy

E1–E3E-4E-5E-6E-7E8–E9
HEADS UP

At ICCS and ICCM, the deckplate accountability you built as an ICC is the baseline — the question the command is asking is whether you can run the senior enlisted advisory function for an entire command, a Type Commander staff, or a NAVSEASYSCOM technical directorate. The IC system TMs are still in your hands; now so is the fate of the rate's NEC pipeline for the next accession cycle. Build the post-Navy plan before the retirement orders drop — 24 years of IC pedigree is a specific, marketable credential that the marine electronics and NAVSEASYSCOM contractor base pays for.

The Honest MOS Read
Interior Communications Senior Chief Petty Officer (ICCS) and Interior Communications Master Chief Petty Officer (ICCM) are the terminal enlisted leadership ranks of the IC rate and among the most technically and institutionally demanding billets in the surface Navy's senior enlisted community. The population of ICs who reach ICCS and ICCM is small — the IC rate's overall size limits the absolute number of senior and master chief billets, which means every ICCS and ICCM is visible to the Type Commander, to NAVSEASYSCOM, and to the fleet's senior IC technical community simultaneously. The primary ICCS/ICCM assignment is typically one of four types: Command Senior Chief or Command Master Chief (CMC) on a surface combatant, amphibious ship, or shore command; senior enlisted IC voice on a Type Commander or fleet staff; senior enlisted advisor to a NAVSEASYSCOM program office or PEO Ships technical directorate; or the senior enlisted IC technical authority for a surface squadron or surface force maintenance activity. Each assignment type carries a different accountability structure but the same underlying standard: the ICs in your sphere of influence are more technically capable, better positioned for advancement, and better prepared for post-service careers than they would have been without you. The INSURV accountability at ICCS/ICCM level is fleet-wide, not ship-level. When NAVSEASYSCOM and the Type Commander review the IC system material condition picture across the force, the ICCS/ICCM at the fleet staff level is one of the senior enlisted voices shaping the assessment. The NEC pipeline management conversation at this rank is about source-rating health — whether the IC rate's advanced course pipeline is producing enough NEC-qualified ICs for the IC switchboard and gyrocompass billets the fleet needs — not about which individual sailor is eligible for the next school nomination. The personnel leadership scope at ICCS/ICCM is different in kind from the ICC scope. The ICC ran a division and mentored the IC1s in that division. The ICCS/ICCM mentors the ICCs who are each running their own divisions — the leverage is one level higher. An ICCS who mentors three ICCs simultaneously, and each ICC produces three Chief selectees from their division in a 24-month tour, has produced nine chiefs. The ICCM who does the same across a Type Commander staff's IC community produces at a scale that shapes the rate for the next decade. The post-Navy transition planning that should have started at ICC becomes an active project at ICCS/ICCM. The IC rate's civilian market is specific but real: NAVSEASYSCOM and PEO Ships GS positions at the GS-11 through GS-13 range for IC system program support, marine electronics integrator positions at NASSCO, Bath Iron Works, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and BAE Systems, DoD contracting positions supporting fleet maintenance activities, and the long tail of state maritime commission and commercial shipyard IC system maintenance roles. The ICCM who walks into the terminal leave period with an active network in these communities — built over 24 years of NAVSEASYSCOM relationships, FTSC touchpoints, and INSURV surveyor interactions — is the one who lands the senior technical role. The one who starts the job search at terminal leave is starting five years late.
Career Arc
  • 01ICCS selectee: NWAE-based advancement with board-reviewed record — the eEVAL trend, ICC pipeline output, INSURV posture, and CMC/CO recommendation from multiple sea tours.
  • 02ICCS assignment: Command Senior Chief billet or Type Commander/NAVSEASYSCOM staff senior enlisted IC voice.
  • 03Senior Enlisted Academy completion — if not complete at ICC, SEA is a near-term ICCS priority.
  • 04ICCM consideration: the Master Chief path is rare in the IC rate given the small rate size — board-reviewed, record-based, CMC-recommended.
  • 05ICCM assignment: Command Master Chief or NAVSEASYSCOM/fleet staff Master Chief IC technical advisor.
  • 06Post-Navy transition plan active 24-36 months before projected retirement: contractor network, federal GS position pipeline, credentialing portfolio assembled.
  • 07Retirement: 20-year minimum; the ICCM who retires at 24-26 years with an active contractor network is positioned better than the one who retires at 20 and starts the network from scratch.
Common Screwups
  • ×Briefing program-level IC system readiness from memory or from the ICC's data rather than the current NAVSEASYSCOM/TYCOM assessment data. At ICCS/ICCM rank the CO or flag officer cites your number up the chain — if it is wrong, the correction routes back to you and costs credibility that takes a full tour to rebuild.
  • ×Letting an ICC LCPO carry an unresolved INSURV CAT-II liability on the IC system suite because 'he is almost done with his sea tour.' The INSURV surveyors do not adjust finding weight based on PCS timelines, and the ICCS/ICCM whose name is on the division's oversight record during the survey period shares the finding's reputational weight.
  • ×Treating the NEC source-rating management conversation as the detailer's responsibility alone. The ICCS/ICCM at the fleet staff level has direct input to NEC source-rating pipeline health — if the IC rate's advanced-course pipeline runs short on qualified ICs for the IC switchboard and gyrocompass billets for the next accession cycle, the ICCS/ICCM who did not flag the shortfall in the source-rating review owns part of the gap.
  • ×Going public with disagreement with the CO or the department head at the command-team level. At ICCS/ICCM rank the entire command reads the alignment between the senior enlisted leader and the wardroom — or the crack in it. The crack produces an enlisted climate effect that is visible before the CMC can address it.
  • ×Waiting until terminal leave to start the post-Navy plan. The ICCM who begins the contractor and federal civilian job search six months before retirement is starting the conversation after the best positions have already been filled by the ICCS who started 24 months earlier.

A Day in the Life

  • 0530ICCS/ICCM is in the office or the goat locker before the ICCs arrive. Review overnight fleet traffic — NAVADMINs, TYCOM maintenance messages, NEC source-rating management messages.
  • 0630Breakfast. Review the CMC or department head's schedule for the day — any flag or CO visits, any command-team events, any INSURV or ISIC milestones that require senior enlisted IC presence.
  • 0730Staff or command muster. Brief the ICC LCPOs on the week's fleet-level maintenance message impacts and any NEC pipeline updates from the detailer's cycle.
  • 0800CO or DH briefing: IC system readiness brief — fleet-level or command-level material condition summary, pipeline status, any INSURV program liabilities.
  • 0900ICC counseling session: weekly touchpoint with each ICC on ICCS record-building, division CSMP posture, and any personnel issues requiring ICCS/ICCM-level awareness.
  • 1000NAVSEASYSCOM or TYCOM touchpoint: program office call or message traffic review — IC system program health, INSURV finding trend analysis, NEC source-rating management update.
  • 1100Pipeline management: LDO/CWO packet review for current candidates, NWAE selectee announcement review, NEC advanced course nomination status.
  • 1130Noon meal.
  • 1230Chief's Mess or command senior enlisted event: CMC-directed command climate focus area, professional development session, or initiation mentorship for the chief selectee class.
  • 1400Post-Navy network maintenance: quarterly touchpoint with NASSCO, NAVSEASYSCOM, or FTSC professional contacts. This is professional relationship maintenance, not job searching.
  • 1500Unscheduled: INSURV pre-walk segment if in approach window, ICC mentoring if a personnel issue requires same-day response, or SEA/PDC reading.
  • 1600End-of-day accountability: all ICCs have reported division status, all open fleet maintenance messages have acknowledged-receipt entries.
  • 1700Evening meal. CO or CMC conversation if any command-climate issue requires same-day senior enlisted response.
  • 1900-2100Professional reading: NAVSEASYSCOM program documentation, current NAVADMIN review, SEA curriculum material. The ICCM who reads every night is the one whose counseling sessions have something current in them.

Weekly Cadence

The ICCS/ICCM's week runs at a different altitude from the ICC's week. Where the ICC's Monday is anchored by the work-center muster, the ICCS/ICCM's Monday is anchored by the CO's readiness brief and the fleet traffic review — NAVADMINs, TYCOM maintenance messages, NEC source-rating management cycles, and INSURV program updates that set the week's senior enlisted IC advisory posture. Mid-week the weight falls on the ICC mentoring sessions and the pipeline management work — the LDO packet review, the NWAE study plan check, the INSURV pre-walk segment that surfaces the CAT-II-potential finding before the inspector finds it. The ICCS/ICCM who runs these mid-week touchpoints consistently is operating two organizational levels below the deckplate, which is exactly the right depth for the senior enlisted advisory function. Friday close at ICCS/ICCM level is a command-climate read, not a work-center accountability check. Are the ICCs running their divisions to standard? Is the fleet IC pipeline producing at the TYCOM's expected rate? Is the post-Navy network conversation with the candidate ICCM still progressing? The senior enlisted leader who answers those questions honestly every Friday is the one who can brief the CO on Monday without caveat.

Key Skills — How to Drill Each

  1. 01
    Run a senior-enlisted command climate across an IC or electrical department that produces NEC-credentialed ICs, LDO/CWO selectees, commissioning accessions, and enlisted retention rates above the Type Commander average.
    The command climate metric at ICCS/ICCM level is not subjective — it is visible in the advancement numbers, the pipeline output, the reenlistment rate, and the number of command-level adverse actions in the IC community. Track these numbers across your scope quarterly, brief the CO on the trend rather than the snapshot, and intervene at the ICC level when a metric is moving in the wrong direction. The ICCS/ICCM who reports problems to the CO after they are visible in the data has lost the early-intervention window.
  2. 02
    Brief the CO, department head, TYCOM, or NAVSEASYSCOM on enlisted IC system readiness and material risk in language the flag officer can defend at the next echelon.
    Flag-level readiness briefs have a different format than ship-level CSMP briefs — the flag officer needs the trend (is the IC system material condition improving or degrading fleet-wide), the risk (what INSURV findings indicate systemic maintenance gaps across the force), and the action (what NEC pipeline, training, or resource actions would address the risk). A brief that presents ship-level CSMP numbers to a flag audience is the wrong level of analysis. Build the fleet-level trend from the available NAVSEASYSCOM and TYCOM assessment data and brief the story, not the spreadsheet.
  3. 03
    Sit on Chief selection board panels, command CMC slates, NEC source-rating review panels, and INSURV program review boards with the required discipline and confidentiality.
    Board membership at ICCS/ICCM level carries a confidentiality obligation that is both a legal requirement and a professional standard. The deliberation that happens in the board room does not leave the board room — not to the ICC whose packet was reviewed, not to the chief who asked how his guy did, not to the wardroom. The senior enlisted leader who maintains this standard builds institutional trust that the one who leaks deliberation destroys in a single conversation.
  4. 04
    Translate NAVSEASYSCOM, PEO Ships, and OPNAV N4 interior communications investment decisions into enlisted talent management at the unit level and across the rate.
    When NAVSEASYSCOM programs a new IC switchboard variant for the DDG-51 class, the ICCS/ICCM at the fleet staff or program office level needs to ask: does the IC rate's NEC pipeline have qualified technicians for the new equipment, and if not, what is the lead time to stand up the training course and fill the pipeline? That question should surface in the program office before the equipment installs on the first hull, not after the fleet reports a maintenance gap. The senior enlisted IC voice who asks the training question during the acquisition phase is doing the job the fleet needs.
  5. 05
    Run a Red Cross notification or serious-incident response with the dignity it requires.
    At ICCS/ICCM rank, the families of the sailors in the IC community know your name before an emergency happens — because you built the family readiness program and kept it active between deployments. When the Red Cross notification arrives or the serious incident occurs, the senior enlisted leader who is known and trusted by the family does not have to establish credibility in the worst moment. Build the relationship before you need it.
  6. 06
    Build and execute the post-Navy transition plan as a professional project 24-36 months before retirement.
    The ICCM's post-Navy network is built from 24 years of NAVSEASYSCOM technical representative relationships, FTSC detachment contacts, INSURV surveyor interactions, and shipyard engineering contacts. These relationships do not require cultivation for the purpose of job-searching — they require maintenance as professional relationships throughout the career, and they convert naturally into employment opportunities when the time comes. The ICCM who has cultivated these relationships is the one who gets the senior technical role call before the resume is submitted.

Manuals & References — What Chapters Matter

  • NSTM Chapter 430 — Interior Communications
    At ICCS/ICCM level you brief the IC system governance framework to flag-level audiences. Know the chapter at a depth that allows you to answer the NAVSEASYSCOM program manager's question about a system-level finding without pulling the manual — and know which section to cite when you do pull it, because the program manager is reading the same chapter.
  • NAVSEA IC system program documentation — PEO Ships technical baseline docs, FY-current INSURV program requirements
    At this rank you brief program health, not ship-level CSMP. The PEO Ships IC system program documentation and the current INSURV IC system inspection criteria are the references behind the fleet-level material condition brief. Know the INSURV IC system criteria well enough to identify which fleet-wide maintenance practices are producing systematic findings — that analysis is the senior enlisted IC voice's contribution to the program office.
  • OPNAVINST 4790.4 — Ships 3-M Systems Procedures; NAVSEA Ship Maintenance and Modernization documentation
    The 3-M program governance at ICCS/ICCM level is the program-health layer, not the MRC layer. Know the OPNAVINST 4790.4 program structure well enough to brief Type Commander-level 3-M program health findings to the fleet maintenance officer — not the ship-level MRC completion rate, but the fleet-wide CSMP maintenance code distribution and the INSURV finding trends that indicate program-level health or degradation.
  • MIL-STD-461 — EMC Requirements for Equipment and Subsystems
    At ICCS/ICCM level you brief fleet-wide IC system EMC compliance posture to NAVSEASYSCOM and the INSURV program office. Know the standard well enough to articulate which equipment categories and installation scenarios create the highest EMC compliance risk, and what the NAVSEASYSCOM technical representative process is for verifying compliance on new installations across the force.
  • MILPERSMAN — enlisted personnel action articles at Senior/Master Chief visibility; NEC source-rating management NAVADMIN series
    The ICCS/ICCM is fluent in MILPERSMAN across the full range of enlisted personnel actions — advancement, retention, NJP, administrative separations, financial hardship, and the full range of MILPERSMAN articles an ICC might need to look up. The NEC source-rating management NAVADMIN series is the policy governance for the rate's advanced NEC pipeline — read the current cycle before any source-rating review board, not the cycle from the previous year.
  • Senior Enlisted Academy curriculum; current NAVADMIN for ICCS/ICCM assignment authority
    The SEA curriculum and the NAVADMIN governing ICCS/ICCM assignment authority change faster than the informal memory of the rate. Read the current versions before advising an ICC on ICCS eligibility, assignment timing, or CMC billet eligibility. The senior enlisted leader who quotes a policy that changed a cycle ago undermines his own advisory credibility.

Standards — How to Hit Each

  • Senior Enlisted Academy complete or in active planning before the next major command assignment.
    SEA is the professional development milestone that the ICCS/ICCM assignment authority reads as a positive indicator. If it is not complete at ICC pin-on, it is a near-term ICCS priority — not a 'when I get to it' item. The CMC coordinates the nomination; the ICCS who does not initiate the conversation is the one who arrives at the ICCM eligibility window without SEA on the record.
  • Department or command-level INSURV and ISIC posture defensible at CO and Type Commander level across the ICCS/ICCM tenure.
    The standard at this rank is not a single INSURV survey result — it is the trend across the tenure. An ICCS who takes command of a division with three CAT-II IC system findings and reduces them to zero over 18 months is briefing a trend that tells the Type Commander something. An ICCS who inherits a clean division and allows degradation is briefing a different trend. The CO and TYCOM both read the trend, not just the snapshot.
  • Pipeline output at Type Commander-visible rates: NEC advanced quals, LDO/CWO accessions, commissioning programs, NWAE selectees.
    Track the pipeline numbers quarterly and brief them to the CO before the CO asks. The Type Commander's rate-health brief cites pipeline output statistics — the ICCS/ICCM who can produce those numbers from direct knowledge rather than from a database query the day before the brief is the one whose command is cited as a pipeline producer.
  • Zero Senior/Master Chief-level integrity incidents.
    The math is not complicated: one integrity incident at ICCS/ICCM level ends the career and is cited in the rate's institutional memory for years afterward. The standard is not 'don't get caught' — it is 'the number you brief is the number in the database, the eEVAL you write is the performance you observed, and the recommendation you sign is the record you believe.' Every ICCS/ICCM knows this; the ones who maintain it under pressure build institutional trust that the rate depends on.
  • Post-Navy transition plan under active construction 24-36 months before retirement.
    The transition plan at this level is not a resume update — it is a professional positioning project. Identify the three to five organizations in the IC rate's post-Navy market where a 24-year IC pedigree is the most specific and most valuable credential: NAVSEASYSCOM GS positions, marine electronics integrators, DoD IC system contractors. Cultivate those relationships throughout the ICCS/ICCM tour. The plan is active when those relationships exist, not when the resume is submitted.

Technical Mistakes — Concrete Consequences

  • Briefing program-level IC system readiness from memory instead of current NAVSEASYSCOM/TYCOM assessment data.
    The flag officer cites your number to OPNAV N4 in the quarterly readiness brief. NAVSEASYSCOM produces a report with a different number from the same assessment cycle. The flag officer asks the ICCS/ICCM where the delta came from. The answer 'I briefed from my own assessment, not from the program office data' produces a credibility gap that the ICCS/ICCM is carrying for the remainder of the tour.
  • Allowing an ICC LCPO to carry an unresolved INSURV CAT-II liability because the ICC is approaching PCS.
    The INSURV surveyors board the ship in the month after the ICC's departure. The CAT-II finding is attributed to the division's maintenance record, which shows the ICCS/ICCM as the senior enlisted oversight authority for the period. The TYCOM maintenance officer's finding report identifies both the current ICC and the previous ICCS/ICCM in the program oversight chain.
  • Treating NEC source-rating management as the detailer's sole responsibility.
    The IC rate runs three consecutive accession cycles without nominating enough qualified candidates for the IC advanced course. The fleet's IC switchboard and gyrocompass billet fill rate drops below the TYCOM minimum. The NAVSEASYSCOM program office convenes a source-rating review. The ICCS/ICCM who was the senior enlisted IC voice during the three cycles without raising the shortfall to the program office is in the room when the review board asks why the flag was not raised.
  • Going public with disagreement with the CO at the command-team level.
    Every chief, every division officer, and every enlisted leader on the command reads the interaction. The senior enlisted leader's public disagreement with the CO signals to the entire command that the alignment between the CMC function and the wardroom is conditional. The enlisted climate effect is visible in the next morale survey before the CMC can course-correct it.
  • Starting the post-Navy job search at terminal leave.
    The senior technical positions at NAVSEASYSCOM, marine electronics integrators, and DoD IC contractors are filled from established professional networks, not from cold resume submissions. The ICCM who begins the search at terminal leave is competing against candidates who have been cultivating those relationships for two years — and the hiring managers in those organizations have already allocated their senior technical headcount for the year.

Career Decisions at This Rank

  • Command Master Chief billet vs. continuing as ICCS at the staff or Type Commander level.
    The Command Master Chief (CMC) billet is the terminal senior enlisted leadership assignment for the most competitive ICCS/ICCM selectees — command-wide enlisted climate advisory function to the commanding officer, across all rates and communities. The trade-off for the IC ICCS/ICCM is that the CMC billet broadens the advisory scope well beyond the IC technical community. If your leadership strengths are rate-specific technical mentorship and IC system program advocacy, the staff or NAVSEASYSCOM senior enlisted IC voice billet may produce more lasting rate-health impact than a CMC billet on a ship where you are advising twenty rates simultaneously. If your strengths are command-wide enlisted climate leadership and the advisory relationship with the CO, the CMC path is the terminal assignment the career has been building toward.
  • ICCM selection — is the record at the level the board reads as competitive?
    The ICCM population in the IC rate is very small — the rate's total size limits the number of master chief billets available, and the board reads a narrow field. The competitive ICCM record shows: ICCS pipeline output at Type Commander-visible rates, SEA complete, CMC billet or Type Commander staff senior enlisted IC voice billet with measurable fleet-level results, and a CO/CMC recommendation that the board reads as a senior leader who has already operated at the ICCM performance standard. The ICCS who wants to compete for ICCM selection needs that honest conversation with the CMC two years before the eligibility window, not two months.
  • Retirement timing — 20 years vs. 24+ years.
    The ICCS/ICCM who retires at exactly 20 years leaves 4-6 years of compound rank value on the table — the post-Navy contractor and federal civilian market pays senior technical positions at a rate that reflects the seniority of the IC pedigree, and an ICCM with 24 years commands a more specific and more credible technical authority than one with 20. The question is whether the personal and family factors align with staying to 24. If they do, the financial and professional case for staying to the ICCM-natural career point is strong. If they do not, the 20-year retirement with an active contractor network is still a strong exit — particularly for ICCS-level technical credentials in the marine electronics and NAVSEASYSCOM contractor space.
  • Federal civilian vs. contractor vs. commercial maritime — post-Navy career path.
    NAVSEASYSCOM and PEO Ships GS positions (GS-11 through GS-13) give the retiring ICCM the federal civilian benefits package, the continuity of the DoD IC system community, and the professional identity of continued IC technical authority. The pay is lower than the top contractor rates but the stability is higher. Marine electronics integrators (NASSCO, Bath Iron Works, HII, BAE Systems) pay more for a senior IC pedigree but require relocation to a shipyard city and subject the technician to the commercial shipbuilding business cycle. The commercial maritime market (oil platform support, cruise ship maintenance) pays well for IC system technicians but takes the retiring IC away from the DoD community where his network is strongest. The right answer depends on whether you want to stay in the DoD community, move to the commercial sector, or stay in the shipyard community — and none of those is wrong if the financial and family math works.

How the Seat Varies by Unit Type

  • Command Master Chief (CMC) billet — surface combatant or major amphibious hull
    The CMC billet is the terminal senior enlisted leadership assignment — command-wide enlisted climate advisory function across all rates. For the IC ICCS/ICCM, the CMC billet is a career culmination that broadens the advisory scope beyond the IC technical community. The IC technical background informs but does not dominate the CMC role — the CO looks to the CMC for command-wide enlisted readiness and climate leadership, and the CMC who can speak credibly to aviation, engineering, combat systems, and supply enlisted communities simultaneously is doing the full job.
  • Type Commander (TYCOM) or Surface Force Staff
    The TYCOM staff senior enlisted IC voice is one of the highest-leverage billets for the IC rate's fleet-wide health. NEC source-rating management, INSURV program review, fleet-wide IC system material condition assessment, and the senior enlisted advisory function to the fleet maintenance officer all run through this billet. The visibility at TYCOM level is direct — the flag officer knows the IC ICCS/ICCM by name and by the accuracy of his fleet-level readiness briefs.
  • NAVSEASYSCOM / PEO Ships Program Office
    The NAVSEASYSCOM or PEO Ships senior enlisted IC billet gives the ICCS/ICCM the program management and acquisition perspective on the IC system community. Working alongside program managers, contracting officers, and NAVSEA technical representatives builds the post-Navy contractor network faster than any other assignment. The billet also gives the senior enlisted IC voice direct input to IC system acquisition decisions — which equipment the fleet buys, which training the NEC pipeline produces, and which INSURV inspection criteria the program office recommends.
  • Fleet Technical Support Center (FTSC) — senior technical leadership
    An ICCS/ICCM leading an FTSC IC team manages field-service technicians who deploy to ships for casualty repairs and technical assessments. The cross-platform IC system expertise is the broadest in the IC rate — the FTSC senior IC leader has typically troubleshot IC system casualties on every ship class in the surface fleet. The post-Navy contractor network from an FTSC senior leadership billet is the strongest available to a retiring IC.

What Good Looks Like at This Rank

The good ICCS or ICCM is the senior enlisted voice the department head quotes to the wardroom and the NAVSEASYSCOM technical representative calls before calling the prime contractor. His fleet's IC system INSURV posture is clean before the surveyors board — not because a clean-up sprint preceded the survey, but because the maintenance discipline he enforced through the ICCs he mentored runs to that standard every day the ship is in commission. His chiefs pick up Senior Chief. His NEC and commissioning pipeline produces at rates the Type Commander cites in the rate-health brief by name — 'the IC rate contributed N LDO accessions this cycle, above the surface force average' is a sentence that traces to the ICCS/ICCM who made mentoring pipeline output a professional standard rather than a collateral duty. The thing the fleet's IC community remembers about the good ICCM is not that he was technically brilliant, though he was. It is that when he walked into the goat locker and briefed the ICC about the CSMP problem that was heading toward a CAT-II finding, the ICC came out of that conversation knowing exactly what to do and why it mattered. It is that the IC2 he counseled about the LDO packet at a wardroom dinner three years ago is now a Lieutenant who tells that story to his division as the reason he commissioned. It is that the deckplate in the IC rate is in better condition than it was before he put the fouled anchors on, and the rate knows whose standard built it. He does not wait to be asked whether his relief is ready. He answers that question every week, and the answer is yes before the orders are published.

Preview — The Next Rank

There is no next rank — ICCM is the terminal enlisted grade of the IC rate. The next career is the one that starts after the retirement ceremony, and it is built from 24 years of IC system technical expertise, senior enlisted leadership experience, and professional relationships with the NAVSEASYSCOM community, the marine electronics contractor base, and the fleet maintenance organizations that the IC technical pedigree serves. The ICCM who retires with an active network — three calls scheduled with NASSCO, NAVSEASYSCOM, and an HII shipyard contact before terminal leave ends — is the one whose second career starts at the senior technical level rather than the entry level. The IC rate's post-Navy market is specific enough that the credentials translate directly: 24 years of IC switchboard maintenance, gyrocompass system expertise, NSTM Chapter 430 depth, and INSURV program management experience is a specific and marketable package to the organizations that maintain the Navy's surface fleet. The last thing the good ICCM does before the retirement orders publish is make sure his relief is ready — not nominally ready, but actually ready. The ICC or ICCS who inherits the billet should be able to answer every question the ICCM used to answer, run every brief the ICCM used to run, and mentor the ICCs in the same way the ICCM mentored them. When that is true, the ICCM has done the job completely.
FAQ

IC E8-E9 — Frequently Asked Questions

Q01What does a E8-E9 IC (Interior Communications Electrician) actually do?
As ICCS or ICCM (or in a Command Master Chief or Command Senior Chief billet where the career opens that door) you run the senior enlisted interior communications and electrical maintenance posture for a surface or amphibious group staff, a surface squadron, a NAVSEASYSCOM or Fleet Technical Support Center (FTSC) technical command, or a Type Commander electrical and IC staff cell.
Q02What's the most important thing to know as a E8-E9 IC?
At ICCS and ICCM, the deckplate accountability you built as an ICC is the baseline — the question the command is asking is whether you can run the senior enlisted advisory function for an entire command, a Type Commander staff, or a NAVSEASYSCOM technical directorate.
Q03What does a typical day look like for a E8-E9 IC?
Time-blocked day at the E8-E9 IC rank tier: 0530 ICCS/ICCM is in the office or the goat locker before the ICCs arrive. Review overnight fleet traffic — NAVADMINs, TYCOM maintenance messages, NEC source-rating management messages, 0630 Breakfast. Review the CMC or department head's schedule for the day — any flag or CO visits, any command-team events, any INSURV or ISIC milestones that require senior enlisted IC presence, 0730 Staff or command muster. Brief the ICC LCPOs on the week's fleet-level maintenance message impacts and any NEC pipeline updates from the detailer's cycle,…
Q04What mistakes get E8-E9 IC soldiers fired or relieved?
Briefing program-level IC system readiness from memory or from the ICC's data rather than the current NAVSEASYSCOM/TYCOM assessment data. At ICCS/ICCM rank the CO or flag officer cites your number up the chain — if it is wrong, the correction routes back to you and costs credibility that takes a full tour to rebuild;…
Q05What career decisions matter most at the E8-E9 IC rank tier?
Command Master Chief billet vs. continuing as ICCS at the staff or Type Commander level — The Command Master Chief (CMC) billet is the terminal senior enlisted leadership assignment for the most competitive ICCS/ICCM selectees — command-wide enlisted climate advisory function to the commanding officer, across all rates and communities. The trade-off for the IC ICCS/ICCM is that the CMC billet broadens the advisory scope well beyond the IC technical community. If your leadership strengths are rate-specific technical mentorship and IC system program advocacy,…
Q06What's next after E8-E9 for a IC (Interior Communications Electrician) in the Navy?
There is no next rank — ICCM is the terminal enlisted grade of the IC rate.
Q07What manuals and regulations does a E8-E9 IC need to know cold?
NSTM Chapter 430 — Interior Communications: the technical governance you brief from at flag level; you know which section answers which inspector question before they ask it.; NAVSEA IC system program documentation across the surface fleet IC baseline: current IC switchboard and announcing system program documentation, PEO Ships technical baseline docs, FY-current INSURV program requirements for the IC system suite.; OPNAVINST 4790.4 — Ships 3-M Systems Procedures;…

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