At-Sea Billet Gaps Rise to 22,000 for E1-E4 Sailors, CNP Says
HEATHER MONGILIO
JANUARY 10, 2024 6:37 PM - UPDATED: JANUARY 10, 2024 7:04 PM
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy currently has 22,000 gaps in at-sea billets for ranks E1-E4, an issue compounded by the Navy’s failure to meet its 2023 recruiting goals, the sea service’s chief personnel officer said Wednesday.
Overall, the Navy has 21,000 gaps in at-sea fill billets, Vice Adm. Richard Cheeseman told an audience at the Surface Navy Association Wednesday. Overall at-sea fill gaps are lower than those in apprentice manning because some at-sea billets for ranks E-5 and above are overmanned, Lt. Lewis Aldridge, a spokesman with the chief of naval personnel, clarified after the speech.
While the Fiscal Year 2023 recruiting numbers prolonged the problem with gaps in at-sea billets, the deficit traces back to 2016, when the Navy struggled to send people to bootcamp, Cheeseman said. Since 2016, at-sea gaps have been at least 10,000 each year.
One reason for the increase is the addition of 13,000 at-sea billets without the addition of the necessary training billets, Cheeseman said.
https://news.usni.org/2024/01/10/at-sea-billet-gaps-rise-to-22000-for-e1-e4-sailors-cnp-says
