The United States Navy: Your job in the Navy
Navy recruiting chart: five rating badges above a cruiser, then three columns of trades from Boatswain's Mate to Bugler, each with a small insignia, a short list of duties and 'related civil jobs', under 'Your job in the Navy: how to tell it! what it means!'. A banner at the foot reads 'Enlist in the Navy today!'. The sheet lists the jobs and civilian equivalents and omits risk and hardship, a card-stacking selection of what the service offers.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Navy (artist signed Matt Murphey, USN)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Recruit
- Themes
- War and the military, Labor
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Navy. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-8 (NAID 513504).
Text on the object
The UNITED STATES NAVY [badge captions: Chief Petty Officer (Boatswain's Mate); Petty Officer, Second Class (Gunner's Mate); Petty Officer, First Class (Torpedoman); Petty Officer, Third Class (Carpenter's Mate); Chief Petty Officer (Pharmacist's Mate)] YOUR JOB IN THE NAVY HOW TO TELL IT! WHAT IT MEANS! Specialty marks on Navy rating badges identify almost fifty different kinds of trade experts trained in the fleet and in Navy trade schools. Here's how to recognize them! Here's what their duties are! Here's what your civilian job can be after the war, if you join the Navy now! Find the rating you like . . . then enlist and start Navy training in that trade. If you're already skilled, you may get a rating immediately upon enlistment! BOATSWAIN'S MATE GUNNER'S MATE TURRET CAPTAIN TORPEDOMAN QUARTERMASTER SIGNALMAN FIRE CONTROLMAN COOK or BAKER AVIATION MACHINIST'S MATE AVIATION ORDNANCEMAN ELECTRICIAN'S MATE WATERTENDER or BOILERMAKER SHIPFITTER, BLACKSMITH, METALSMITH, MOULDER YEOMAN AEROGRAPHER AVIATION METALSMITH AVIATION RADIOMAN MACHINIST'S MATE CARPENTER'S MATE, PAINTER, PATTERNMAKER STOREKEEPER [each rating above is followed by a printed DUTIES paragraph and a RELATED CIVIL JOBS line, not transcribed here for length] The Navy has recently authorized the following new ratings: PARACHUTE RIGGER, RADARMAN, SOUNDMAN, AVIATION PILOT AND RADIO TECHNICIAN. PHARMACIST'S MATE MOTOR MACHINIST'S MATE RADIOMAN PRINTER PHOTOGRAPHER COMMISSARY STEWARD MUSICIAN BUGLER, BUGLEMASTER Enlist IN THE Navy today! [signature: Matt Murphey USN] [imprint: NRB-32669-6-10-42-25M]
Each rating carries a printed duties paragraph and a 'related civil jobs' line (for example Gunsmith, Navigator, Printer); these are legible at 2000 px but omitted for length. Headings, introduction, new-ratings note, banner, signature and imprint are transcribed.
