Seaman apprentice (E-2)
Seaman apprentice is the second enlisted rank in the US Navy, pay grade E-2. Its mark is two short diagonal stripes on the left sleeve.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The Navy’s uniform regulations call the stripes a group rate mark: two stripes 7.6 cm (3 in) long, set at 30 degrees on a patch the colour of the uniform, worn on the left sleeve of service dress uniforms. A Seaman (E-3) (E-3) wears three. Sailors in pay grade E-1, seaman recruits, wear no group rate mark at all. The Department of Defense notes that sailors from E-1 to E-3 are usually in training or on their first assignment.
Also searched as: E-2 navy, SA.
Ranks and insignia as the US Navy’s own uniform regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
One stripe, two or three
A single diagonal stripe is not a Navy rank. The Department of Defense says Coast Guard rank insignia are the same as the Navy’s except for colour and the seaman recruit rank, which in the Coast Guard has one stripe. The Naval History and Heritage Command records that the stripes first appeared on the cuffs of sailors’ jumpers in 1886, when seamen third class wore one, and moved to the upper arm shortly after the Second World War.
Why the stripes aren’t all white
The colour shows which group of jobs the sailor is heading for. The uniform regulations give white stripes on blue uniforms (navy blue on white) for seaman apprentices, red for fireman apprentices, light blue for construction apprentices and emerald green for airman apprentices. All of them are E-2.
A symbol above the stripes
A sailor from E-1 to E-3 who has qualified and been designated for a rating (a striker) wears that rating’s specialty mark. At E-2 and E-3 it goes just above the stripes, or the two are one piece.
More navy ranks
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- Navy Uniform Regulations, articles 4221–4227: E-1 to E-6 rate insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), arts. 4221–4227, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4222.1, 4222.3, 4222.3a–d; art. 4223.2; art. 4223.1
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Enlisted insignia, E-2; notes
- U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia, U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia (navy.com), U.S. Navy Recruiting Command (navy.com), Junior Enlisted: E-1 to E-3
- Naval Traditions: Names of Rank, “Chevrons”, Naval Traditions: Names of Rank, Enlisted Ranks, “Chevrons”, Naval History and Heritage Command, para. 7; para. 7
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research