U.S. NAVY SPECIAL WARFARE BOAT OPERATOR (SB) RATING BADGE

Like the closely affiliated Special Warfare Operator rating, the Naval Special Warfare Boat Operator rating (SB) was established in 2006. Up until 1994, Sailors from other source ratings would qualify (NEC 9533) to serve on the Special Boat Units (SBUS), Boat Support Units (BSUs), or Coastal River Divisions that played a prominent role in the Vietnam War, though the history of the SB rating truly goes back even farther to the days of the PT Boats used primarily in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

The NEC 9533 was replaced in the mid-1990s with the NEC 5352, Special Warfare Combatant- Craft Crewman (SWCC)—the Job Title for all the positions within the Special Warfare Boat Operator rating today. The Navy further recognized the importance of Sailors who had qualified for SWCC with the creation of a Special Warfare insignia featuring a flintlock pistol, a cutlass, and a Mark V Special Operations Craft. Also in 2001, the Navy approved the Special Warfare Boat Operator Badge for wear, five years after it was first conceived.

Currently, there are three Special Boat Teams in the Navy; each is led by an O-5 Navy SEAL Commander, but they are unique in terms of mission assignments, areas of operation, and the type and number of craft they comprise. Special Boat Team Twelve is based in Coronado, home of the Naval Special Warfare Training Center; Special Boat Team Twenty calls Little Creek, Virginia home; and Special Boat Team Twenty-Two is based in Mississippi at the John C. Stennis Space Center.

An extremely elite rating, Special Warfare Boat Operators make up around 600 active-duty SWCC operators along with 125 reservists; all are enlisted Sailors. To earn the SB rating and the SWCC Special Warfare qualification, Sailors must complete around six months of training in Coronado, California, in addition to the Naval Recruit Training all enlisted personnel receive at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois.

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