Install and maintain electrical systems in construction projects. Perform electrical work on buildings, airfields, and infrastructure projects.
ASVAB AR+MK+EI+GS: 201
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Construction Electricians wire what the Seabees build and keep the power on once it is there. Work ranges from pulling and terminating conductors in new buildings to setting poles, running overhead and underground distribution, and maintaining generators and switchgear. Deployed camps often run on generator plants that you install, load balance and nurse along, which makes you the reason lights and air conditioning work. Battalion cycles mix homeport training and stateside projects with deployments of several months supporting fleet and expeditionary operations. Some of the work is emergency repair in foul weather, since power failures do not wait politely for morning.
You learn the electrical trade properly, meaning circuit theory, wiring methods, conduit, transformers, motors, controls and grounding done to code. Power generation and distribution work adds switchgear, paralleling generators, load calculations and troubleshooting a system while it carries load. Testing and metering become routine, and you learn to trust calibrated instruments instead of assumptions about how a circuit ought to behave. Interior and exterior communications, fire alarm, lighting and motor control systems widen the ticket further than most apprentices manage early on. Safe practice around energized equipment is drilled hard, because this trade is unforgiving of casual habits.
Electrical work makes you careful in a very specific way, since the price of inattention arrives instantly and without any warning. You build confident hands alongside the humility to de energize and verify rather than assume anything about a circuit you did not wire. The job grows problem solving, because a fault that makes no sense still has a cause you have to find. Deployments teach self reliance when the fix has to come out of whatever is in the connex. Electricians usually end up methodical, quietly competent and comfortable being the person everybody waits for.
Few military jobs line up with a licensed civilian trade as directly as this one does. Documented military electrical work and training commonly count toward the on the job hours that states and union apprenticeships require for journeyman and eventually master licensure. Utilities, industrial plants, data centers, renewable energy and commercial contractors all compete for qualified electricians, and the pay shows it. Generator and switchgear experience is a specialty in its own right, valued by backup power and critical facility employers. Licensed electricians can also work for themselves, which makes this among the surest routes from enlistment to independence.
Your morning opens by reviewing electrical drawings and pulling wire, panels, and fixtures at the construction site. You install and maintain the electrical systems and power distribution for camps, airfields, and buildings your battalion builds. Wiring circuits, setting generators, and troubleshooting power problems in the field fill your workday with the Seabees.
Related career-field video—not specific to Navy CE.
No suitable exact-MOS video was verified in the recorded search. This does not establish that none exists.
Related field: shipboard electronics — interior communications perspective. Source occupation: Navy IC.
An informational video about the Interior Communications Electricians aboard the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Soley Reed)
Official publisher description and direct video page checked; playback not independently watched. Checked 2026-10-25. This assignment may not reflect every posting in this career.
$43,902–$74,948
2026 basic pay only; the same grade and service time pay the same across jobs. Promotions are assumed, not promised. Excludes allowances, bonuses and special pays.
Possibilities for serving Sailors, including those in support roles—not guaranteed admission or awards. Individual eligibility, assignment, selection, available training or competition places and successful qualification apply.
Assignment-dependent qualification and insignia earned aboard a qualifying surface ship or afloat staff—not automatically awarded for this rating.
For enlisted Sailors in an eligible surface assignment, including support ratings. Complete the command's current qualification standards, assessments and approval process. A shore or submarine assignment alone does not establish eligibility; confirm current enrollment rules with the command.
Assignment-dependent aviation qualification and insignia; support Sailors may qualify at authorized aviation commands.
Requires a qualifying aviation assignment or an authorized support-command arrangement, required in-rating technical qualifications and command approval. Current enrollment and pay-grade prerequisites must be checked; this is not a promotion or a badge awarded just for holding this rating.
Restricted to qualifying expeditionary assignments; recognizes tested field and unit-specific proficiency, including support duties.
Requires assignment to a command authorized to administer EXW and completion of its general and unit-specific personnel qualification standards and approval process. Published NSW program evidence establishes this route, not that every Navy unit offers it. Confirm current command authorization and prerequisites.
Sources reviewed . Confirm current course and badge requirements with official school guidance and your unit.
For Navy CE Construction Electrician, official service-wide guidance and any exact feeder-list matches are distinguished below from unverified specialty-specific requirements. Ranks are not separate jobs, and these possibilities are not guaranteed promotions or available contracts.
Examples of higher service ranks
These are service-wide rank names, not a verified promotion ladder for this specialty. Examples are not exhaustive; appointments sharing a pay grade are not additional promotion steps.
Official military rank referenceThe Navy directs enlisted Sailors to rating-specific Learning and Development Roadmaps (LaDRs), and officers to their community managers and officer career-progression guidance. Rating conversion and commissioning are separate application paths, not automatic promotions.
Navy career planning: LaDRs, officer progression, and commissioningService-level application reference—not a verified next step for this listing
Limited Duty Officer (LDO) and Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) appointments require separate applications and program-specific qualifications. The reviewed active-duty page contains FY28 cycle requirements, not Reserve eligibility. Its 1 October 2026 application deadline has passed; this is not an open application offer or a verified designator match for this listing.
Navy active-duty LDO/CWO applicant requirementsSpecialty-specific advancement, senior assignments, and eligibility for a different personnel category have not been verified for this listing. No feeder eligibility or automatic transition to another specialty is implied.
Advancement depends on current service rules, performance, required education, qualifications, selection, and authorized positions—not simply years served. Confirm current requirements with an official recruiter or career counselor.
Related military jobs below are for exploration, not promised progression or confirmed transfer paths.
Sources reviewed 2026-10-03. This is a partial evidence review, not verification of every advancement route for this specialty. Source retrieval dates do not replace policy effective dates.
Career-field mappings, not automatic qualifications. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024 national medians). O*NET links explain each occupation; military experience does not guarantee a job or salary.
Install and maintain electrical systems in construction projects. Perform electrical work on buildings, airfields, and infrastructure projects.
Construction Electricians wire what the Seabees build and keep the power on once it is there. Work ranges from pulling and terminating conductors in new buildings to setting poles, running overhead and underground distribution, and maintaining generators and switchgear. Deployed camps often run on generator plants that you install, load balance and nurse along, which makes you the reason lights and air conditioning work. Battalion cycles mix homeport training and stateside projects with deployments of several months supporting fleet and expeditionary operations. Some of the work is emergency repair in foul weather, since power failures do not wait politely for morning.
You learn the electrical trade properly, meaning circuit theory, wiring methods, conduit, transformers, motors, controls and grounding done to code. Power generation and distribution work adds switchgear, paralleling generators, load calculations and troubleshooting a system while it carries load. Testing and metering become routine, and you learn to trust calibrated instruments instead of assumptions about how a circuit ought to behave. Interior and exterior communications, fire alarm, lighting and motor control systems widen the ticket further than most apprentices manage early on. Safe practice around energized equipment is drilled hard, because this trade is unforgiving of casual habits.
Few military jobs line up with a licensed civilian trade as directly as this one does. Documented military electrical work and training commonly count toward the on the job hours that states and union apprenticeships require for journeyman and eventually master licensure. Utilities, industrial plants, data centers, renewable energy and commercial contractors all compete for qualified electricians, and the pay shows it. Generator and switchgear experience is a specialty in its own right, valued by backup power and critical facility employers. Licensed electricians can also work for themselves, which makes this among the surest routes from enlistment to independence.
ASVAB AR+MK+EI+GS: 201. This is the catalog's listed requirement, not an individual eligibility decision. Confirm the current standard and any exceptions with the service.
This specialty can be pursued through an initial enlistment, subject to eligibility and available contracts. Confirm the current status of this specific classification with an official recruiter.
Catalog sources consulted: 2026-09-26. This is not an entry-by-entry verification date. No record-specific verification date is recorded. Occupation audit evidence reviewed: 2026-09-26; this does not re-verify every requirement.
Official branch occupation evidence
Occupation identified. This occupation was identified in the cited source. This does not verify requirements, benefits, or a current opening.
Navy enlisted occupational standards, NAVPERS 18068F, July 2026, Appendix B (rating enumeration) · reviewed 2026-09-26
Confirmed. Catalog evidence is not an inventory of open contracts.
No dated public inventory confirmed a currently open recruiting contract for this role. This does not mean there are no openings. Confirm current eligibility and offers with an official recruiter.
Advertised — Navy, as of 2026-09-28Deployment likelihood: Moderate*
* Estimated. Rank progression and specialty-pay eligibility are illustrative assumptions. Deployment likelihood, when shown, is inferred from similar specialties in the branch and career field, not a published specialty deployment rate.
Descriptions may change. No military role is free from risk of injury or death, including non-combat work. Catalog review dates do not establish current openings or re-verification of every requirement.
Recruiting signals reflect what each branch published on the dates shown. They are not offers, and they do not mean a contract is open for you. Eligibility depends on your ASVAB scores, medical qualification, security clearance eligibility, and ship date. Confirm everything with an official recruiter. See our Disclaimer and Terms.