Also called: Navy ND rating
Salvage and underwater repair diver who works on ship hulls, recovers wreckage, and supports special operations.
Navy divers weld underwater, patch ship hulls, recover aircraft from the ocean floor, and operate recompression chambers. Some do saturation diving, living in pressurized chambers for weeks. Commercial divers in oil and gas earn high civilian pay.
RMC (base pay + housing/food allowances + tax advantage) for typical E-1 to E-7 ranks, 2026 estimate, plus the special-duty, hazardous-duty, or skill pays this specialty usually earns. Enlistment/reenlistment bonuses for this field can be $10k-$50k+.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 1 year after high school. High school diploma, then ~6-8 months of dive training. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Commercial Diving (trade school), Ocean Engineering.
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Low risk for 10 years. Underwater drones inspect hulls; welding, patching and salvage underwater stay human.
Classes: PE / swimming, Welding CTE, Physics.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.