First Term Assignments

First Term Personnel Assignment Policy

First term officer personnel are those in paygrades O-1 & O-2. Warrant Officers and LDOs are not considered first term personnel. The following information concerns enlisted personnel only.

First term enlisted personnel are those members who are serving on their first enlistment contracts, including extensions (other service and Navy veterans are not first termers). Members on a standard 4-year enlistment will be given no more than two assignments in different locations following initial basic and skills training.

For members assigned to sea duty in CONUS, PRD will match EAOS or Prescribed Sea Tour (PST), whichever is less.
For members initially assigned to shore duty after completion of boot camp and skills training, PRD will normally be set for a 24-month shore tour. With some exceptions, the goal is for first-termers to be assigned to sea duty during their first enlistment.
Members assigned to overseas sea duty (including Hawaii) will serve a 36-month tour, regardless of the DOD Area Tour length, with the exception of type 4 duty in Bahrain, which will be a 24-month tour. Ratings without sea/shore rotation (e.g., AG, LN and CT) will differ.