Retail services specialist (RS) is a

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. RSes are responsible for managing and operating all shipboard retail and service activities, including the ship's store, vending machines, coffee kiosks (on aircraft carriers), barber shops and laundry operations. They play a large role in maintaining the morale aboard a ship.

History

The RS rating was established on October 1, 2019, with the renaming of the existing ship's serviceman (SH). The SH rating was established in 1943 in four specialty ratings: Ship's serviceman B (barber) (SSMB), ship's serviceman C (cobbler) (SSMC), ship's serviceman L (laundryman) (SSML) and ship's serviceman T (tailor) (SSMT). In April 1948, the four specialty ratings were merged into a single rating. The rating abbreviation was changed to SH. SHs specialized as barbers, cobblers, laundrymen, store clerks or tailors in pay grades E-3 and E-4.

Duties

Retail services specialists perform the following duties: * Managing and operating retail and service activities afloat * E-Commerce * Procuring ship's store stock * Receiving and managing retail inventory * Maintaining financial records and accounting systems * Maintaining inventory and procurement databases * Managing and operating ship's barber shops * Serving as Navy Cash Collections Agents * Operating and maintaining vending and Navy Cash ATM machines * Managing and operating ship's laundry services * Hospitality services

References

External links

Ship's Serviceman SH
- ''usmilitary.about.com'' United States Navy ratings {{USN-stub