STA-21 or Seaman to Admiral - 21 is a

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 ...

commissioning program, designed to enable active-duty

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

s to get a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

degree and become

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...

History

Seaman to Admiral was previously one of several different paths for active-duty sailors to become commissioned officers. The diversity of programs lacked uniformity in benefits, selection procedures, educational opportunities, and program requirements, and created a confusing system of program applications, deadlines, and options for fleet applicants which was complex for the Navy to manage and administer. As a result, the Navy combined most of these commissioning paths into one consolidated program preserving the "Seaman to Admiral" name, possibly during the 1994 STA program rebirth. In 2020 former enlisted SEAL Matthew J. Burns was promoted to rear admiral, making him the first Sailor commissioned through the current Seaman to Admiral program to do so.

Current

The STA-21 commissioning program is designed to allow active-duty sailors with high ability to gain a college education and become commissioned officers in the unrestricted line (URL), special duty officer (intelligence), special duty officer (cryptologic warfare, formerly information warfare and cryptologist), nurse corps (NC), nuclear, supply corps (SC), civil engineer corps (CEC), explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), or

SEALs Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

. The program is highly competitive for sailors selected from the fleet; the average selection rate has ranged from 10% to 24% from 2001 to 2010. In 2011, the program became much more selective for non-nuclear applicants. In 2013, 19 non-nuclear officer candidates were selected out of 542 applicants (3.5%). For nuclear applicants, the average selection rate has ranged from 20% to 25% since 2010. All STA-21 Officer Candidates report to the Naval Science Institute before going to their assigned college.

References

External links

The STA-21 Website
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