Navy EOD: Requirements, PST Standards and Training Pipeline (2026)

Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians find, disarm and destroy explosives, from sea mines to improvised bombs. In the Navy's own words, they "locate, identify, render safe, and explosively dispose of" foreign and domestic ordnance, including underwater and improvised explosive devices, and the job involves demolition, diving and parachute insertion. To get there you need the right ASVAB scores, a clearance, and a passing Physical Screening Test (PST), then you have to survive about 66 weeks of training after boot camp.

Here is every Navy EOD requirement for 2026 from the Navy's own documents, including the swim plus run rule most guides miss, and the full training pipeline.

Check your numbers now with our Navy PST calculator: pick EOD and it scores you against these standards, including the combined swim and run.

Navy EOD at a glance

What Navy EOD technicians do

MILPERSMAN 1220-200, the Navy's EOD article, describes the work as locating, identifying, rendering safe and disposing of "conventional, chemical, biological, nuclear, underwater, and improvised explosive devices." EOD duty "involves the performance of hazardous duties involving demolition, diving, and parachute insertion," which is why the pipeline includes a dive school and jump school on top of EOD School itself.

Navy EOD requirements

• Age: 30 or younger at accession. Sailors converting from the fleet must also be 30 or younger, with a waiver possible.
• ASVAB: VE+AR of 109 or higher and MC of 51 or higher, or GS+MC+EI of 169 or higher (Navy rating list, updated October 1, 2026).
• Citizenship and clearance: U.S. citizen. EOD A School requires eligibility for a Secret clearance based on a Tier 3 investigation, with no waivers, and follow-on assignments require a Tier 5 investigation and Personnel Reliability Program standards.
• Vision: uncorrected vision no worse than 20/200 in each eye, correctable to 20/25, and normal color perception, with no color waivers.
• Diving physical: a diving medical exam and a hyperbaric pressure test.
• PST: pass the Physical Screening Test, with no waivers (details below).
• Obligated service: MILPERSMAN 1220-200 sets 48 months from your class graduation date. Navy.com lists 36 months after training, so confirm your contract with your recruiter.

Navy EOD PST standards 2026

The PST is five events in a fixed order, done as a single session: a 500-yard swim, 10 minutes of rest, 2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minutes of rest, 2 minutes of curl-ups, 2 minutes of rest, pull-ups with no time limit, 10 minutes of rest, then a 1.5-mile run. EOD candidates must swim sidestroke or breaststroke with no overhand recovery.

The swim plus run rule. Each of the swim and run must be 12:30 or faster, and the two times added together must be 23:00 or less to get an enlisted EOD contract. To stay eligible through the training pipeline, the total must be 21:46 or less. Both lines come from a BUPERS-31 temporary change signed June 2, 2025, which stays in effect until rescinded or until MILPERSMAN 1220-410 is updated. MILPERSMAN 1220-410 itself still lists 21:00, and the EOD officer program brief uses 21:00. Train for 21:46 or better from the start: passing at 22:59 gets you a contract, not a seat to the end.

Elevated marks. The Navy's Elevated PST marks for EOD (a 10:30 swim, 70 push-ups, 70 curl-ups, 10 pull-ups and a 10:00 run) must be met on your 14-day shipping PST to be eligible for the shipping bonus. Navy.com lists the Elevated run as 10:30 on its general PST page; train to 10:00.

Timing. An EOD PST is valid for 6 months, and you will test again about 30 days before you ship to training.

For a sense of what selected candidates actually score, the EOD officer program brief lists the average PST of NROTC midshipmen selected for EOD:

The Navy EOD training pipeline

MILPERSMAN 1220-200 says every EOD technician attends the EOD Preparatory Course, the EOD Assessment and Selection Course, EOD Dive School, and the Joint EOD (Common Core) and EOD Basic Navy (Underwater) courses. Navy.com lays out the order, locations and lengths:

Assessment and Selection is where most of the filtering happens. Candidates are scored on comfort in the water, physical fitness, academic ability, professionalism and peer ranking, and then go before a formal selection board. EOD School at Eglin is jointly staffed by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and trains all four services, with an annual student quota of 2,196. Navy.com lists it at 44 weeks; MILPERSMAN 1210-230 describes the Basic EOD Course for officers as 40 weeks. Graduates earn the EOD NEC and accelerated advancement to E-4. Getting to boot camp first? Read how long Navy boot camp is.

Navy EOD officers

Officers come in through the Naval Academy, NROTC, the Strategic Sealift Midshipman Program, Officer Candidate School or a lateral transfer. They must be at least 19 and not past their 42nd birthday at commissioning, hold a bachelor's degree with at least a 2.0 GPA, and meet the standards for access to sensitive compartmented information. Training starts with the EOD Junior Officer Leadership Course and the Joint Diving Officer Course in Panama City, followed by the 40-week Basic EOD Course at Eglin: over 24 months of high-risk training in all. The officer program brief still uses a 21:00 swim plus run limit.

Staying qualified

Once in the community, EOD technicians requalify in diving, parachuting and demolitions on a schedule, and earn the EOD Warfare Specialist (EWS) qualification; failing to qualify EWS is one of the listed reasons for losing the EOD NEC. Officers must keep meeting the PST standards in MILPERSMAN 1220-410.

Navy EOD vs Navy Diver

The two jobs share the PST and the dive school in Panama City, but the work differs. Navy Divers "perform and supervise diving operations using all types of underwater breathing apparatuses," including salvage, harbor clearance, underwater ship repair, submarine rescue and saturation diving. About 1,250 Sailors hold the rating. Their PST minimums are a 12:00 swim, 50 push-ups, 50 curl-ups, 6 pull-ups and an 11:30 run, with no combined swim plus run rule, and their pipeline is a 4-week prep course, a 4-week assessment and selection course, and an 18-week Navy Diver A School. Comparing other water jobs? See the rescue swimmer, SWCC and BUD/S guides.

How to train for the EOD PST

• Swim and run as one number. Because the combined time decides your contract and your seat in the pipeline, track swim plus run every week. Shaving a minute off your swim counts exactly as much as a minute off your run, and for most candidates the swim is the cheaper minute. Work on stroke efficiency 3 to 4 times a week; our PST swim technique guide covers sidestroke and breaststroke.
• Run intervals and tempo. Build an easy base, then add a weekly interval session and a tempo run at goal pace. Our 1.5-mile run plan is written for the PST.
• Push-ups and curl-ups. Daily clean volume, plus a timed 2-minute test once a week. Reps that break form are not counted.
• Pull-ups. Six is the minimum and 10 is the Elevated mark; selected officer candidates averaged 16 to 19. Use the PST pull-up plan and our pull-up max calculator to set your targets.
• Simulate the test. Every few weeks, run the full PST in order with the real rest periods and score it in the PST calculator with EOD selected.

Sources: MILPERSMAN 1220-200, EOD rating (CH-88, Aug 2024); MILPERSMAN 1220-410, Physical Screening Test (CH-77); MyNavy HR EOD community page and the BUPERS-31 PST memo (June 2, 2025); MILPERSMAN 1210-230, EOD officers (CH-94, Mar 2026); MILPERSMAN 1220-100, Navy Diver (CH-92, Aug 2025); Navy.com, EOD Technician; CENEODDIVE Detachment Great Lakes, courses; Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Standards change, and the EOD swim plus run lines are a temporary change; confirm current numbers with your recruiter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Navy EOD requirements?

Enlisted candidates must be U.S. citizens, 30 or younger at accession, eligible for a Secret clearance, meet the EOD ASVAB line scores (VE+AR of 109 and MC of 51, or GS+MC+EI of 169), pass a diving physical and pressure test, have normal color vision, and pass the PST: a 12:30 swim, 50 push-ups, 50 curl-ups, 6 pull-ups and a 12:30 run, with the swim and run adding up to 23:00 or less.

What is the Navy EOD PST?

The same five-event Physical Screening Test that SEAL, SWCC, Diver and rescue swimmer candidates take: a 500-yard swim, 2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minutes of curl-ups, pull-ups and a 1.5-mile run. For enlisted EOD candidates, the swim and run must each be 12:30 or faster and add up to 23:00 or less for a contract, and 21:46 or less to stay in the pipeline.

What ASVAB score do you need for Navy EOD?

The Navy rating list sets the EOD line scores as VE+AR of 109 or higher and MC of 51 or higher, or GS+MC+EI of 169 or higher. Those are combinations of ASVAB subtests, not your overall AFQT score.

How long is Navy EOD training?

About 66 weeks after boot camp on navy.com's figures: a 4-week prep course, 4 weeks of assessment and selection, 7 weeks of dive training, 44 weeks of EOD School at Eglin Air Force Base, 3 weeks of parachute training and 4 weeks of tactical training. Officers spend over 24 months in high-risk training.

Is Navy EOD considered special forces?

Navy EOD is not part of Naval Special Warfare, the community that includes SEALs and SWCC. The Navy does list EOD among its special operations careers, and EOD technicians dive, jump and handle demolitions as part of the job.

How hard is it to become Navy EOD?

Hard enough that the minimums are not the real target. Candidates go through a 4-week assessment and selection course scored on water comfort, fitness, academics, professionalism and peer ranking, followed by a selection board. Selected NROTC officer candidates averaged under a 9:05 swim and 16 or more pull-ups in each of the last three years.