Comparative military ranks
The military rank system is a means of categorizing the hierarchy of an armed force. This list compares the military ranks of various countries and organizations as currently in use.
For more extensive lists of ranks in different languages see:
- Army officer ranks
- Naval officer ranks
- Air force officer ranks
For a comparison of major participants in the First and Second World War see:
- Comparative military ranks of World War I
- Comparative military ranks of World War II
Other references:
- U.S. Army officer rank insignia, U.S. Navy officer rank insignia
- Russian Forces Ranks
- U.S. Air Force officer rank insignia
- British Army officer rank insignia
- Military rank for details on the history of the rank system.
British, US, and German officer ranks
Note that the US military usually uses O-1 to O-11 to symbolize officer, and not the NATO codes of OF-1 to OF-10 in which all subaltern officers are classed as OF-1 (O-1 and O-2 in US).
Not listed are US warrant officers. In accordance with
, Department of the Army Pamphlet (DA Pam) 600-11 and Army Field Manual (FM) 22-100 (para A-3) , a warrant officer is an officer who can and does command, carry out military justice actions and sits both selection and promotion boards. A warrant officer is a single-track specialty officer, initially appointed by the Secretary of the Army, he/she receives a commission upon promotion to Chief Warrant Officer Two (CW2).
Notes to table above
- RAF-style ranks are also used by the Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Nigerian Air Force, Indian Air Force, Pakistan Air Force, Bangladesh Air Force and Sri Lanka Air Force. The Ghana Air Force and Air Force of Zimbabwe (previously Royal Rhodesian Air Force) also use the same basic system, but replace Pilot Officer and Flying Officer with Air Sub Lieutenant and Air Lieutenant. The Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Malaysian Air Force also previously used the system.
- 0F-10 ranks in the United States can only be attained during war time. This is also now generally the case in the UK, although provision is made to award them under special circumstances in peacetime (no promotions to these ranks have been made since they were generally suspended in 1997).
- The Royal Marines rank alongside their army equivalents. However, when borne on the books of any of HM Ships or Naval Establishments Royal Marines are subject to the Naval Discipline Act 1957 and in these circumstances many officer ranks in the Royal Marines enjoy greater status. Second Lieutenants are equivalent to Sub Lieutenants and ranks from Lieutenant to Major may be considered equivalent to one rank higher (0F-2 to 0F-4). Lieutenant Colonels are considered equivalent to RN Captains with less than six years in the rank, and Colonels would be equivalent to Captains with more than six years seniority. Higher ranks follow the equivalence on the table above.
Enlisted ranks
(Germany: see below)
| see 1 | nominally supervises (US forces) | US Army | USAF | USMC | USN | British Army | Royal Marines | Royal Navy | RAF | Household Cavalry |
|---|
| E-9 | the senior enlisted person in each service | Sergeant Major of the Army | Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force (CMSAF) | Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps | Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) | Warrant Officer2 Class 1 (WO1) | Warrant Officer2 Class 1 (WO1) | Warrant Officer2 Class 1 (WO1) | Warrant Officer2 (WO) or Master Aircrew (MAcr) | Warrant Officer2 Class 1 (WO1) |
| E-9 | Brigade (Army), Wing (USAF), Regiment (USN, USMC) or higher | Command Sergeant Major (CSM) | Command Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt) | Sergeant Major (SgtMaj) | Command Master Chief Petty Officer (CMCPO) |
| E-9 | Battalion (Army, USN, USMC), Group (USAF) | Sergeant Major (SGM) | Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt) | Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt) | Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO) |
| E-8 | Company (Army, USN, USMC), Squadron (USAF) | First Sergeant (1SG) | Senior Master Sergeant (SMSgt) | First Sergeant (1st Sgt) | Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) | Warrant Officer2 Class 2 (WO2) | Warrant Officer2 Class 2 (WO2) | Warrant Officer2 Class 2 (WO2) | No E-8 equivalent | Warrant Officer2 Class 2 (WO2) |
| Master Sergeant (MSG) | Master Sergeant (MSgt) |
| E-7 | Platoon (Army, USN, USMC), Flight (USAF) | Sergeant First Class (SFC) or Platoon Sergeant | Master Sergeant (MSgt) | Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt) | Chief Petty Officer (CPO) | Staff Sergeant (SSgt) | Colour Sergeant (CSgt) | Charge Chief Petty Officer3 (CCPO) | Flight Sergeant (FS) | Staff Corporal (SCpl) |
| Chief Petty Officer (CPO) | Chief Technician 7 (CT) |
| E-6 | Squad or Section | Staff Sergeant (SSG) | Technical Sergeant (TSgt) | Staff Sergeant (SSgt) | Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1) | Sergeant (Sgt) | Sergeant (Sgt) | Petty Officer (PO) | Sergeant (Sgt) | Corporal of Horse (CoH) |
| E-5 note 4 | Fireteam | Sergeant (SGT) | Staff Sergeant (SSgt) | Sergeant (Sgt) | Petty Officer 2nd Class (PO2) |
| E-4 | | Corporal (CPL) or Specialist Four (SP4 or SPC) | Senior Airman (SRA) | Corporal (Cpl) | Petty Officer 3rd Class (PO3) | Corporal (Cpl) or Bombardier (Bdr) | Corporal (Cpl) | Leading Rate5 | Corporal (Cpl) | Lance Corporal of Horse (LCoH) |
| E-3 | | Private First Class (PFC) | Airman First Class (A1C) | Lance Corporal (LCpl) | Seaman (SN) | Lance Corporal (LCpl) or Lance Bombardier (LBdr) | Lance Corporal (LCpl) | No E-3 equivalent | No E-3 equivalent | Lance Corporal (LCpl) |
| E-2 | | Private (PV2) | Airman (Amn) | Private First Class (PFC) | Seaman Apprentice (SA) | Private (Classes 1 to 3) (Pte) or other corps title such as Sapper, Gunner etc. | Marine (Mne)6 | Able Rating6 | Junior Technician 7 (JT) | Trooper (Tpr) |
| Senior Aircraft(wo)man (SAC(W)) |
| Leading Aircraft(wo)man (LAC(W)) |
| E-1 | | Private (PV1) | Airman Basic (AB) | Private (Pvt) | Seaman Recruit (SR) | Private (Class 4) or Junior | | | Aircraft(wo)man (AC(W)) |
Notes to table above
- Pay grade is used in the US military as to normalize the equivalent enlisted and officer ranks respectively. For example, the base pay of an E-8 is the same in the Air Force and the Army. In theory, those two E-8s will have equivalent levels of seniority and responsibility. When enlisted men from several services are together, the senior enlisted man is responsible for the group. For comparing ranks with other countries the Paygrade numbers match with the NATO Codes for Enlisted (Other) ranks. Hence E-1, at least for this purpose, can be considered same as OR-1, E-2 as OR-2 and so on.
- A Warrant Officer in UK Services is a senior enlisted rank not comparable to the various grades of Warrant Officer in the US. The US rank is held by single track career specialists (ranking between Enlisted Ranks and 2nd Lieutenant) and have no NATO equivalent. An RN Warrant Officer Class 1 incorporated the former rank of Fleet Chief Petty Officer.
- A Charge Chief Artificer could be given a NATO OR-8 status, but like other Charge Chiefs, it was considered a substantive CPO (OR-7) and ranked below WO2 in other services. In April 2004, however, Charge Chief Artificers were renamed Warrant Officers Class 2 and became a separate rank.
- British Sergeants/Petty Officers are seen as equal to E5 and E6 although Corporals as well as Sergeants may appointed to an official OR-5 (i.e. E-5) military role as is suited to the particular situation.
- Leading Rate is junior to Corporals in other Services
- From April 1, 1999 Able Rating and Ordinary Rating Merged, Marine 1st Class and Marine 2nd Class Merged. Junior Rating and Junior Marine Abolished.
- Technical trades and musicians only.
German enlisted ranks
Bundeswehr (Army)
and
Luftwaffe (Air Force) | Deutsche Marine (Navy) |
|---|
| Oberstabsfeldwebel | Oberstabsbootsmann |
| Stabsfeldwebel | Stabsbootsmann |
| Hauptfeldwebel | Hauptbootsmann |
| Oberfeldwebel | Oberbootsmann |
| Feldwebel | Bootsmann |
| Stabsunteroffizier | Obermaat |
| Unteroffizier | Maat |
| Oberstabsgefreiter | Oberstabsgefreiter |
| Stabsgefreiter | Stabsgefreiter |
| Hauptgefreiter | Hauptgefreiter |
| Obergefreiter | Obergefreiter |
| Gefreiter | Gefreiter |
| Schütze/Flieger | Matrose |
Israeli Defence Forces ranks
Ranks of the Israeli Defence Forces.
Enlisted Ranks דרגות חוגרים
| Rank in Hebrew | Abbreviations | Pronounced as... | US equivalent |
|---|
| טוראי | none | Turai | Private |
| טוראי ראשון | טר"ש | Turai Rishon | Private 1st Class |
| רב טוראי | רב"ט | Rav Turai | Corporal |
| סמל | none | Samal | Sergeant |
| סמל ראשון | סמ"ר | Samal Rishon | Staff Sergeant |
NCO Ranks דרגות נגדים
| Rank in Hebrew | Abbreviations | Pronounced as... | US equivalent |
|---|
| רב סמל | none | Rav Samal | Sergeant First Class |
| רב סמל ראשון | רס"ר | Rav Samal Rishon - Rasar | First Sergeant |
| רב סמל מתקדם | רס"מ | Rav Samal Mitkadem | Sergeant Major |
| רב סמל בכיר | רס"ב | Rav Samal Bachir | Warrant Officer |
| רב נגד | רנ"ג | Rav Nagad | Chief Warrant Officer |
Petty officers Ranks דרגות קצונה זוטרה
| Rank in Hebrew | Abbreviations | Pronounced as... | US equivalent |
|---|
| קצין מקצוע אקדמאי | קמ"א | Katzin Miktzoa Academy | Academic Officer |
| קצין אקדמאי בכיר | קא"ב | Katzin Academy Bachir | Senior Academic Officer |
| סגן-משנה | סג"מ | Segen Mishne | Second Lieutenant |
| סגן | none | Segen | Lieutenant |
| סרן | none | Seren | Captain |
Senior officers Ranks דרגות קצונה בכירה
| Rank in Hebrew | Abbreviations | Pronounced as... | US equivalent |
|---|
| רב סרן | רס"ן | Rav Seren | Major |
| סגן אלוף | סא"ל | Sgan Aluf | Lieutenant Colonel |
| אלוף משנה | אל"מ | Aluf Mishne | Colonel |
| תת-אלוף | תא"ל | Tat Aluf | Brigadier General |
| אלוף | none | Aluf | Major General |
| רב-אלוף | רא"ל | Rav Aluf | Lieutenant General or General |
Note about ranks: if the ranks of the IDF are to be translated one-to-one to Western ranks then a "Rav Aluf" is equivalent to Lieutenant General (since Major General is "Aluf"). But since Rav Aluf in Israel is the high commander of the army (including air force and navy), the translation of it as "General" is more appropriate.
See Also
- Russian Military; A list of ranks is available here.
External Links
