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Home > 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.

1 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. Air Force officer rank insignia
U.S. Marine Corps officer rank insignia
U.S. Navy officer rank insignia
British Army officer rank insignia
Russian Forces Ranks
Ranks of the Israeli Defence Forces.
Military rank for details on the history of the rank system.

For more extensive lists of ranks in different languages see:

Army officer ranks
Naval officer ranksNavies have military rank systems that often are quite different from those of armies or air forces. Sometimes, services that are considered parts of the navy marine or amphibious corps use the army-style ranks instead, while the ranks listed here are res
Air force officer ranksAir forces of most of the countries use ranking system simular Armies. However the RAF, and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries, or those formerly under a British influence use a different set of ranks loosely based on naval equivalents; Lieuten

1.1 British, US, and German officer ranks

NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NATO , sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance is an international organization for defense collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed Rank code British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces of the United Kingdom. It numbers 99,400 fully trained and professional regulars (as of April 2004). In contrast to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, the British Army does not include royal in its title, bec and Royal MarinesThe Royal Marines are the United Kingdom's amphibious forces and a core component of their Rapid Reaction Force. They are lightly equipped, able to operate independently in all terrains, and highly trained as a commando force. History The first unit of En3 US Army, USAFThe United States Air Force USAF is the aviation branch of the United States armed forces. The mission of the USAF is "to defend the United States through the control and exploitation of air and space. Organization There are three components of the USAF: and USMCThe United States Marine Corps USMC is the second-smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. The United States Coast Guard is the smallest. The Marine Corps is nonetheless la Royal Navy US Navy RAF1 Bundeswehr Heer and Luftwaffe Deutsche Marine
OF-102 Field Marshal4 (FM) General of the Army
General of the Air Force
(no USMC equiv) 		Admiral of the Fleet Fleet Admiral (FADM) Marshal of the Royal Air Force (MRAF)    
OF-9 General (Gen) General (Gen) Admiral (Adm) Admiral (ADM) Air Chief Marshal (ACM) General Admiral
OF-8 Lieutenant-General
(Lt Gen) 		Lieutenant General (LtGen) Vice-Admiral (VAdm) Vice Admiral (VADM) Air Marshal (AM) Generalleutnant Vizeadmiral
OF-7 Major-General (Maj Gen) Major General (MG/MajGen) Rear-Admiral (RAdm) Rear Admiral (Upper Half) (RADM) Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) Generalmajor Konteradmiral
OF-6 Brigadier (Brig) Brigadier General (BG/BrigGen) Commodore (Cdre) Rear Admiral (Lower Half) (RDML) Air Commodore (ACdre) Brigadegeneral Flottillenadmiral
OF-5 Colonel (Col) Colonel (COL/Col) Captain (Capt) Captain (CAPT) Group Captain (Gp Capt) Oberst Kapitän zur See
OF-4 Lieutenant-Colonel
(Lt Col) 		Lieutenant Colonel (LTC/LtCol) Commander (Cdr) Commander (CDR) Wing Commander (Wg Cdr) Oberstleutnant Fregattenkapitän
OF-3 Major (Maj) Major (MAJ/Maj) Lieutenant Commander
(Lt Cdr) 		Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr or SL) Major Korvettenkapitän
OF-2 Captain (Capt) Captain (CPT/Capt) Lieutenant (Lt) Lieutenant (LT) Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt or FL) Stabshauptmann Stabskapitänleutnant
Hauptmann Kapitänleutnant
OF-1 Lieutenant (Lt) First Lieutenant (1LT/1Lt) Sub Lieutenant (SLt)5 Lieutenant, Junior Grade (LT(JG)) Flying Officer (FO) Oberleutnant Oberleutnant zur See
Second Lieutenant
(2Lt) 		Second Lieutenant (2LT/2Lt)
Ensign (ENS) Pilot Officer (PO) Leutnant Leutnant zur See
OF(D) Officer Designate 4
Midshipman (Mid)
Officer Designate Oberfähnrich Oberfähnrich zur See
Student Officer Officer Cadet (OCdt) Cadet Officer Cadet (OCdt) Midshipman (MIDN) Officer Cadet (OCdt) Fähnrich Seekadett

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 Army Regulation (AR) 135-100 , Department of the Army Pamphlet (DA Pam) 600-11 and Army Field Manual (FM) 22-100 (para A-3) [1], 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.
  4. Not used in the Royal Marines.
  5. Junior to equivalents in other services.


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Topics: Comparative Military Ranks, Officer Ranks, British US And...

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