Personnel
These are the U.S. Army ranks authorized for use today and their equivalent NATO designations. Although no living officer currently holds the rank of General of the Army, it is still authorized by Congress for use in wartime.
Commissioned officers: There are several paths to becoming a commissioned officer including the United States Military Academy, Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and Officer Candidate School. Certain professions, such as physicians, pharmacists, nurses, lawyers, and chaplains are commissioned directly into the army. But no matter what road an officer takes, the insignia are the same.
Army regulation call for addressing all personnel with the rank of general as 'General (last name)' regardless of the number of stars. Likewise, both colonels and lieutenant colonels are addressed as 'Colonel (last name)' and first and second lieutenants as 'Lieutenant (last name).'
| US DoD Pay Grade | O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 | O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insignia | |||||||||||
| Title | Second Lieutenant |
First Lieutenant |
Captain | Major | Lieutenant Colonel |
Colonel | Brigadier General |
Major General |
Lieutenant General |
General | General of the Army |
| Abbreviation | 2LT | 1LT | CPT | MAJ | LTC | COL | BG | MG | LTG | GEN | GA |
| NATO Code | OF-1 | OF-2 | OF-3 | OF-4 | OF-5 | OF-6 | OF-7 | OF-8 | OF-9 | OF-10 | |
Warrant officers: Warrant officers are single track, specialty officers with subject matter expertise in a particular area. They are initially appointed as warrant officers (in the rank of WO1) by the Secretary of the Army, but receive their commission upon promotion to chief warrant officer two (CW2).
By regulation, warrant officers are addressed as 'Mr. (last name)' or 'Ms. (last name).' However, many personnel address warrant officers as 'Chief (last name)'.
| US DoD pay grade | W-1 | W-2 | W-3 | W-4 | W-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insignia | |||||
| Title | Warrant Officer 1 | Chief Warrant Officer 2 | Chief Warrant Officer 3 | Chief Warrant Officer 4 | Chief Warrant Officer 5 |
| Abbreviation | WO1 | CW2 | CW3 | CW4 | CW5 |
| NATO Code | WO-1 | WO-2 | WO-3 | WO-4 | WO-5 |
Enlisted personnel: Sergeants and corporals are referred to as NCOs, short for non-commissioned officers. This distinguishes them from specialists who might have the same pay grade, but not the leadership responsibilities.
Privates (E1 and E2) and privates first class (E3) are addressed as 'Private (last name)', specialists as 'Specialist (last name), corporals as 'Corporal (last name)', and sergeants, staff sergeants, sergeants first class, and master sergeants all as 'Sergeant (last name).' First sergeants are addressed as 'First Sergeant (last name)' and all sergeants-major as 'Sergeant-Major (last name)'.
| US DoD Pay grade | E-1 | E-2 | E-3 | E-4 | E-5 | E-6 | E-7 | E-8 | E-9 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insignia | No Insignia | ||||||||||||
| Title | Private | Private | Private First Class |
Specialist | Corporal | Sergeant | Staff Sergeant |
Sergeant First Class |
Master Sergeant |
First Sergeant |
Sergeant Major |
Command Sergeant Major |
Sergeant Major of the Army |
| Abbreviation | PVT ¹ | PV2 ¹ | PFC | SPC ² | CPL | SGT | SSG | SFC | MSG | 1SG | SGM | CSM | SMA |
| NATO Code | OR-1 | OR-2 | OR-3 | OR-4 | OR-4 | OR-5 | OR-6 | OR-7 | OR-8 | OR-8 | OR-9 | OR-9 | OR-9 |
| ¹ ² |
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Read more about this topic: United States Army
Famous quotes containing the word personnel:
“This woman is headstrong, obstinate and dangerously self- opinionated.”
—Report by Personnel Officer at I.C.I., rejecting Mrs. Thatcher for a job in 1948.