United States Army Enlisted Rank Insignia - Address

Address

Formal terms of address specified in Army Regulation 600-20 "Army Command Policy" are "Sergeant Major" for all Sergeant Major ranks, "First Sergeant" for First Sergeants, and "Sergeant", for Master Sergeants, Sergeants First Class, Staff Sergeants, and Sergeants. Corporals and Specialists are addressed by their rank. Privates First Class and Privates can all be addressed as Privates.

In some cases, informal titles are used. "Top" is commonly used by NCOs as an informal address to First Sergeants, or anyone serving as a Company 1st Sergeant. In Field Artillery, a Platoon Sergeant (usually an E-7) is referred to as "Smoke", and squad leaders (usually an E-6) are called "Chief" (some squad leaders discourage this, as "Chief" is also a common term of address for Warrant Officers). In some smaller units, with more tight-knit squads, soldiers might call their squad leader "Boss", or a similar respectful term. A habit that has all but died out is that a Platoon Sergeant, in any unit other than Artillery, is affectionately called "Platoon Daddy", in casual conversation or in jest (but never in any official communication of any type). In training units (Basic Combat Training and AIT or OSUT), trainees are called "Private", regardless of the rank worn (when the soldier is a Private First Class or below). Special titles, such as "Drill Sergeant" are specific to certain jobs, and should not be confused for actual rank.

Other services differ, such as the Marines, which address each other by full rank.

Some terms are used jokingly when referring to a soldier's rank. For instance, Specialists are sometimes jokingly referred to as "Command Private Major", "Specialist Major," "Full-Bird Private", "Sham shield", "PV4", or "Spec-4" (in reference to the old Specialist grades, which at one point went up to Specialist 9). An E-1 Private may be referred to as "E-Nothing", "E-Fuzzy", "Fuzzy", "Drill Private", or "PV-Nothing" (as apposed to PV2, the next rank) due to the lack of rank patch on the velcro portion of the Army Combat Uniform (ACU).