US Military Ranks Table
| Grade | Army | Marines | Navy | Air Force | Space Force |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-1 | Private | Private | Seaman Recruit | Airman Basic | Specialist 1 |
| E-2 | Private | Private First Class | Seaman Apprentice | Airman | Specialist 2 |
| E-3 | Private First Class | Lance Corporal | Seaman | Airman First Class | Specialist 3 |
| E-4 | Specialist / Corporal | Corporal | Petty Officer 3rd Class | Senior Airman | Specialist 4 |
| E-5 | Sergeant | Sergeant | Petty Officer 2nd Class | Staff Sergeant | Sergeant |
| E-6 | Staff Sergeant | Staff Sergeant | Petty Officer 1st Class | Technical Sergeant | Technical Sergeant |
| E-7 | Sergeant First Class | Gunnery Sergeant | Chief Petty Officer | Master Sergeant | Master Sergeant |
| E-8 | Master Sergeant / 1st Sergeant | Master Sergeant / 1st Sergeant | Senior Chief Petty Officer | Senior Master Sergeant | Senior Master Sergeant |
| E-9 | Sergeant Major / CSM | Sergeant Major / MGySgt | Master Chief Petty Officer | Chief Master Sergeant | Chief Master Sergeant |
| O-1 | Second Lieutenant | Second Lieutenant | Ensign | Second Lieutenant | Second Lieutenant |
| O-2 | First Lieutenant | First Lieutenant | Lieutenant (jg) | First Lieutenant | First Lieutenant |
| O-3 | Captain | Captain | Lieutenant | Captain | Captain |
| O-4 | Major | Major | Lieutenant Commander | Major | Major |
| O-5 | Lieutenant Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel | Commander | Lieutenant Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel |
| O-6 | Colonel | Colonel | Captain | Colonel | Colonel |
| O-7 | Brigadier General | Brigadier General | Rear Adm. (lower half) | Brigadier General | Brigadier General |
| O-8 | Major General | Major General | Rear Adm. (upper half) | Major General | Major General |
| O-9 | Lieutenant General | Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral | Lieutenant General | Lieutenant General |
| O-10 | General | General | Admiral | General | General |
Every branch fights with its own vocabulary but pays on the same ladder: the Defense Department's E (enlisted) and O (officer) pay grades run from E-1 to E-9 and O-1 to O-10, and the names in the table are what each service calls the same grade. A Navy Petty Officer Second Class and an Army Sergeant are both E-5; a Marine Lieutenant Colonel and an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel are both O-5. Read the grades first and the names become accents.
The enlisted column is a career story: nine grades that start as an unbadgeged recruit, hit the NCO threshold at E-4/E-5 (where the Services' non-commissioned officers actually command), and end at E-9 - the Sergeant Majors, Master Chiefs and Chief Master Sergeants who advise generals on the enlisted force. Each branch doubles its senior grades (First Sergeants, Command Sergeants Major) for leadership tracks within the same pay grade.
The officer column is a ladder of command scale: company grade (O-1 to O-3) runs a platoon or ship division, field grade (O-4 to O-6) a battalion or warship, general and flag officers (O-7 to O-10) the theaters and fleets. The Navy's naming is the outlier that confuses everyone: its O-3 Lieutenant equals an Army Captain, and its O-6 Captain equals an Army Colonel - the sea service kept 'captain' for whoever commands the ship, as it has since the age of sail.
How to use
- Find any service's name for a grade: read the row for the E or O grade and pick your branch column. Equivalent-questions dissolve - 'what rank is E-5' is Sergeant (Army, Marines), Petty Officer 2nd Class (Navy), Staff Sergeant (Air Force), Sergeant (Space Force).
- Translate across branches by grade, never by name: a Navy Commander moving to a joint staff with an Army Colonel problem is an O-5 talking to an O-6. The grade column is the only reliable exchange rate.
- Read the Navy's quirks deliberately: Ensign (O-1) outranks no one but commands at sea, Lieutenant Commander (O-4) equals an Army Major, Captain (O-6) equals an Army Colonel - because 'captain of the ship' predates the pay table.
- Place warrant officers separately: W-1 to W-5 (Army, Marines, Navy) sit between the top enlisted and company grades as technical specialists - helicopter pilots, intelligence experts - and do not appear in this table's E/O columns.
Frequently asked questions
What rank is E-5 in each branch?
Army: Sergeant. Marine Corps: Sergeant. Navy: Petty Officer Second Class. Air Force: Staff Sergeant. Space Force: Sergeant. Same pay grade, five names - which is exactly why the grade number is the only universal rank in the system.
Why is a Navy Captain equal to an Army Colonel?
Because 'captain' at sea has always meant 'the one who commands the ship,' regardless of grade - a usage older than any pay table. When the Navy formalized its ladder, the ship-commanding grade landed at O-6, matching the Army Colonel; a Navy O-3 Lieutenant commands nothing like a company, but shares the name with an Army Captain anyway.
What are the NCO ranks and when do they start?
Non-commissioned officer status starts at E-4 in the Army (Corporal track) and Marines (Corporal), E-5 in the Navy (Petty Officer), and E-5 in the Air Force and Space Force (Staff Sergeant/Sergeant). The senior NCO grades - E-8 and E-9 - carry the First Sergeant, Command Sergeant Major and service Master Chief titles that anchor unit leadership.
Do all five branches have warrant officers?
No: the Army, Marine Corps and Navy have warrant officer grades W-1 through W-5 (technical and flight specialists), while the Air Force and Space Force have none. Warrants rank between the senior enlisted and the company-grade officers, and their pay table is a separate W line.