Officer Rank Chart for the U.S. Military

Officer Ranks

Ranks are shown in ascending order of seniority.

Abbreviations
If only one abbreviation is shown, it is the abbreviation used by the service. Those often don't correspond to AP style. Note that AP does not abbreviate any warrant officer ranks.
Abbreviation styles are indicated as follows:

AP - Associated Press
Svc. - Used by the service (Note that the different services sometimes abbreviate the same rank differently.)

B - Used by both the service and AP

Source: This chart is adapted from a Defense Department Web page.



	W1 \| W2 \| W3 \| W4 \| W5 \| O1 \| O2 \| O3 \| O4 \| O5 \| O6 \| O7 \| O8 \| O9 \| O10 \| General of...
	Officer ranks in the United States military consist of commissioned officers and warrant officers. The commissioned ranks are the highest in the military. These officers hold presidential commissions and are confirmed at their ranks by the Senate. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps officers are called company grade officers in the pay grades of O-1 to O-3, field grade officers in pay grades O-4 to O-6 and general officers in pay grades O-7 and higher. The equivalent officer groupings in the Navy are called junior grade, mid-grade and flag. Warrant officers hold warrants from their service secretary and are specialists and experts in certain military technologies or capabilities. The lowest ranking warrant officers serve under a warrant, but they receive commissions from the president upon promotion to chief warrant officer 2. These commissioned warrant officers are direct representatives of the president of the United States. They derive their authority from the same source as commissioned officers but remain specialists, in contrast to commissioned officers, who are generalists. There are no warrant officers in the Air Force.


	Naval officers wear distinctively different rank devices depending upon the uniform they're wearing. The three basic uniforms and rank devices used are: khakis, collar insignia pins; whites, stripes on shoulder boards; and blues, stripes sewn on the lower coat sleeves.
W1	Warrant Officer 1 WO1	USN Warrant Officer 1 — WO1	Warrant Officer 1 WO	NO WARRANT
W2	Chief Warrant Officer 2 CW2	USN Chief Warrant Officer 2 — CWO2 USCG	Chief Warrant Officer 2 CWO2	NO WARRANT
W3	Chief Warrant Officer 3 CW3	USN Chief Warrant Officer 3 — CWO3 USCG	Chief Warrant Officer 3 CWO3	NO WARRANT
W4	Chief Warrant Officer 4 CW4	USN Chief Warrant Officer 4 — CWO4 USCG	Chief Warrant Officer 4 CWO4	NO WARRANT
W5	Chief Warrant Officer CW5	USN Chief Warrant Officer CWO5	Chief Warrant Officer 5 CWO5	NO WARRANT


O1	Second Lieutenant Svc. - 2LT AP - 2nd Lt.	Ensign ENS	Second Lieutenant 2nd Lt.	Second Lieutenant 2nd Lt.
O2	First Lieutenant Svc. - 1LT AP - 1st Lt.	Lieutenant Junior Grade LTJG	First Lieutenant 1st Lt.	First Lieutenant 1st Lt.
O3	Captain Svc. - CPT AP - Capt.	Lieutenant LT	Captain Capt.	Captain Capt.
O4	Major Svc. - MAJ AP - Maj.	Lieutenant Commander LCDR	Major Maj.	Major Maj.
O5	Lieutenant Colonel Svc. - LTC AP - Lt. Col.	Commander CDR	Lieutenant Colonel Lt. Col.	Lieutenant Colonel Lt. Col.
O6	Colonel Svc. - COL AP - Col.	Captain CAPT	Colonel Col.	Colonel Col.
O7	Brigadier General Svc. - BG AP - Brig. Gen.	Rear Admiral Lower Half RDML	Brigadier General Brig. Gen.	Brigadier General Brig. Gen.
O8	Major General Svc. - MG AP - Maj. Gen.	Rear Admiral Upper Half RADM	Major General Maj. Gen.	Major General Maj. Gen.
O9	Lieutenant General Svc. - LTG AP - Lt. Gen.	Vice Admiral VADM	Lieutenant General Lt. Gen.	Lieutenant General Lt. Gen.
O10	General Svc. - GEN AP - Gen. Army Chief of Staff	Admiral ADM Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Coast Guard	General Gen. Commandant of the Marine Corps	General Gen. Air Force Chief of Staff
	General of the Army (Reserved for wartime only)	Fleet Admiral (Reserved for wartime only)		General of the Air Force (Reserved for wartime only)

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