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1 [1] (November 7, 2018)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthzzbto0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Defense Primer: Military Officers Grade and Rank The armed forces are hierarchical organizations with clearly defined levels of authority. The different levels for officers are defined in law and called grades, while rank refers to the order of precedence among those in different grades and within the same grade (e.g., someone who has been a Major for three years outranks someone who has been a Major for two years; see 10 U.S.C. §741). However, it is common for the term rank to be used as a synonym for grade. Pay grade is an administrative classification that determines certain rates of pay, but it is sometimes used to indicate grade as well. For example, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy may be referred to as an 0-4. See Figure 1. Numbers and Roles Officers make up about 19% of the armed forces, with enlisted personnel making up the other 81%. Officers outrank all enlisted personnel. Table 1 below lists the number of active duty officers in each pay grade. Warrant officers (pay grades W-1 to W-5) perform highly technical or specialized work within their career field and also, in the case of the Army, serve as helicopter pilots. Warrant officers constitute about 8% of the officer corps. Updated November 7, 2018 Company-grade or junior-grade officers (pay grades 0-1 to 0-3) typically lead units with several dozen to several hundred personnel, or serve as junior staff officers. They make up about 56% of the officer corps. There is no statutory limit on the number of officers in these grades. Field-grade or mid-grade officers (pay grades 0-4 to 0-6) typically lead units with several hundred to several thousand personnel, or serve as senior staff officers. They make up about 35% of the officer corps. There are statutory limits on the number of officers in these grades (10 U.S.C. §523). General or flag officers (pay grades 0-7 to 0-10) may lead units or organizations with several thousand to hundreds of thousands of personnel or serve as staff for the largest military organizations. General and flag officers make up just under 0.4% of the officer corps. There are statutory limits on the number of officers in these grades (10 U.S.C. §525-526a). Insignia As shown in Figure 1, each officer grade in the armed forces has distinctive insignia, typically worn on the sleeve, shoulder, collar, and/or headgear (caps, berets, etc.). Table I. Active Duty Military Officers by Pay Grade (as of September 30, 2018) Services Pay Grade Total Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force 0-10 15 8 4 13 40 0-9 44 38 21 44 147 0-8 118 61 27 90 296 0-7 141 107 41 149 438 0-6 3,990 3,125 643 3,241 10,999 0-5 8,793 6,668 1,90I 9,764 27,126 0-4 15,077 10,592 3,883 13,593 43,145 0-3 28,42I 18,726 6,122 20,851 74,120 0-2 11,259 6,659 3,337 6,995 28,250 0-1 9,881 7,018 3,203 7,900 28,002 W-5 589 87 107 0 783 W-4 2,070 394 297 0 2,761 W-3 3,949 647 629 0 5,225 W-2 5,300 607 830 0 6,737 W-1 2,352 0 287 0 2,639 Source: Department of Defense, Defense Manpower Data Center. www.crs.gov 7-5700

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