About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 [1] (June 3, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/dfensprim0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Inforring the legislative debate since 1914 Defense Primer: Military Officers Updated June 3, 2025 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 (including warrant officers) make up about 18% of the Armed Forces, with enlisted personnel and military service academy cadets and midshipmen making up the other 82%. 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 9% of the officer corps. Company-grade or junior-grade officers (pay grades O-1 to 0-3) typically lead units with several dozen to several hundred personnel, or serve as junior staff officers. They make up about 55% of the officer corps. 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. The number of officers in these grades is limited by law (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. The number of officers in these grades is limited by law (10 U.S.C. §§525-526). 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 March 3 1, 2025) Service Pay Grade Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Space Force Total 0-10 11 8 3 13 3 38 0-9 53 35 18 39 5 150 0-8 88 63 32 70 10 263 0-7 114 105 37 100 10 366 O-6 3,631 3,172 715 3,137 241 10,896 O-5 8,554 6,803 1,975 9,271 770 27,373 O-4 15,378 10,400 3,996 12,969 1,144 43,887 O-3 25,701 17,833 6,095 20,417 1,200 71,246 O-2 14,242 7,348 3,345 7,027 590 32,552 O-I 7,816 7,017 2,984 6,605 594 25,016 W-5 549 78 109 0 0 736 W-4 1,561 465 281 0 0 2,307 W-3 3,156 824 562 0 0 4,542 W-2 6,468 727 792 23 0 8,010 W-1 4,212 40 539 22 0 4,813 Total 91,534 54,918 21,483 59,693 4,567 232,195 Source: Department of Defense, Defense Manpower Data Center, Active Duty Military Personnel by Service by Rank/Grade, March 2025. Note: The Air Force first began accepting applications for Warrant Officers in April 2024. igress.gov

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most