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1 [1] (June 4, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveptj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Defense Primer: Military Officers Updated June 4, 2024 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 Ro es Officers make up about 18% of the Armed Forces, with enlisted personnel 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 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 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 36% 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 I, 2024) Service Pay Grade Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Space Force Total 0-10 14 8 3 13 3 41 0-9 47 37 18 42 5 149 0-8 109 52 29 77 7 274 0-7 103 107 37 99 II 357 0-6 3,738 3,100 711 3,132 229 10,910 0-5 8,589 6,614 1,948 9,222 724 27,097 0-4 15,689 10,487 3,950 13,296 1,156 44,578 0-3 25,935 18,245 6,147 20,436 1,236 71,999 0-2 15,016 7,341 3,487 6,840 541 33,225 0-I 6,178 6,659 2,706 6,657 529 23,269 W-5 563 71 Ill na na 745 W-4 1,717 459 282 na na 2,458 W-3 3,179 785 588 na na 4,552 W-2 5,891 716 805 na na 7,412 W-1 4,178 29 534 na na 4,741 Total 91,486 54,710 21,356 59,814 4,441 231,807 Source: Department of Defense, Defense Manpower Data Center. Note: Air Force and Space Force do not have Warrant Officers.

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