Rank

Rank (or Rating) is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or similar civil institutions. A person has authority over any person in the same force with a lower rank.

Ranking systems have been known for most of military history to be advantageous for military operations, in particular with regards to logistics, command, and coordination; as time continued and military operations became larger and more complex, military ranks increased and ranking systems themselves became more complex.

Most rank systems are split into two sections - Commissioned Officers and Enlisted Rates. Most forces use Rank Insiginia to denote rank, and Uniform is often different.

Within modern armed forces, the use of ranks is almost universal. Communist states have sometimes abolished rank (e.g. the Soviet Russian Red Army 1918–1935, the Chinese People's Liberation Army 1965–1988, and the Albanian Army 1966–1991) only to re-establish them after encountering operational difficulties of command and control.

For a comparison between British Armed Forces and US Military ranks, see Comparative Ranks.

Officer Ranks
Service	Cadet	OF-D	OF-1	OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10	All
British Army, Royal Marines	OCdt	2LT	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM	all
Royal Navy	O/C	Mid	SLt	Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	AotF	all
US Army, USAF, USMC	Cadet	2LT	1LT	CPT	MAJ	LTC	COL	BG	MG	LTG	GEN	GA	all
US Navy	MIDN	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	FADM	all

Enlisted Rates
Service	OR-1	OR-2	OR-3	OR-4	OR-5	OR-6	OR-7	OR-8	OR-9
British Army	Pte		LCpl	Cpl	Sgt		SSgt/CSgt	WO2	WO1	all
Royal Marines	Mne		L/Cpl	Cpl	Sgt		CSgt	WO2	WO1
Royal Navy	OR	AR	N/A	LH	PO		CPO	WO2	WO1
RAF	AC	LAC/SAC	N/A	Cpl	Sgt		CT/FS	N/A	WO/MAcr
	OR-1	OR-2	OR-3	OR-4	OR-5	OR-6	OR-7	OR-8	OR-9
US Army	PV1	PV2	PFC	CPL/SPC	SGT	SSGT	SFC	MSG/1SG	SGM	all
USMC	Pvt	PFC	LCpl	Cpl	Sgt	SSgt	GySgt	MSgt	SgtMaj
USAF	AB	Amn	A1C	SrA	SSgt	TSgt	MSgt	SMSgt	CMSgt
US Navy & USCG	SR	SA	SN	PO3	PO2	PO1	CPO	SCPO	MCPO

Rank

See also[]

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