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What Comes After Sergeant Major of the Army

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U.S. Military Ranks

The Branches of Service

There are five branches of the U.S. military, represented to the government by theJoint Chiefs of Staff. Each branch of service has their own respective U.S. Military Ranks to represent authority level. These military branches are:

Enlisted Personnel

Pay Grade Army and Marine Corps Navy and Coast Guard1 Air Force Total
number2
E-1 Private Seaman Recruit Airman Basic 49,046
E-2 PV2 PFC

Army: Private (PV2)

Marines: Private First Class
(PFC)

 SA Seaman Apprentice
(SA)		 AMN Airman
(Amn)		 70,517
E-3 PFC LCpl

Army: Private First Class
(PFC)

Marines: Lance Corporal
(LCpl)

 SN Seaman
(SN)		 A1C Airman First Class
(A1C)		 183,394
E-4 SPC CPL Cpl

Army:
Specialist
(SPC)3

Corporal
(CPL)

Marines: Corporal
(Cpl)

 PO3 Petty Officer, Third Class
(PO3)		 SrA Senior Airman
(SrA)		 252,961
E-5 SGT Sgt

Sergeant
Army:
(SGT)
Marines:
(Sgt)

 PO2 Petty Officer, Second Class
(PO2)		 SSgt Staff Sergeant
(SSgt)		 218,457
E-6 SSG
SSgt

Staff Sergeant
Army:
(SSG)
Marines:
(SSgt)

 PO1 Petty Officer, First Class
(PO1)		 TSgt Technical Sergeant
(TSgt)		 157,201
E-7 SFC GySgt

Army:
Sergeant First Class
(SFC)

Marines: Gunnery Sergeant
(GySgt)

 CPO Chief Petty Officer
(CPO)4 		MSgt FirstSgt

Master Sergeant
(MSgt)

First Sergeant
(??)

87,672
E-8 MSG 1SG MSgt 1stSgt

Master Sergeant
Army:
(MSG)
Marines:
(MSgt)

First Sergeant
Army :
(1SG)
Marines:
(??)

 SCPO Senior Chief Petty Officer
(SCPO)		 SMSgt 1stSgt

Senior Master Sergeant
(SMSgt)

First Sergeant
(??)

26,562
E-9 SGM
CSM
SgtMaj MGySgt

Army:
Sergeant Major
(SGM)

Command Sergeant Major
(CSM)


Marines:
Sergeant Major
(SgtMaj)

Master Gunnery Sergeant
(MGySgt)

 MCPO
FleetMCPO

Master Chief Petty Officer
(MCPO)5

Fleet/Command
Master Chief Petty Officer
(??)

 CMSgt 1stSgt CommandCMSgt

Chief Master Sergeant
(CMSgt)

First Sergeant
(??)

Command Chief Master Sergeant
(??)

10,607
Special Grades 6
E-9 SMA SgtMajMC

Sergeant Major of the Army
(SMA)

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
(SgtMajMC)

 MCPON

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
(MCPON)

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard
(MCPOCG)

 CMSAF Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
(CMSAF)		 5
TOTAL ENLISTED 1,055,972
Warrant Officers
W-1 WO1 WO Warrant Officer 1
Army:
(WO1)
Marines:
(WO)		 DISCONTINUED 1975 NO WARRANT 2,526
W-2 CW2 CWO2 Chief Warrant Officer 2
Army:
(CW2)
Marines:
(CWO2)		 CWO2 CWO2

Chief Warrant Officer 2
(CWO2)

 NO WARRANT 6,842

W-3

 CW3 CWO3 Chief Warrant Officer 3
Army:
(CW3)
Marines:
(CWO3)		 CWO3 CWO3 Chief Warrant Officer 3
(CWO3)		 NO WARRANT 5,445
W-4 CW4 CWO4 Chief Warrant Officer 4
Army:
(CW4)
Marines:
(CWO4)		 CWO4 CWO4 Chief Warrant Officer 4
(CWO4)		 NO WARRANT 2,732
W-5 CW5 CWO5 Chief Warrant Officer 5
Army:
(CW5)
Marines:
(CWO5)		 CWO5 Chief Warrant Officer 5
(CWO5)7 		NO WARRANT 762
Total Warrant Officers 18,307

Commissioned Officers
Cadets/Midshipmen8 12,176
O-1 2LT

Second Lieutenant
Army:
(2LT)
Marines: (2ndLt)

 ENS Ensign
(ENS)		 2LT

Second Lieutenant
(2d Lt)

 25,118
O-2 1LT

First Lieutenant
Army:
(1LT)
Marines: 1stLt

 LTJG Lieutenant Junior Grade
(LTJG)		 1LT

First Lieutenant
1st Lt

 27,986
O-3 CPT

Captain
Army :
(CPT)
Marines:
Capt

 LT

Lieutenant
(LT)

 CPT

Captain
(Capt)

 75,984
O-4 MAJ

Major
Army:
(MAJ)
Marines:
Maj

 LCDR Lieutenant Commander
(LCDR)
 MAJ

Major
(Maj)

 42,934
O-5 LTC

Lieutenant Colonel
Army:
(LTC)
Marines:
(LtCol)

 CDR Commander
(CDR)		 LTC Lieutenant Colonel
(Lt Col)		 27,278
O-6 COL Colonel
Army:
(COL)
Marines:
(Col)		 CAPT Captain
(CAPT)		 COL Colonel
(Col)		 11,364
O-7 BG

Brigadier General
Army:
(BG)
Marines:
(BGen)

 RDML Rear Admiral Lower Half
(RDML)		 BG Brigadier General
(Brig Gen)		 407
O-8

MG

Major General
Army:
(MG)
Marines:
(MajGen)

 RADM Rear Admiral
(RADM)		 MG Major General
(Maj Gen)		 312
O-9 LTG

Lieutenant General
Army:
(LTG)
Marines:
(LtGen)

 VADM Vice Admiral
(VADM)		 LTG Lieutenant General
(Lt Gen)		 141
O-10 GEN

Chief of Staff of the Army

Commandant of the Marine Corps

General
Army:
(GEN)
Marines:
(Gen)

 ADM

Chief of Naval Operations

Commandant of the Coast Guard

Admiral
(ADM)

 GEN

Chief of Staff of the Air Force

General
(Gen)

 38
Special Grades 9
5 Stars General of the Army General of the Army Fleet Admiral Fleet Admiral General of the Air Force General of the Air Force

??

TOTAL COMMISSIONED OFFICERS 223,738
TOTAL OFFICERS 242,045
TOTAL PERSONNEL 1,298,017

The Five Branches

The Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense. The Coast Guard operates under the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime, but may be moved to the Navy during wartime. The Joint Chiefs of Staff drawn from the service branches report directly to the Secretaries of their respective services.

The National Guard is also represented by the JCS, but the Guard comprises reserve troops. Their ranks reflect those of their respective services. Across all branches of service, there are 813,017 reserve members as of June 30, 2017. There are reserve personnel from every pay grade. We have not included them in the count below.

Organization

In terms of authority, enlisted ranks are at the bottom, warrant officers in the middle, and commissioned officers are at the top. Enlisted personnel may become non-commissioned officers, giving them command authority. Warrant officers are enlisted personnel who are promoted by "warrant" due to technical expertise. Commissioned officers are leaders appointed by government documentation (by "commission").

We've organized our table by pay grade, which pretty handily corresponds to level of authority. But, it is important to note that pay grade is an administrative distinction; in the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force one's position is their rank, and in the Navy and Coast Guard it is their rate. Corresponding rates and ranks have different names across branches and more than one may fall under the same pay grade.

Chart Footnotes:

1. The Navy and Coast Guard share rank insignia, but the background color is different. The Coast Guard wears blue uniforms.

2. These numbers do not include Coast Guard personnel, for whom the Department of Defense has not published breakdown by rank. There are 41,121 service members of the Coast Guard as of June 2017.

3. Within the Army, a Specialist is ranked lower than a Corporal. But, they are of equal rank to E-4 service members in other branches.

4. Gold stripes on Navy insignia indicate 12+ years of good conduct.

5. Command MCPOs have silver stars. MCPOs have silver stars and silver specialty rating marks.

6. These senior advisers are the highest ranking enlisted members of each service, who are responsible for presenting the concerns and opinions of the enlisted service members to the officers.

7. The Coast Guard had this rate authorized, but as of yet they have not used/issued the rate of Chief Warrant Officer 5.

8. Cadets and midshipmen are commissioned officers in training, and so we have included them with the commissioned officers for our count. However, one should not be mistaken, a cadet or midshipman does not have the same authority.

9. The rank of 5 Stars is solely reserved for wartime, and as such there are currently no 5 Star Generals or Admirals.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Defense, Jun 30, 2017.

U.S. Military Spending, 1946?2009 Military Personnel Active Duty Military Personnel, 1940?2011
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What Comes After Sergeant Major of the Army

Source: https://www.infoplease.com/us/military/us-military-ranks