Ranks and insignia of NATO
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Ranks and insignia of NATO affiliated nations are combined military ranks and insignia used by the member countries (and other affiliated nations) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The rank scale is used for specifying posts within NATO.
Rank codes[edit]
NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to match every member country's military ranks to corresponding ranks used by the other members.[1] The NATO rank reference code categories were established in a 1978 document entitled STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel).
NATO rank codes are not the same as military ranks (US Army examples: Private, Corporal, Warrant Officer 1, Chief Warrant Officer 5, Captain, Major, Colonel, etc.) and military pay grades (US military examples: E-1, W-1, CW-5, O-1, O-1e, O-10, etc.). They are rank codes that allow for interoperability among NATO member nations.
Officer rank codes[edit]
OF-1 – OF-10 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for commissioned officers:[1]
- OF-6 – OF-10: Flag officers, general officers, or air officers
- OF-3 – OF-5: Senior officers
- OF-1 – OF-2: Junior officers
In US Forces the Warrant Officer is a separate and distinct category of officers. This officer rank and precedence is below those of officer personnel, but above that of non-officer personnel. Warrant Officer grades are as followss:[2]:
- W-5: Chief Warrant Officer 5 (US Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy)
- W-4: Chief Warrant Officer 4 (US Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy)
- W-3: Chief Warrant Officer 3 (US Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy)
- W-2: Chief Warrant Officer 2 (US Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy)
- W-1: Warrant Officer 1 (US Army, US Marine Corps; no longer used in US Navy)
The warrant officers are the highest other ranks in British Armed Forces and Canadian Armed Forces.[3]
Other rank codes[edit]
OR1–OR9 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for other ranks:[1]
- OR-5 – OR-9: Non-commissioned officers (for NATO purposes)
- OR-1 – OR-4: Enlisted ranks (usually)
At the same time, there are exceptions, for example:
- Non-Commissioned officers in British Armed Forces are called Senior Non-Commissioned Officers in OR-5 to OR-7 inclusive and Junior Non-Commissioned Officers in OR-3 and OR-4.[4]
This is not a new feature: it was present in previous editions of STANAG 2116, but was sometimes overlooked.
Comparison to US system[edit]
The numbers in the system broadly correspond to the U.S. uniformed services pay grades, with OR-x replacing E-x. The main difference is in the commissioned officer ranks, where the US system recognises two ranks at OF-1 level (O-1 and O-2), meaning that all O-x numbers after O-1 are one point higher on the US scale than they are on the NATO scale (e.g. a major is OF-3 on the NATO scale and O-4 on the US scale).
| Rank group | General / flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | Officer cadet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) | Student officer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uniformed services pay grade | Special grade | O-10 | O-9 | O-8 | O-7 | O-6 | O-5 | O-4 | O-3 | O-2 | O-1 | Officer candidate/Cadet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank group | Non-commissioned officers | Enlisted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uniformed services pay grade | Special | E-9 | E-8 | E-7 | E-6 | E-5 | E-4 | E-3 | E-2 | E-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ranks and insignia of member armed forces[edit]
Army
Air Force
- Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force officers
- Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force enlisted
Navy
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
Sources[edit]
- NATO (13 January 2021). STANAG 2116 (7th ed.). Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Agency.
- NATO (16 June 2022). APersP-01 Еd.A Ver.3. Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Agency.
- NATO (11 October 2023). APP-06 Еd.E Ver.1. Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Agency.
External links[edit]
- "NATO Standard STANAG 2116 / APersP-01, NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel". nso.nato.int. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
- "NATO Standard STANAG 2019 / APP-06, NATO Joint Military Symbology". nso.nato.int. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
- "Bi-SC Directive 040-002, NATO Non-Commissioned Officer and Junior Officer Bi-Strategic Command Employment and Development Strategy" (PDF). shape.nato.int. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 2024-06-24.