Pay grades are used by the uniformed services of the United States to determine wages and benefits based on the corresponding military rank of a member of the services. While different titles or ranks may be used among the seven uniformed services, pay grades are uniform and equivalent between the services and can be used to quickly determine seniority among a group of members from different services. They are also essential when determining a member's entitlements such as basic pay and allowances.
Pay grades are divided into three groups: enlisted (E), warrant officer (W), and officer (O). Enlisted pay grades begin at E-1 and finish at E-9; warrant officer pay grades begin at W-1 and finish at W-5; and officer pay grades begin at O-1 and finish at O-10. Not all of the uniformed services use all of the grades; for example, the Navy does not use the grade W-1, the Air Force discontinued use of the warrant grades in the 1960s, and both the Public Health Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration do not use any of the enlisted or warrant grades in their entirety.
Members in pay grades O-1, O-2, and O-3 with more than four years of prior cumulative service in an enlisted or warrant officer grade are paid increased wages using the special pay grades of O-1E, O-2E, and O-3E, respectively. This benefit does not affect their rank and is used simply for reward and incentive purposes in recognition of their prior enlisted experience.
For pay tables and information on specific pay grade wages and entitlements for members of the uniformed services, see United States Military Pay.
Equivalent grades in NATO armed forces[]
The enlisted grades correspond with the NATO rank codes, with E-1 being equivalent to OR-1, E-2 equivalent to OR-2, and so on. The officer grades are all one higher than their NATO equivalent (except O-1) as the O-1 and O-2 grades are both equivalent to the NATO code of OF-1. Hence O-3 is equivalent to OF-2, O-4 is equivalent to OF-3, and so on. The NATO system does not have an equivalent of the U.S. warrant officer grades.
Enlisted pay grades[]
Warrant officer pay grades[]
Pay grade | Rank by branch of service | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Army | Marine Corps | Navy | Coast Guard | Air Force | |
W-1 | Warrant officer 1 | Warrant officer 1 | not used | not used | discontinued |
W-2 | Chief warrant officer 2 | Chief warrant officer 2 | Chief warrant officer 2 | Chief warrant officer 2 | discontinued |
W-3 | Chief warrant officer 3 | Chief warrant officer 3 | Chief warrant officer 3 | Chief warrant officer 3 | discontinued |
W-4 | Chief warrant officer 4 | Chief warrant officer 4 | Chief warrant officer 4 | Chief warrant officer 4 | discontinued |
W-5 | Chief warrant officer 5 | Chief warrant officer 5 | Chief warrant officer 5 | not used | NA |
Officer pay grades[]
Pay grade | Rank by branch of service | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Army | Marine Corps | Navy | Air Force | Coast Guard | Public Health Service Commissioned Corps | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps | |
O-1 O-1E |
Second lieutenant | Second lieutenant | Ensign | Second lieutenant | Ensign | Ensign | Ensign |
O-2 O-2E |
First Lieutenant | First lieutenant | Lieutenant (junior grade) | First lieutenant | Lieutenant (junior grade) | Lieutenant (junior grade) | Lieutenant (junior grade) |
O-3 O-3E |
Captain | Captain | Lieutenant | Captain | Lieutenant | Lieutenant | Lieutenant |
O-4 | Major | Major | Lieutenant commander | Major | Lieutenant commander | Lieutenant commander | Lieutenant commander |
O-5 | Lieutenant colonel | Lieutenant colonel | Commander | Lieutenant colonel | Commander | Commander | Commander |
O-6 | Colonel | Colonel | Captain | Colonel | Captain | Captain | Captain |
O-7 | Brigadier general | Brigadier general | Rear admiral (lower half) | Brigadier general | Rear admiral (lower half) | Rear admiral (lower half) | Rear admiral (lower half) |
O-8 | Major general | Major general | Rear admiral | Major general | Rear admiral | Rear admiral | Rear admiral |
O-9 | Lieutenant general | Lieutenant general | Vice admiral | Lieutenant general | Vice admiral | Vice admiral | Vice admiral (inactive) |
O-10 | General | General | Admiral | General | Admiral | Admiral | Admiral (no appointments) |
O-11 | General of the Army* | N/A | Fleet admiral* | General of the Air Force* | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Note: The ranks of general of the Army, general of the Air Force, and fleet admiral (Navy) are considered special ranks that can be conferred in wartime only. While it is still possible for an officer to be selected for these ranks, they do not appear on the current military pay grade scale.
See also[]
External links[]
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The original article can be found at U.S. uniformed services pay grades and the edit history here.