Army Wife & Army Family Married to the Army Army Rank

Ranks and Grades

Learning the ranks and grades of others in the Army can be very frustrating for a civilian. For your soldier, it is a necessity. He must know who to salute and how to address each person.

As an Army wife, it is up to you how you address someone. Some civilians are very traditional and always address by rank while others don't address them any differently than they would anyone else. It is up to you. In my experience, if I have ever called someone by rank, they have quickly asked me to call them by their first name.

Below are a list of Army ranks and grades. (See what they look like here)

	RANK	GRADE
OFFICER	General	O-10
	Lieutenant General	O-9
	Major General	O-8
	Brigadier General	O-7
	Colonel	O-6
	Lieutenant Colonel	O-5
	Major	O-4
	Captain	O-3
	1^st Lieutenant	O-2
	2^nd Lieutenant	O-1
WARRANT OFFICER	Chief Warrant Officer 5	W-5
	Chief Warrant Officer 4	W-4
	Chief Warrant Officer 3	W-3
	Chief Warrant Officer 2	W-2
	Chief Warrant Officer 1	W-1
ENLISTED	Sergeant Major of the Army
	Command Sergeant Major	E-9
	Sergeant Major	E-9
	First Sergeant	E-8
	Master Sergeant	E-8
	Sergeant First Class	E-7
	Staff Sergeant	E-6
	Sergeant	E-5
	Corporal	E-4
	Specialist	E-4
	Private First Class (PFC)	E-3
	Private	E-2 or E-1

Just as a side note, you'll often hear an E-4 referred to as a "Spec 4" and a private referred to as a "cherry".

Branch designations/Job acronyms

Combat Arms

Infantry (IN)

Armor (AR)

Field Artillery (FA)

Air Defense Artillery (ADA)

Aviation (AV)

Special Forces (SF)

Corps of Engineers (EN)

Combat Support Branches

Signal Corps (SC)

Military Police (MP)

Military Intelligence (MI)

Civil Affairs (CA) (RC Only)

Chemical Corps (CM)

Combat service support

Adjutant General's Corps (AG)

Finance Corps (FI)

Transportation Corps (TC)

Ordnance (OD)

Quartermaster Corps (QM).

Special branches

Chaplain (CH)

Medical Corps (MC)

Dental Corps (DC)

Veterinary Corps (VC)

Medical Specialist Corps (MSC)

Nurse Corps (AN)

Medical Service Corps (MS)

JAG Corps (JA)

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