The use of the word "rank" for Navy enlisted personnel is
incorrect. The term is "rate." The rating badge -- a combination of rate (pay
grade) and
rating (specialty) is worn on the left upper sleeve of all uniforms in
grades E-4 through E-6.
Group
rate marks for E-1 (optional) through E-3 are worn on dress uniforms only.
Chief Petty Officers (E-7 through E-9) wear collar devices on their white and
khaki uniforms, and rate badges on their Service Dress Blues
Officer ranks in the
United States military consist of commissioned officers and warrant
officers. The commissioned ranks are the highest in the military. These
officers hold presidential commissions and are confirmed at their ranks
by the Senate. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps officers are called
company grade officers in the pay grades of O-1 to O-3, field grade
officers in pay grades O-4 to O-6 and general officers in pay grades O-7
and higher. The equivalent officer groupings in the Navy are called
junior grade, mid-grade and flag.
Warrant officers hold
warrants from their service secretary and are specialists and experts in
certain military technologies or capabilities. The lowest ranking
warrant officers serve under a warrant, but they receive commissions
from the president upon promotion to chief warrant officer 2. These
commissioned warrant officers are direct representatives of the
president of the United States. They derive their authority from the
same source as commissioned officers but remain specialists, in contrast
to commissioned officers, who are generalists. There are no warrant
officers in the Air Force.
Naval officers
wear distinctively different rank devices depending upon the uniform
they're wearing. The three basic uniforms and rank devices used are:
khakis, collar insignia pins; whites, stripes on shoulder boards; and
blues, stripes sewn on the lower coat sleeves.
Commissioned officers in the Navy
are either Line officers or Staff Corps officers. Those of the Staff Corps are
specialists in career fields which are professions unto themselves, such as
physicians, lawyers, civil engineers, etc. Staff Corps officers wear their
specialty insignia on the sleeve of the dress blue uniforms and on their
shoulder boards in place of the star worn by Line officers. On Winter Blue and
khaki uniforms, the specialty insignia is a collar device worn on the left
collar while the
rank device is worn on the right.
Commissioned officers in the Navy are either Line
officers or Staff Corps officers. Some have advanced through the enlisted
rates and are designated for duty in certain technical fields. These are
Limited Duty Officers and commissioned warrant officers. CWOs and Staff corps
LDOs wear their specialty insignia on the sleeve of the dress blue uniforms
and on their shoulder boards in place of the star worn by Line officers. On
Winter Blue and khaki uniforms, the specialty insignia is a collar device worn
on the left collar while the
rank device is worn on the right.
