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Ranks and insignia of NATO

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Comparative military ranks
Armies,
air forces
(non-Commonwealth)		 Navies,
coast guards		 Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Flag commissioned officers
Field marshal or Marshal Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force
General or
colonel general or
army general		 Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general or
army corps general		 Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general or
divisional general		 Rear admiral or
Counter admiral		 Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore or
flotilla admiral		 Air commodore
Senior commissioned officers
Colonel (Ship-of-the-line)
Captain		 Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Frigate captain or
Commander		 Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Corvette captain or Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Junior commissioned officers
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
First lieutenant or
lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant or
junior lieutenant		 Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Non-commissioned officers
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Enlisted ranks
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Lance corporal or
Lance bombardier or
Specialist		 Able seaman Leading aircraftman
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
sapper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator

A standard rank scale is used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.and its partners for specifying posts within NATO.

Rank codes by STANAG 2116 / APersP-01[edit]

NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to standardize NATO codes of rank for military personnel and indicate correspondence with nations ranks.[1] It is intended to be used "by nations when preparing personnel tables, requisitions, reports and returns destined for NATO nations, organizations and commands." The NATO rank reference code categories were established in a 1978 document entitled STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel). The current 7th edition dated January 13, 2021 (supersedes Edition 6, dated February 25, 2010) is just the cover, and the core of the standard is in APersP-01, Edition A[1].

NATO rank codes are not the same as military ranks (eg private, corporal,, captain...) nor military pay grades (eg the US military E-1, W-1, CW-5, 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:[2]

Non-officer personnel codes[edit]

OR1–OR9 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for other ranks / enlisted ranks and non-commissioned officers (NCO) :[2]

  • OR-5 – OR-9: Non-commissioned officers (for NATO purposes)
  • OR-1 – OR-4: other ranks/enlisted ranks (usually; see National characteristics)


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, therefore has a special group of codes (W-1 – W-5).[3] In British Armed Forces and Canadian Armed Forces warrant officers are the highest other ranks.[4]

In the British Armed Forces senior non-commissioned officers are in OR-5 to OR-7 and junior non-commissioned officers (eg corporals) are in OR3 and OR-4. The Danish Navy and Army do not have an OR-5 and Danish Air Force and NCOs in these branches of the armed forces start with OR-6. In the US military OR-5 and above are non-commissioned officers for the US Army and US Air Force but in the US Marine Corps and US Navy (both parts of the Department of the Navy), OR-4 and above are non-commissioned officers.

Officer rank code application[edit]

Appendix B of the APP-06 standard[5][page range too broad] lists 11 formation/unit groups (13 in US Armed Forces) and identifies the command level of seven of them:

  • Corps: normally commanded by OF-8
  • Division: normally commanded by an OF-7
  • Brigade: normally commanded by an OF-5 or 6
  • Regiment: usually commanded by an OF-4, 5 or 6
  • Batalion: commanded by an OF-3 or 4
  • Company: commanded by an OF-2 or 3
  • Platoon: commanded by an OF-1/OF-2 or OR-7/OR-8

Non-officer rank code criteria[edit]

According to Bi-SC Directive 040-002[6] NATO rank Indicators for NCOs are as follows:

  • OR-1 — OR-3: These are the basic entry ranks into the military structure.
  • OR-4: The first level of leadership within the NATO NCO ranks.
  • OR-5: The OR-5 is the first NATO designated NCO grade and the level of leadership with the greatest impact on subordinate ranks.
  • OR-6: This is the first grade at which OR should be considered for Staff NCO duties at NATO higher headquarters employment. As such some NATO nations may recognize OR-6 through OR-9 as Senior NCOs (SNCO) or Warrant Officers (WO).
  • OR-7: The OR-7 is empowered and considered a key element within the command structure. At this level, SNCOs are expected to be able to provide sound advice to their leadership.
  • OR-8: Uses enhanced leadership skills and broad operational experience to advise unit/element leaders and commanders on organizational effectiveness. OR-Bs are expected to merge subordinates talents, skills, and resources with other NATO crossfunctional team(s) and organization(s) to implement planning and management processes for collective mission accomplishment.
  • OR-9: The most experienced SNCO within the NATO NCO structure. This grade is normally utilized in an advisory capacity when assigned to a higher headquarters.

Specific roles:[7]

  • Staff NCO: When assigned to the NCS, the Staff NCO performs technical duties and project or portfolio management based upon their education, training, and experience. Based on the depth of their tactical experience, Staff NCO should participate in relevant working groups across the higher headquarters or NATO organisations.
  • Senior Enlisted Leader: While traditionally an ancillary duty, this individual serves as an advisor to the senior staff directorate or element leadership.
  • CSEL: The CSEL, at the pinnacle of the NCO Ranks, serves on the Command Team as an advisor to the commander and the staff element leadership.

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).

Officer ranks
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
Other ranks
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

Use of NATO rank codes by NATO partners[edit]

Based on the intentions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Ukraine, to join NATO, NATO codes for military ranks have been officially introduced in these countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina did so by adopting a corresponding law in 2005.[8] In Ukraine, the introduction of NATO codes for military ranks took place in two stages. Firstly in 2020, the Ukrainian parliament amended the structure of military ranks[9] which was followed in January 2021, by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine approving the compliance of military ranks with NATO codes by order[10] though the order had a confidential status.[11].

Some European NATO partners such as Austria[12] and Ireland[13] describe their ranks in terms of NATO rank codes for comparison with NATO forces.

Other use of NATO codes[edit]

NATO codes are also sometimes used to describe equivalence for countries that are not aligned with NATO. Eg in setting out comissioned officer ranks in the Israel Defense Forces with those in the US Army.[14][15][page needed][16][page needed] In the IDF officer ranks are not determined by the position held, but on length of service, The most widely disseminated point of view was that of the professor Asher Shafrir[17][18], although he is a linguist and not a military specialist.

Similar problems can arise when trying to match officer rank systems, such as the Soviet one, with NATO codes.[citation needed]

Ranks and insignia of member armed forces[edit]

Army

Air Force

Navy

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b NATO:NSO 2021, p. 1.
  2. ^ a b NATO:NSO 2022, p. 1-1.
  3. ^ NATO:NSO 2022, p. А-10.
  4. ^ NATO:NSO 2022, p. D-1, D-3.
  5. ^ NATO:NSO 2023, p. 795 - 826.
  6. ^ NATO:Bi-SC 2023, p. 7,8.
  7. ^ NATO:Bi-SC 2023, p. 9.
  8. ^ PSBiH 2005, p. 33,34.
  9. ^ Rada 2020.
  10. ^ rubryka.com 2021.
  11. ^ Among the orders of the Minister of Defense for 2019, posted on the website of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, order No. 1 is missing
  12. ^ www.bundesheer.at 2023.
  13. ^ De Barra 2022.
  14. ^ idf.il 2007.
  15. ^ Shafrir 2013a.
  16. ^ Gross 2021.
  17. ^ Campbell 2018, p. 65.
  18. ^ Tennyson 2018.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e NCO IDF vs W1/W-2 US Arny comparison, which is incorrect
  2. ^ a b Inaccuracy: Staff Sergeant and Sergeant are NCO
  3. ^ a b c Inaccuracy: in US Arny/Us Ar Force E-4 (OR-4) is not NCO
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