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Defense Primer: Military Officers

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https://crsreports.congress.gov

Updated December 10, 2024

Defense Primer: Military Officers

Grade and Rank Defense Primer: Military Officers

Updated June 3, 2025 (IF10685)

Grade and Rank

The Armed Forces are hierarchical organizations with clearly defined levels of authority. The different levels for officers are defined in law and called grades, while rank refers to the order of precedence among those in different grades and within the same grade (e.g., someone who has been a Major for three years outranks someone who has been a Major for two years; see 10 U.S.C. §741). However, it is common for the term rank to be used as a synonym for grade. Pay grade is an administrative classification that determines certain rates of pay, but it is sometimes used to indicate grade as well. For example, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy may be referred to as an O-4. See Figure 1. Numbers and Roles Officers (including warrant officers) make up about 18% of the Armed Forces, with enlisted personnel and military service academy cadets and midshipmen making up the other 82%. Officers outrank all enlisted personnel. Table 1 below lists the number of active-duty officers in each pay grade. Warrant officers (pay grades W-1 to W-5) perform highly technical or specialized work within their career field and

also, in the case of the Army, serve as helicopter pilots. Warrant officers constitute about 9% of the officer corps. Company-grade or junior-grade or junior-grade officers (pay grades O-1 to O-3) typically lead units with several dozen to several hundred personnel, or serve as junior staff officers. They make up about 5655% of the officer corps. Field-grade Field-grade or mid-grade officers officers (pay grades O-4 to O-6) typically lead units with several hundred to several thousand personnel, or serve as senior staff officers. They make up about 35% of the officer corps. The number of officers in these grades is limited by law (10 U.S.C. §523). §523). General or flagflag officers (pay grades O-7 to O-10) may lead units or organizations with several thousand to hundreds of thousands of personnel or serve as staff for the largest military organizations. General and flag officers make up just under 0.4% of the officer corps. The number of officers in these grades is limited by law (10 U.S.C. §§§§525-526).

Insignia

). Insignia As shown in Figure 1, each officer grade in the Armed Forces has distinctive insignia, typically worn on the sleeve, shoulder, collar, and/or headgear (caps, berets, etc.).

Table 1. Active-Duty Military Officers by Pay Grade (as of August 31, 2024)

Pay Grade

Service

Total Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force Space Force

O-10 13 8 3 13 3 40

O-9 53 37 25 43 5 163

O-8 110 68 29 86 9 302

O-7 124 107 39 99 11 380

O-6 3,614 2,959 702 3,183 232 10,690

O-5 8,607 6,417 1,951 9,171 746 26,892

O-4 15,690 10,151 3,941 13,210 1,129 44,121

O-3 26,350 19,522 5,881 20,934 1,262 73,949

O-2 12,307 7,435 3,823 6,873 581 31,019

O-1 9,848 6,614 2,734 7,001 565 26,762

W-5 555 79 111 not reported 0 745

W-4 1,642 462 269 not reported 0 2,373

W-3 3,103 809 673 not reported 0 4,585

W-2 6,137 713 880 not reported 0 7,730

W-1 4,273 33 284 not reported 0 4,590

Total 92,426 55,414 21,345 60,613 4,543 234,341

March 31, 2025)

Pay Grade

Service

Total

Army

Navy

Marine Corps

Air Force

Space Force

O-10

11

8

3

13

3

38

O-9

53

35

18

39

5

150

O-8

88

63

32

70

10

263

O-7

114

105

37

100

10

366

O-6

3,631

3,172

715

3,137

241

10,896

O-5

8,554

6,803

1,975

9,271

770

27,373

O-4

15,378

10,400

3,996

12,969

1,144

43,887

O-3

25,701

17,833

6,095

20,417

1,200

71,246

O-2

14,242

7,348

3,345

7,027

590

32,552

O-1

7,816

7,017

2,984

6,605

594

25,016

W-5

549

78

109

0

0

736

W-4

1,561

465

281

0

0

2,307

W-3

3,156

824

562

0

0

4,542

W-2

6,468

727

792

23

0

8,010

W-1

4,212

40

539

22

0

4,813

Total

91,534

54,918

21,483

59,693

4,567

232,195

Source: Department of Defense, Defense Manpower Data Center, Active Duty Military Personnel by Service by Rank/Grade, March 2025, August 2024. Note: The Air Force first began accepting applications for Warrant Officers in April 2024.

Defense Primer: Military Officers

https://crsreports.congress.gov

Figure 1. Pay Grade, Grade, and Insignia of Officers

Source: CRS adaption of Department of Defense web page: https://dodwww.defense.gov/About/Insignias/Officers/. The Our-Story/Insignias/#officer-insignias. The Department of the Air Force provided CRS with the insignia design for Air Force Warrant Officers. . The U.S. Coast Guard, which normally falls under the Department of Homeland Security, uses the same names, collar insignia, and striping conventions as the Navy.

Resources

10 U.S.C. §§101(b), 523, 525-526a, 741, 742.

Department of Defense Instruction 1310.01, Rank and Seniority of Commissioned Officers..

CRS Report R44496, Military Officer Personnel Management: Key Concepts and Statutory Provisions.

CRS Report R44389, General and Flag Officers in the U.S. Armed Forces: Background and Considerations for Congress.

Defense Primer: Military Officers

https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10685 · VERSION 17 · UPDATED

Kristy N. Kamarck, Coordinator, Specialist in Military Personnel

Carly A. Miller, Research Librarian

IF10685

Disclaimer

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.