What ranks are there in the U.S. military?

Question

I was wondering what ranks (from private to general) are there in the U.S. forces and what medals are given out in accordance to each force.

Answer 1

General, Flag, or Air Officers
Officers who typically command units or formations that are expected to operate independently for extended periods of time (brigades and larger, or flotillas or squadrons of ships), are referred to variously as General Officers (army, marines, and some air forces), Flag Officers (navy), or Air Officers (some Commonwealth air forces).

General Officer ranks typically include (from the top down) General, Lieutenant General, Major General, and Brigadier General, although there are many variations like Division General or (Air-, Ground-)Force General.

Flag Officer ranks, named after the traditional practice of showing the presence of such an officer with a flag on a ship and often land, typically include (from the top down) Admiral, Vice Admiral and Rear Admiral. In some navies, such as Canada's, the rank of Commodore is a flag rank.

In the United Kingdom and most other Commonwealth air forces, Air Officer ranks usually include Air Chief Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Vice-Marshal and Air Commodore. Some air forces, however, such as those of Canada, United States or most of the Air Forces in the Americas, army General Officer ranks are used.

In some forces there may be one or more superior ranks to the common examples, above, that are given distinguishing titles, such as Field Marshal (many armies), Fleet Admiral (U.S. Navy), Marshal of the Royal Air Force, or other national air force. These ranks have often been discontinued, such as in Germany and Canada, or limited to wartime and/or honorific promotion, such as in the United Kingdom and the United States

In various countries, particularly the United States, these may be referred to as "star ranks" for the number of stars worn on some rank insignia: typically one star for Brigadier General or equivalent with the addition of a star for each subsequent rank. While in the United States five stars has been the maximum used in all services (excluding the Marines and Coast Guard which have only used four).

Some titles are not genuine ranks, but either functions assumed by generals or honorific titles. For instance, in the French Army Général de corps d'armée is a function assumed by some Généraux de division, and Maréchal de France which is a distinction denoting the most superior military office, but one that has often neutered the practical command powers of those on whom it is conferred. In the United States Navy, a commodore currently is a senior captain commanding a squadron that is too small for a rear admiral to command, although that name has historically been used as a rank.


Field or Senior officers
Field officers, also called "field-grade officers" or "senior officers", are officers who typically command units that can be expected to operate independently for short periods of time (infantry battalions, cavalry or artillery regiments, large warships, air squadrons). Field officers also commonly fill staff positions.

The term "field(-grade) officer" is primarily used by armies and marines; air forces and navies generally prefer the term "senior officer." The two terms are not necessarily synonymous.

Typical army and marine Field Officer ranks include Colonel (/ˈkɜrnl/), Lieutenant Colonel, and Major. In many Commonwealth countries the field rank of Brigadier is used, although it fills the position held by Brigadier General in other countries.

Typical naval Senior Officer ranks include Captain, Commander, and Lieutenant Commander. In some countries, the more senior rank of Commodore is also used, a position that follows the flag flying tradition (above) of Flag Officers but through the use of a dove-tail pennant of rank instead of the flag or triangular pennant of other senior officers.

Commonwealth air force Senior Officer ranks include Group Captain, Wing Commander, and Squadron Leader.


Company Grade or Junior Officers
The ranks of junior officers are the three or four lowest ranks of officers. Units under their command are generally not expected to operate independently for any significant length of time. Company grade officers also fill staff roles in some units. In some militaries, however, a captain may act as the permanent commanding officer of an independent company-sized unit, for example a signal or field engineer squadron, or a field artillery battery.

Typical army Company Officer ranks include Captain and various grades of Lieutenant. Typical naval Junior Officer ranks include various grades of Lieutenant and/or Ensign. Commonwealth air force Junior Officer ranks usually include Flight Lieutenant, Flying Officer, and Pilot Officer.


Warrant Officers
Warrant officers (as receiving authority by virtue of a warrant) are a hybrid rank treated slightly differently in each country and/or service. WOs may either be effectively senior non-commissioned officers or an entirely separate grade between commissioned and non-commissioned officers, usually held by specialist personnel.


Enlisted personnel are personnel below commissioned rank and make up the vast majority of military personnel. They are known by different names in other countries, such as Other Ranks (ORs) in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries, and Non-commissioned members (NCMs) in Canada.

Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) are enlisted personnel, under the command of an officer, granted delegated authority to supervise other military members or assigned significant administrative responsibilities. In U.S. Army parlance: "NCOs are the backbone of the Army!"[3] They are responsible for the care and direct control of junior military members, often functioning in the smaller field units as Executive Officers.

Even the most senior NCO officially ranks beneath the most junior commissioned officer or warrant officer. However, most senior NCOs have more experience, possibly including combat, than junior officers. In some organizations, senior NCOs may have formal responsibility and informal respect beyond that of junior officers, but less than that of warrant officers. Many warrant officers come from the ranks of mid-career NCOs. In some countries warrant ranks replace senior enlisted ranks.

NCO ranks typically include a varying number of grades of Sergeant and Corporal (air force, army and marines), or Chief Petty Officer and Petty Officer (navy and coast guard). In many navies the term rate is used to designate specialty, while rank denotes paygrade.


Other enlisted ranks
Personnel with no command authority usually bear titles such as Private, Marine, Airman/Aircraftman and Seaman. In some countries and services, personnel in different branches have different titles. These may have a variety of grades, but these usually only reflect variations in pay, not increased authority.

Answer 2

Junior Enlisted:

Private
Private First Class
Specialist
Corporal

Non-commissioned Officer

Sargent
Staff Sargent

Senior Non-Commissioned Officer

Sargent First Class
Master Sargent (First Sargent)
Sargent Major (Command Sargent Major)

Warrent Officer

Chief Warent Officer 2nd Class - 5th Class

Company Grade Officers

2nd Lieutenant
1st Lieutenant
Captain

Field Grade Officers

Major
Lieutenant Colonel
Colonel

General Grade Officers

Brigadier General
Major General
Lieutenant General
General
General of the Armies (currently unused)

All medals are given to all ranks, depending upon heroic action.

Answer 3

Generally there are 10 non-commissioned and 10 commissioned ranks, plus 4 Warrant officer ranks that a non-com can move to.

Answer 4

regrettably, you're incorrect there. in many situations a prime grasp Sgt. may be the unlisted branch head, and the 2d Lt. may be the branch officer. The Sgt. could could desire to document to the officer, even however he has extra journey and years interior the provider. Like while i became interior the army, i became an electrician. We had a Senior chief Petty Officer in charge of our branch. Above him became a Lt. who became the electrical powered branch officer. Above him became the engineering officer, a commander. Above him became the commanding officer, a captain. Enlisted adult men are consistently decrease rank than officers. that doesn't advise that the lowly ranked officer with much less journey does not pay attention to the enlisted chief, or flow to him for advice or direction. in many situations he knows of his place... yet as a great way by way of fact the chain of command is going... the officer remains above the enlisted guy.

Answer 5

military is too general. ranks are similar but also very different from branch to branch.
which branch were you curious about? if you google it with the specific branch then there should be all the info you are looking for
hope that helps. god bless and semper fi

Answer 6

It's all rank

Answer 7

http://www.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/personal/faculty/pocock/ranks.htm

Answer 8

ask and you shallreceive