My boyfriend is in the army....?

Question

But I don't know too much about it.
What is the difference between enlisted and commissioned?
What are the different ranks?
Will someone give me a crash course!
Thank you

He is commissioned.
Just graduated school and became a second lt.

And, can someone enlisted become commissioned? How?

Answer 1

First off I am glad you want to learn it shows you support him, so with that here is a quick crash course. Commisioned officers are appointed by the President of the US. Enlisted soldiers enlist for a certain amount of time. As a general rule Officers always outrank enlisted personal. Commisioned officers are saluted by all enlisted ranks. That said here are the ranks and pay grades for all ranks
ENLISTED:
E-1 PVT
E-2 PVT 2
E-3 PFC
E-4 SPC, or CPL
E-5 SGT
E-6 SSG
E-7 SFC
E-8 1sgt or top. Also MSG
E-9 CSM or SGM
SMA- the senior enlisted soldier in the Army. Only one CSM holds this rank at any time.
Also know this the ranks CPL thru CSM are NCO's or non commisioned officers, and are known as the backbone of the Army.
Commisioned:
0-1 2nd LT (AKA butter bar, run if it says "in my experience"
0-2 1st LT
0-3 CPT
0-4 Major
0-5 Lt Col
0-6 Col (also known as a full bird)
0-7 Brigidair General (1 star)
0-8 Major General (2 stars)
0-9 LT General (3 stars)
0-10 General ( 4 stars)
Chief of Staff- the senior ranking 4 star General in the Army. Only one General holds that position at one time.

With that there is something called NCO and Officer Business. Each works best when they dont cross in each others way. NCO's are in charge of training soldiers. Officers in charge of making sure NCO's have the tools to train is an example of of NCO and officer business.
OLD but true Saying
"Officers are in charge of the Army, NCO's run it"

Answer 2

Congratulations for being associated with America's finest.

What a great question! It's not particularly easy to answer but I'll give it a shot.

"Enlisted" personnel are the soldiers who do most of the physical work in the military, whereas officers are the ones who do most of the thinking. Of course, this is not to say that enlisted personnel don't "think", and it shouldn't be taken to mean that all officers think "well".

To use an anolgoy, think about a company that manufactures a product. The people on the assemply line--the ones who do the actual work that makes the business function-- are "enlisted", whereas the people who sit in offices, make spreadsheets, write memos and give orders are "officers". Just as in industry, the military can't function without both.

Enlisted personnel do the work that officers decide needs to be done.

Just like in a factory, there are different levels of "enlisted" personnel. The supervisors are called "sergeants" and the actual workers who do the grunt work are called "privates". This is very generalized, but hopefully it will help you understand.

Answer 3

Basic difference is this:
Enlisted are the guys that do the work and officers are college graduates that tell the NCO's to tell them to do it.

Which one is he and I can tell ya a little more.

Ok, he's a Second Lieutenant or in slang a 'butterbar.' He'll be "issued to an NCO," an E7 most likely with about 15-20 years and a couple of combat tours behind him.

Young LT's can be very dangerous if they take their rank too seriously. Technically their in charge of the Sergeant First Class with decades of experince, but that's the guy that's going to keep their butt alive and tell him how to run 'his platoon.'

If he's smart, he's going to listen to that NCO, which is basically his trainer and mentor(as well as the real leader of the men). The NCO will make sure he doesn't screw up too bad and that he learns the ropes.

If he's too smart to listen, he'll try to tell the NCO what to do and that NCO will sit back and let him fall flat on his face, so long as the men don't get screwed with him.

His platoon will be about 30-40 enlisted guys.

Yes, enlisted men who get their degrees can go to OCS and become an officer.

And thank you for supporting our Soldier, even if he is a wet behind the ears butterbar.

Answer 4

Pvt E1
Pvt E2
PFC E3
Spc E4
Cpl E4
Sgt E5
SSG E6
SFC E7
MSG/1st Sgt E8
Sgt Major E9
all of these are enlisted. E4 thru E9 are Non commissioned Officers or NCO's

1st LT
2nd Lt
Capt
Major
Lt Col
Col.
B. Gen
Maj Gen
Lt Gen
General
all of these are commissioned officers.

Answer 5

They can become commissioned. My dad was enlisted and then got into flight school and became a warrant officer. it's not easy though. My boyfriend is enlisted and he is a Specialist, or an E-4...and that's about as much as I know lol.

Answer 6

Enlisted means you are low level. These are the people who do the work and fight the fight. Usually no more than a high school diploma.

Commissioned means they are sworn in as officers. The lowest officer is higher than the highest enlisted person. All have college training and most college degrees. They have graduated from Officers Candidate School and have been taught leadership, decision making, management, people skills etc. They give the orders that the enlisted men follow.

Answer 7

When I asked my husband why he didn't want to go to school to become commissioned here's how he put it COs are the paper pushers of the army

Answer 8

Enlisted, commissioned, he's a dead man.