What Is The Highest Paying Rank In The Us Military
Understanding military ranks can be tricky, especially if you are a civilian. There are at least 12 ranks in each branch of service. Ranks exist in disciplined forces to help in management and leadership. The ranks establish a clear chain of command and empowers leaders to make decisions.
Most people who join the military hope to rise to the highest rank possible. A pay increase usually accompanies every advancement. This article looks at some of the highest paying ranks in the U.S. Military.
The Highest Us Military Rank
The highest rank in the U.S. military is the five-star general. Only nine Americans have ever had the honor of getting to the highest rank. The last time anyone earned a promotion to the rank of five-star general was during World War II.
The U.S. military created this rank at the height of World War II. The aim was to establish a clear hierarchy for commanding the Allied Forces. Five-star generals never retire and draw active duty salaries until they die. After the last surviving five-star general in 1981, the U.S. military decided to retire this rank.
Pay in the military follows increases from Private to General. As a result, privates are the lowest paid, and generals take home the biggest paycheck. However, ranks and pay grades are two different things. In most cases, there are several paygrades within a rank.
Reciprocal Awarding Of Honorary Ranks To Other Nations
Nepal
Since 1950, when former Indian army chief General K. M. Cariappa visited Nepal, awarding the highest reciprocal honorary ranks to the newly appointed serving chiefs of each other’s armies is a practice followed by India and Nepal. For example, in 2009 the newly appointed Nepal Army Chief General Chhatra Man Singh Gurung was decorated with the honorary rank of General of the Indian army at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi by the President of India who is also the Supreme Commander of Indian Army. Similarly, in 2010 the newly appointed Indian Army Chief General V. K. Singh was awarded the honorary rank of General of Nepal Army at Shital Niwas in Kathmandu by the President of Nepal who is also the Supreme Commander of Nepal Army.
British Colonial era: Indian Army ranks to British Army
Some members of the ruling families of Princely states were given ceremonial honorary ranks during the colonial era.
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Army Expanding Course For Overweight And Low
The Army‘s pre-basic training courses for applicants who come up short on academic or body fat standards will expand this month as service leaders eye that effort as a potentially key tool to combating a crippling recruiting slump.
Service leaders plan to add four additional companies following an initial pilot program that kicked off in August at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for new recruits who had up to 6% more body fat than the Army allows or scored between 21 and 30 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, test. Academic performance that low can prevent an applicant from enlisting or dramatically limit the jobs available to them.
Two of the new companies will be at Fort Jackson, which will allow an additional 2,000 students per year to enter the academic program, and another two companies at Fort Benning, Georgia, though that base will offer only an academic camp for some 6,400 students per year.
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The program, known as the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, is designed to expand the pool of eligible Americans who can join the service by creating short camps that help applicants reach Army standards. The service came up short of its recruiting goal last year, bringing in 45,000 new active-duty troops — well below its goal of 60,000. This year, the service is even more ambitious, seeking 65,000 new recruits.
What Is The Highest Pay In The Military

Generals get the highest pay in the Army, Marine Corps, and the Air Force. The Navy and Coast Guard equivalent of a general is the Admiral. Despite the different designations, all these people fall under the pay grade of O-10.
According to the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Generals get about $197 301. This is just the basic pay. Additionally, all military personnel gets various allowances.
Housing allowance subsidizes housing while in deployment. Subsistence allowance caters to food and drink. Finally, hazard pay is compensation for dangerous duties while on active duty. The maximum hostile fire pay any service member can claim in a month is $ 225.
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Army Ranks And Insignia Of India
Equivalent ranks of Indian military |
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Indian Army Ranks can be broadly classified into three categories: Commissioned Officers, and Other Ranks.
These ranks generally correspond with those of the British Indian Army. Traditional names for ranks are still used.
Present: Chevrons Point Up
firstclass |
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Smaller rank insignia that were to be worn point up was introduced in 1902, but with the transition from the older, larger point down insignia to the new versions, there was some confusion concerning the proper manner of wear of the new insignia. War Department Circular 61 of 1905 directed that the points be placed up and designated certain colors for each branch of the military, for uniformity.
During World War, I troops overseas in France used standard buff stripes inset with trade badges in the place of colored branch stripes or rank badges. Rank grades were numbered from the top-down, from the general of the army, as number 1, to corporal, number 19 NCO ranks were grades 13 through 19. Confusingly, pay grades were different, less senior ranks with more technical training being paid more than senior staff NCOs.
On 22 July 1919, the military approved “an arc of one bar” for a private first class. This was later changed to a single chevron in 1920.
The Joint Service Pay Readjustment Act of 1922 divided the grades into inverse “pay grades” for enlisted personnel and “pay periods” for officers. The pay rates would stay the same from July 1, 1922, to May 1942.
Cpl | Pfc |
CPL | PFC |
Specialist insignia of 1959 | |
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SP5 | SP4 |
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Confederacy Of Independent Systems
Droid officers, ranging from ST-series military strategic analysis and tactics droids,T-series military strategic analysis and tactics droids,OOM command battle droids, and standard B1-series battle droids used a variety of ranks in army and naval capacities. ST-series droids could use the ranks of general and commander, while T-series droids utilized commander, as did OOM command battle droids. The commander rank was used in an army and naval role. B1-series battle droids used the ranks of captain, lieutenant, sergeant, and corporal.
Alliance To Restore The Republic
First Order Navy ranks included senior ranks such as admiral, naval captain, commander, lieutenant, ensign, Chief Petty Officer,Warrant Officer, and Petty Officer. The First Order starfighter corps used multiple ranks, including major, commander, and lieutenant. The First Order Security Bureau also used multiple military ranks, such as colonel, commander, and lieutenant.
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Army Officer Ranks And Promotions
Promotion rates for active duty commissioned officers are intended not to vary greatly between the military services . Learn the roles and responsibilities of the Army officer ranks below as well as typical promotion timelines for active duty Army officers. For those not familiar with the Army promotion system, you may wish to learn more about TIS and TIG.
United States Army Enlisted Rank Insignia
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The chart below shows the current enlisted rank insignia of the United States Army, with seniority, and pay grade, increasing from right to left. The enlisted ranks of corporal and higher are considered non-commissioned officers . The rank of specialist is also in pay grade E-4, but does not hold non-commissioned officer status it is common that a soldier may never hold the rank of corporal, and instead be promoted from specialist to sergeant, attaining junior NCO status at that time.
PV2 | PV1 |
In the beginning, U.S. Army enlisted rank was indicated by colored epaulets. The use of chevrons came into being in 1821, with the orientation changing over time from point-down to point-up and back again, to the point-down orientation seen in the American Civil War. Around the turn of the 20th century, point-up wear of chevrons returned and has remained so.
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What Are Commissioned Officer Ranks In The Us Army
There are 11 commissioned officer ranks in the US Army and are the ranks held by officers who have been commissioned through a military academy, Reserve Officer Training Corps , or Officer Candidate School .
Commissioned officers are responsible for leading and training a team of soldiers, and they often serve as the primary officer in their unit.
The 11 commissioned officer ranks in the US Army are as follows, from lowest to highest:
Note that these ranks apply to the Army, and the ranks in other branches of the military may be slightly different.
Structure Of The Army

Infantry units are the primary forces that fight face-to-face with the enemy, with Ranger, Airborne, and other Special Forces units proving as some of the most effective combat units in history. “Cavalry” once referred to troops on horseback, but now is interchangeable with “Armor” . Field Artillery has always been cannons and other large gunstechnology has evolved, but heritage has stayed largely the same. The Army prides itself on being adaptable to all types of conflicts, large and small, conventional and irregular. They typically have far longer deployments than anyone else in the military. No matter their occupational specialty, all Soldiers are capable of facing the enemy in combat, are proud of their individual and team strength, and are proud of the expertise they earn over the course of their career.
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Sergeant Major Of The Army
The sergeant major of the Army is a rank held by only one enlisted soldier at a time. The holder of this rank is the most senior enlisted member in the Army. The SMA’s primary function is to address the issues of enlisted soldiers at the Army’s highest levels. The SMA is the senior enlisted adviser to the Army Chief of Staff and is selected based on their outstanding leadership, extensive experience and ability to communicate up and down the Army chain of command. The SMA is giving the highest level of honor and respect of any other enlisted soldier.
Each SMA’s duties are determined by the current chief of staff. As a rule, though, the SMA serves as the Army hierarchy’s eyes and ears, keeping the chief of staff abreast on virtually any subject that affects enlisted soldiers and their families.
Military Ranks: Everything You Need To Know
Understanding military ranks can be tricky, especially when it comes to knowing the military ranks in order.
Some of the military services — the Army, Air Force and — have their own enlisted military rank structures the Coast Guard and Navy generally mirror each other and, as of late 2020, the Space Force relies on the Air Force rank system.
A service member’s military rank doesn’t just determine their level of responsibility, but also their pay. That’s why each service’s ranks are tied to paygrades in an “enlisted,” “warrant officer” and “officer” number system, written as the letters “E,” “W,” “O” and a number.
For example, the lowest military enlisted rank is “E-1,” while the highest military officer rank in use is “O-10.” While each service may call them something different, they all can be boiled down to “E” and “O.” The only rank names and abbreviations that are exactly the same across all services who use them are those for warrant officers.
These military ranks are displayed on service member uniforms through a series of symbols, such as chevrons, stripes, stars and bars.
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What Is The Highest Military Rank
The highest military rank is O-10, or “five-star general.” It is symbolized by five stars for each of the military services. Although it is currently a part of the military service rank system, no officer has been promoted to it since World War II, when the rank was created. Only nine Americans ever have held this rank. The last living five-star general was Omar Bradley, who died in 1981.
Retired Officers: Form Of Address
On 21 July 2014, the Indian Army issued a circular for retired personnel informing them that the correct form of addressing a retired officer is “Brigadier ABC and not Brigadier ABC”, the correct example is “Brigadier Sant Singh “. The stated rationale of army was, “Rank never retires, it is an officer who retires.” This form of address applies to both living and deceased officers.
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Us Army Enlisted Ranks
Basic Pay: $1,785 per month
What does a Private do?
Your primary role as a private is to complete basic training where youll learn all about the Army and gain the fundamental skills needed to succeed in the military. After enlisting, youll choose your job and then go into an Army Military Occupational Specialty . After basic, youll attend technical training to learn your occupation.
How do I get promoted to Private?
You dont need any prior experience to enlist in the U.S. Army. Youll have to meet basic enlistment requirements like being between 17 and 34 years of age, have a high school diploma, pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test, and go through a medical exam. To get promoted to PV1, you must complete Basic Training. Upon graduation, you may be promoted to E-1, E-2, or E-3 based on factors in your enlistment contract.
Equivalent Ranks to Army Private:
- Coast Guard Seaman Recruit
Basic Pay: $1,943 per monthInsignia: 1 chevron with point up
What does a Private do?
Your primary role as a Private is to carry out your assigned duties to the best of your ability and follow all the orders of those appointed over you.
How do I get promoted to Private?
Promotion to private is pretty much automatic if you have a clean record. Youll have to have six months of Time in Service . You may enter the Army as a PV2 based on your enlistment contract or prior military experience, or a certain amount of college credits.
Equivalent Ranks to Army Private:
Us Army Officer Ranks
Basic Pay: $5,311 per monthInsignia: 1 silver bar, 1 black break
What does a Warrant Officer 1 do?
As a warrant officer 1, youll serve as a technical expert in one of the 48 areas where warrant officers perform. You may be a helicopter pilot or serve as an advisor, operator, maintainer, or manager in fields like intelligence, engineering, supply, information systems, and missile defense.
How do I become a Warrant Officer 1?
If youre an enlisted Soldier, you can compete for a spot in Warrant Officer Candidate School by submitting an application to the confirmation board. You must be a sergeant or higher to be considered. If you want to be an Aviation Warrant Officer, there is no minimum rank requirement. You must apply for Warrant Officer Candidate School while on active duty and have at least 12 months remaining on your enlistment contract. Only Aviation Warrant Officer candidates can become a Warrant Officer without any prior service experience.
Equivalent Ranks to Army Warrant Officer 1:
- Air Force None
Chief Warrant Officer 2
Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 2Abbreviated: CW2Title: Mr./Ms. or Chief DoD Paygrade: W-2Basic Pay: $5,311 per monthInsignia: 1 silver bar, 2 black breaks
What does a Chief Warrant Officer 2 do?
How do I become a Chief Warrant Officer 2?
Promotion to chief warrant officer 2 is automatic after you demonstrated proficiency at your job, have a clean record, have two years of Time in Rank as a WO1, and completed the Warrant Officer Basic Course .
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General Of The Army / Armies
General of the Army General of the Armies
While not currently in use today, special insignia were authorized by Congress for ten general officers who were promoted to the highest ranks in the United States Army: General of the Army, designed as a “five-star” rank, and General of the Armies, considered to be the equivalent of a “six-star” rank. Eight generals were promoted to the rank and title “General of the Army” , while two generals were promoted to the higher rank and title of “General of the Armies of the United States” .
Congress created the rank of General of the Armies specifically for Washington, although while living he never officially accepted the honor. Pershing received the rank in 1919 and was allowed to choose his own insignia he chose to use four silver stars. In 1976, Congressman of New York submitted a house resolution granting Washington the promotion. The promotion was effective on July 4, 1976, the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. Although Pershing accepted the rank in 1919 and technically had a date of rank that preceded Washington’s, the new law specified that no other officer of the United States Army should ever outrank Washington, including Pershing. Hence, effective date of rank notwithstanding, Washington was permanently made superior to all other officers of the United States Armed Forces, past or present.