Rank Insignia Military rank is more than just who salutes whom.
Military rank is a badge of leadership.
Responsibility for personnel, equipment, and mission grows with each increase in rank. Pay grades are administrative classifications used primarily to standardize compensation across the military services. Some enlisted pay grades have two ranks. The Army, for example, has the ranks of corporal and specialist at the pay grade of E-4. A corporal is expected to fill a leadership role and has a higher rank than a specialist even though both receive the same amount of pay.