Question: How many ranks are in the Marines?

United States Marine Corps rank insignia



Marine ranks in ascending order, with tables indicating abbreviations in the style used by the United States Marine Corps, pay grades, and rank insignia:
Commissioned officers
Commissioned officers are distinguished from other officers by their commission, which is the formal written authority, issued in the name of the President of the United States, that confers the rank and authority of a Marine Officer. Commissioned officers carry the "special trust and confidence" of the President of the United States.[1] Commissioned officer ranks are further subdivided into general officers, field-grade officers, and company-grade officers. The highest billets in the Marine Corps, the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps are, by statute, four-star ranks, as the Marine Corps is a separate naval service under the Department of the Navy.[2]

Warrant officers

Warrant Officers provide leadership and training in specialized fields and skills. Unlike other nations' militaries (which rank warrant officers as Staff NCO equivalents), the United States military confers warrants and commissions on its Warrant Officers and classifies them into a separate category senior to all enlisted grades of rank (including officer candidates), cadets, and midshipmen. As Warrant Officers are officer-level technical specialists they generally do not exercise command outside of their specialty. Warrant officers come primarily from the Staff Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) ranks.
A Chief Warrant Officer, CWO2–CWO5, serving in the MOS 0306 "Infantry Weapons Officer" carries a special title, "Marine Gunner," which does not replace his rank. A Marine Gunner replaces the Chief Warrant Officer insignia on the left collar with a bursting bomb insignia. Other warrant officers are sometimes informally referred to as "Gunner."


Enlisted
Enlisted Marines with paygrades of E-4 and E-5 are non-commissioned officers (NCOs) while those at E-6 and higher are Staff Noncommissioned Officers (SNCOs).[3]  The E-8 and E-9 levels each have two ranks per pay grade, each with different responsibilities. Gunnery Sergeants (E-7) indicate on their annual evaluations (called "fitness reports") their preferred promotional track: Master Sergeant or First Sergeant. The First Sergeant and Sergeant Major ranks are command-oriented Senior Enlisted Advisors, with Marines of these ranks serving as the senior enlisted Marines in a unit, charged to assist the commanding officer in matters of discipline, administration, and the morale and welfare of the unit. Master Sergeants and Master Gunnery Sergeants provide technical leadership as occupational specialists in their specific MOS. First Sergeants typically serve as the senior enlisted Marine in a company, battery, or other unit at similar echelon, while Sergeants Major serve the same role in battalions, squadrons, or larger units.[4]
The Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is a billet and with it carries a special rank insignia, conferred on the senior enlisted Marine of the entire Marine Corps, personally selected by the Commandant of the Marine Corps.[5] It and the Marine Gunner are the only billets which rate modified rank insignia in place of the traditional rank insignia.




Different styles of rank insignia are worn on different Marine uniforms:


Gold stripes on a red flash are worn on the Blue Dress uniform coat. Green stripes on a red flash are worn on the Service uniform coat. Rank insignia are worn on the upper sleeve of both coats. Khaki uniform shirts use green stripes on a khaki flash, and are worn on the upper sleeves of both long and short-sleeved shirts. Utility uniform rank insignia are black metal pins and are worn on the collars, or black embroidered insignia sewn into patches of material when wearing armor. Musicians in the United States Marine Band wear insignia with lyre in the center as opposed to the crossed rifles, to denote their lack of a combat mission; full-service Marines who are attached to the 10 field bands of the Operating Forces and Supporting Establishment continue to wear their normal rank insignia.[6]
See also

British and United States military ranks compared
Comparative military ranks
List of United States Marine Corps acronyms and expressions for more nicknames and forms of address
Ranks and insignia of NATO


Sources
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents ofthe United States Marine Corps.


















































































































































vtUnited States uniformed services commissioned officer and officer candidate ranksPay grade / branch of serviceOfficer
candidateO-1O-2O-3O-4O-5O-6O-7O-8O-9O-10O-11Special
gradeInsignia[1][2] ArmyCDT / OC2LT1LTCPTMAJLTCCOLBGMGLTGGENGA[3]GAS[3] Marine CorpsMidn / Cand2ndLt1stLtCaptMajLtColColBGenMajGenLtGenGen[5][5] NavyMIDN / OCENSLTJGLTLCDRCDRCAPTRDMLRADMVADMADMFADM[3]AN[3] Air ForceCadet / OT / OC2nd Lt1st LtCaptMajLt ColColBrig GenMaj GenLt GenGenGAF[3][5] Coast GuardCDT / OCENSLTJGLTLCDRCDRCAPTRDMLRADMVADMADM[5][5] PHS Corps[OC]ENSLTJGLTLCDRCDRCAPTRADMRADMVADMADM[5][5] NOAA CorpsOCENSLTJGLTLCDRCDRCAPTRDMLRADMVADM[4][5][5][1] No universal insignia for officer candidate rank; Navy candidate insignia shown
[2]Official 1945 proposal for General of the Armies insignia; John J. Pershing's GAS insignia: ; George Dewey's Admiral of the Navy insignia: 
[3] Rank used for specific officers in wartime only, not permanent addition to rank structure 
[4] Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created
[5] Grade has never been created or authorized






















































vtUnited States warrant officer and commissioned warrant officer ranksW-1W-2W-3W-4W-5Army

WO1
CW2
CW3
CW4
CW5Marine Corps

WO1
CWO2
CWO3
CWO4
CWO5Navy

WO1
CWO2
CWO3
CWO4
CWO5Air Force

WO1[1]
CWO2[1]
CWO3[1]
CWO4[1]
CWO5[1]Coast Guard

WO1[1]
CWO2
CWO3
CWO4[2]PHS Corps
[2][2][2][2][1] Grade inactive
[2] Grade is authorized for use by U.S. Code but has not been created





































































vtUnited States enlisted ranksPay gradeBranch ofserviceE-1E-2E-3E-4E-5E-6E-7E-8E-9Army

PVT
PV2
PFC
SPC – CPL
SGT
SSG
SFC
MSG – 1SG
SGM – CSM – SMAMarine Corps

Pvt
PFC
LCpl
Cpl
Sgt
SSgt
GySgt
MSgt – 1stSgt
MGySgt – SgtMaj – SMMCNavy

SR
SA
SN
PO3
PO2
PO1
CPO
SCPO – CMDCS
MCPO – CMDCM – FORCM, FLTCM – MCPONAir Force

AB
Amn
A1C
SrA
SSgt
TSgt
MSgt – 1st Sgt
SMSgt – 1st Sgt
CMSgt – 1st Sgt – CCM – CMSAFCoast Guard

SR
SA
SN
PO3
PO2
PO1
CPO
SCPO
MCPO – CMC – Area CMC, CGRF-CMC – MCPOCG