Ranks and insignia of NATO

A standard grade scale is used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its partners for the purpose of comparing military ranks across the member nations militaries. It is used for specifying posts within NATO organisation.

Rank codes

NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to standardize NATO codes of rank for military personnel and indicated correspondence with nations ranks. NATO rank codes are not ranks in and of themselves but compare military ranks of nations (member and non-member) associated with NATO. NATO's standardized reference system is intended to be used "by nations when preparing personnel tables, requisitions, reports and returns destined for NATO nations, organizations and commands." The NATO rank reference code categories were established in 1978 in STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel). The current- 7th - edition is just the cover, and the core of the standard is in set out in "NATO Codes For Grades Of Military Personnel" (APersP-01).

The NATO codes assigned for each grade are based on the agreed corresponding army grades with the naval and air forces grades determined from them by "national regulations"..

Officer rank codes

OF-1 – OF-10 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for commissioned officers:

• OF-6 – OF-10: General officers
• OF-3 – OF-5: Senior officers
• OF-1 – OF-2: Junior officers

The grade of OF-11 may be used to designate highest national title such as Generalissimo or General of the Armies (so called six-star rank), but its not officially recognized by standard.

Non-officer personnel codes

OR1–OR9 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for other ranks / enlisted ranks and non-commissioned officers (NCO) :

• OR-5 – OR-9: Non-commissioned officers (for NATO purposes)
• OR-1 – OR-4: other ranks/enlisted ranks

In the US armed forces Warrant Officer is a separate and distinct category of officers. This officer rank and precedence is below those of officer personnel, but above that of non-officer personnel, and has a special group of codes (W-1 – W-5). In the Commonwealth tradition (for NATO the British Armed Forces and Canadian Armed Forces in NATO) warrant officers are the highest other ranks.

In the British Armed Forces senior non-commissioned officers are in OR-5 to OR-7 and junior non-commissioned officers (eg corporals) are in OR-3 and OR-4. In the US military OR-5 and above are non-commissioned officers for the US Army and US Air Force but in the US Marine Corps and US Navy (both parts of the Department of the Navy), OR-4 and above are non-commissioned officers.

Officer rank code application

Appendix B of the APP-06 standard lists 11 formation/unit groups (13 in US Armed Forces) and identifies the command level of seven of them:

• Corps: normally commanded by OF-8
• Division: normally commanded by an OF-7
• Brigade: normally commanded by an OF-5 or 6
• Regiment: usually commanded by an OF-4, 5 or 6
• Battalion: commanded by an OF-3 or 4
• Company: commanded by an OF-2 or 3
• Platoon: commanded by an OF-1/OF-2 or OR-7/OR-8

This is a general NATO practice, which does not prevent individual branches of the armed forces, for example, the British Army, the US Army and the US Marine Corps, from having their own approaches to the positions held by certain officers and NCOs.

Non-officer rank code criteria

In 2010, Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation produced NATO NCO Bi-SC Strategy and Recommended NCO Guidelines. The current Bi-SC joint document (19 December 2023) Directive 040-002 "NATO Non-Commissioned Officer and Junior Officer Bi-Strategic Command Employment and Development Strategy", describes the NATO rank indicators for NCOs:

• OR-1 — OR-3: "These are the basic entry ranks into the military structure."
• OR-4: "The first level of leadership within the NATO NCO ranks."
• OR-5: "The OR-5 is the first NATO designated NCO grade and the level of leadership with the greatest impact on subordinate ranks."
• OR-6: "This is the first grade at which OR should be considered for Staff NCO duties at NATO higher headquarters employment. As such some NATO nations may recognize OR-6 through OR-9 as Senior NCOs (SNCO) or Warrant Officers (WO)."
• OR-7: "The OR-7 is empowered and considered a key element within the command structure. At this level, SNCOs are expected to be able to provide sound advice to their leadership. While no formal mandate exists, this is the level at which, when consistent with their national authorities, SNCOs start to provide mentorship/assistance for Junior Officers (OF-1/OF-2)."
• OR-8: "Uses enhanced leadership skills and broad operational experience to advise unit/element leaders and commanders on organizational effectiveness. OR-Bs are expected to merge subordinates talents, skills, and resources with other NATO crossfunctional team(s) and organization(s) to implement planning and management processes for collective mission accomplishment."
• OR-9: "The most experienced SNCO within the NATO NCO structure. This grade is normally utilized in an advisory capacity when assigned to a higher headquarters."

Specific roles:

• Staff NCO: "When assigned to the NCS [NATO Command Structure ], the Staff NCO performs technical duties and project or portfolio management based upon their education, training, and experience. Based on the depth of their tactical experience, Staff NCO should participate in relevant working groups across the higher headquarters or NATO organisations".
• Senior Enlisted Leader: "While traditionally an ancillary duty, this individual serves as an advisor to the senior staff directorate or element leadership".
• Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL): "The CSEL, at the pinnacle of the NCO Ranks, serves on the Command Team as an advisor to the commander and the staff element leadership".

Comparison to US system

The numbers in the system broadly correspond to the U.S. uniformed services pay grades, with OR-x replacing E-x. The main difference is in the commissioned officer ranks, where the US system recognises two ranks at OF-1 level (O-1 and O-2), meaning that all O-x numbers after O-1 are one point higher on the US scale than they are on the NATO scale (e.g. a major is OF-3 on the NATO scale and O-4 on the US scale).

Officer ranks

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Uniformed services pay grade	Special grade		O-10		O-9		O-8		O-7		O-6		O-5		O-4		O-3		O-2			O-1			Officer candidate/Cadet

Other ranks

Rank group	Non-commissioned officers																						Enlisted
NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Uniformed services pay grade	Special			E-9			E-8		E-7		E-6						E-5						E-4				E-3		E-2						E-1

Use of NATO rank codes by NATO partners

Based on the intentions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine to join NATO, NATO codes for military ranks have been officially introduced in these countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a corresponding law in 2005. In Ukraine, the introduction of NATO codes for military ranks took place in two stages. Firstly in 2020, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) amended the structure of military ranks which was followed in January 2021, by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine approving the compliance of military ranks with NATO codes by order though the order had a confidential status.

Some European NATO partners such as Austria and Ireland describe their ranks in terms of NATO rank codes for comparison with NATO forces.

Other use of NATO codes

NATO codes are also sometimes used to describe equivalence for countries that are not aligned with NATO. Eg in setting out commissioned officer ranks in the Israel Defense Forces with those in the US Army., because in the IDF officer ranks are not determined by the position held, but on length of service.

Similarly other officer rank systems, such as the Soviet one, are not readily matched with NATO codes.

Mapping to "star ranks"

Commissioned officers of the general officer grade are usually defined by the number of stars they ‘wear’. This is a model adopted from the US which, starting at one-star, utilises an increasing number of stars to identify an officer’s increasing rank.

In STANAG 2116 (5th ed.), uses the term "four star" for referring to certain Italian OF-9 appointments in the air force and navy. The term is also used to differentiate between two rank grades of a Portuguse general APersP-01 notes that the French ranks of "général de division" and "vice-amiral" may carry the 4 star and 5 star rank marks.

Comparative ranks of member armed forces

• Ranks and insignia of NATO member army officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member army enlisted
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force enlisted
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member navy officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member navy enlisted

See also

• Air officer
• Comparative military ranks
• Flag officer

References

• STANAG 2116: NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel (7th ed.). Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Office. 13 January 2021.
• NATO Codes For Grades Of Military Personnel. Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Office. 16 June 2022. APersP-01(A)(3).
• STANAG 2116 (5th ed.) (PDF). Military Agency for Standardization. 13 March 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-03-13.
• NATO Joint Military Symbology. Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Office. 11 October 2023. APP-06(E)(1).
• NATO Joint Military Symbology (PDF). Brussels, Belgium: NATO Standardization Office. 16 October 2017. APP-06(D)(1).
• NATO Non-Commissioned Officer and Junior Officer Bi-Strategic Command Employment and Development Strategy (PDF). Allied Command Operations, Allied Command Transformation. 19 December 2023. Bi-SC Directive 040-002.
• NATO Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Bi-Strategic Command Strategy and NCO Guidelines (PDF). Allied Command Operations, Allied Command Transformation. 15 September 2017.
• Zakon o službi u Oružanim snagama Bosne i Hercegovine [Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina] (PDF) (in Bosnian). 5 October 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
• "Zakon Ukrainy vid 04.06.2020 № 680-IX. Pro vnesennia zmin do deiakykh zakonodavchykh aktiv Ukrainy shchodo viiskovykh zvan viiskovosluzhbovtsiv" [Law of Ukraine dated 04.06.2020 No. 680-IX. On amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine regarding the military ranks of military personnel] (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 2020. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
• RDFRA submission to the Commission on the Defence Forces (PDF). Reserve Defence Force Representative Association. January 2021.
• De Barra, Ruairi (2022). "From Aspiration to Action. Exploring New Horizons for the Defence Forces Senior Enlisted Leaders" (PDF). Defence Forces review 2022. pp. 97–104.
• Shafrir, Asher (2013). "THE NAMES OF ISRAELI MILITARY RANKS AND THEIR LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS". Redefining Community in Intercultural Context. 2 (1): 155–160.
• Campbell, David (2018). Israeli Paratroopers 1954–2016. Osprey Elite 224. Osprey Publishing Ltd. (Bloomsbury Publishing).
• Gross, Reot, ed. (2021). Dictionary of Acronyms in Foreign Armies (PDF) (in Hebrew). Israel Defense Forces.

External links

• "NATO Standard APP-06, NATO Joint Military Symbology (current ed./ver.)". nso.nato.int. STANAG 2019. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
• "NATO Standard APersP-01, NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel (current ed./ver.)". nso.nato.int. STANAG 2116. Retrieved 2024-06-30.