Understanding the Military Rank Structure Understanding what all the Star’s, Bars, and Stripes mean!

How Many Service Branches are there? June 14, 1775 Nov 10, 1775 Oct 13, 1775 Sep 18, 1947 Aug 4, 1790 The Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States Armed Forces. The Department is the largest employer in the world with nearly 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women[a] as of 2016. Adding to its employees are over 801,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services, and over 740,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.8 million employees. It is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. The Department of Defense is headed by the Secretary of Defense, a cabinet-level head who reports directly to the President of the United States. Beneath the Department of Defense are three subordinate military departments: the United States Department of the Army, the United States Department of the Navy, and the United States Department of the Air Force. In addition, four national intelligence services are subordinate to the Department of Defense: the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Other Defense Agencies include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), the Defense Security Service (DSS), and the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA), all of which are under the command of the Secretary of Defense. Military operations are managed by nine regional or functional Unified Combatant Commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the National Defense University (NDU) and the National War College (NWC).

Military Ranks In the U.S. Military services, rank determines who gets to tell whom what to do. The higher one's rank the more authority (and responsibility) they have. U.S. Military personnel fall into one of three categories: (1) enlisted members, (2) warrant officers, and (3) commissioned officers. Warrant officers outrank all enlisted members, and commissioned officers outrank all warrant officers and enlisted members.

US Military Officer Rank Insignia Who’s, who in the officer ranks Generals are like CEO’s, more stars more responsibilities Colonels are like Senior VP’s LT Colonels are Department Directors Majors are Executive Assistants Captain are Store Managers Lieutenants are your Team Leaders

US Military Officer Rank Insignia: Warrant Officers Highly Trained and Qualified Warrant Officers are specialized in their field. Warrant Officers are commissioned after they make W-2. Warrant Officers are called Chief in the Army, Gunner in the Maine Corp Warrant Officer typically stay within their occupational specialty through out their career Note: Do not call a Marnie Gunner a Gunny or visa-versa, you will only do it once, trust me, I tested the theory

US Military Enlisted Rank Insignia Back-Bone of the Military 3 Classification within the enlisted ranks: Entry Mid Career Career Senior (Career): E9 SMA, MCPON, SgtMajMC, CMSAF E7 – E9 (Advisors, Supervisors, Section Chief) E5 – E6 (Mangers, Foreman, First Line Supervisors) E1 – E4 (Team Member, Specialist, Technician) Enlisted ranks by service, Non Commissioned Officers (NCO) are the mechanism in which missions and tasks are typically accomplished. US Army: E9 Command Sergeant Major (CSM) star surrounded by a reef or Sergeant Major (SGM) just a star. E8 First Sergeant (1SG) diamond or Master Sergeant (MSG) no diamond. E7 Sergeant First Class (SFC). E6 Staff Sergeant, E5 Sergeant (SGT), E4 Corporal (CPL) or Specialist (SPC) Corporals are NCO’s. E1/E2 Private (PVT), E3 (PFC) Private First Class US Marines: E9 Master Gunnery (Eagle) or Sergeant Major (Star), E8 Master Sergeant (Cross Rifles) or First Sergeant (Diamond), E7 Gunnery Sergeant, E6 Staff Sergeant, E5 Sergeant, E4 Corporal, E3 Lance Corporal, E2 Private First Class, E1 Private US Navy: E9 Command Master Chief (Silver Star) or Fleet/Forces Master Chief (Gold Star), E8 Senior Chief (1 Star above the Eagle) or Master Chief (2 Stars above the Eagle), E7 Chief, E6 Petty Officer First Class, E5 Petty Officer 2nd Class, E4 Petty Officer 3rd Class, E3 Seaman (3 Strips), E2 Seaman (2 Stripes), E1 Seaman. (All ranks between E1-E6 are called Sailor) US Air Force: E9 Chief Master Sergeant (no star) or Command Chief Sergeant Major (star), E8 Senior Master Sergeant, E7 Master Sergeant, E6 Technical Sergeant, E5 Staff Sergeant, E4 Senior Airman, E3 Airman First Class, E2/E1 Airman. (E1-E4 are called Airman)

Military Awards USA – Audie Leon Murphy: He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, receiving every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor demonstrated at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945 USMC- Lewis Chest Puller: He is one of two U.S. servicemen to be awarded five Navy Crosses and, with the Distinguished Service Cross awarded to him by the U.S. Army, his total of six stands only behind Eddie Rickenbacker's eight times receiving the nation's second-highest military award for valor. USN – James Elliot Williams: He was the most highly decorated enlisted man in the history of the United States Navy. Williams is a Medal of Honor recipient, Navy Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with Valor, Navy and Marine Corps Medal with gold award star, Bronze Star with "V", Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with "V" device, Navy Good Conduct Medal. USAF – Duane D. Hacknet: he is the most decorated enlisted man in USAF history and the recipient of 28 decorations for valor in combat and more than 70 awards and decorations in all. He served in the Air Force from 1965 to 1991, retiring as a Chief Master Sergeant. A recipient of the Air Force Cross, he was the first living enlisted man to receive the medal, and at the time of its award he was its youngest recipient.

Department of Defense: National Intelligence Agencies Why do we show all of this, simply because those ranks we discussed work at every on of these defense agencies. We didn’t mention all the subordinate agencies beneath each agency, just not enough time.

Other DOD Defense Agencies