Ranks and insignia of NATO affiliated nations are combined military ranks and insignia used by the member countries (and other affiliated nations) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The rank scale is used for specifying posts within NATO.
NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to match every member country's military ranks to corresponding ranks used by the other members. [1] The NATO rank reference code categories were established in a 1978 document entitled STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel). NATO rank codes are not the same as military ranks (US Army examples: Private, Corporal, Warrant Officer 1, Chief Warrant Officer 5, Captain, Major, Colonel, etc.) and military pay grades (US military examples: E-1, W-1, CW-5, O-1, O-1e, O-10, etc.). They are rank codes that allow for interoperability among NATO member nations.
OF-1 – OF-10 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for commissioned officers: [1]
OR1–OR9 (lowest rank code to highest) are used for other ranks: [1]
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).
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 |
Rank group | Non-commissioned officers | Enlisted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NATO rank scale | 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 |
Army
Air Force
Navy
Oberstleutnant is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to lieutenant colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish rank överstelöjtnant is a direct translation, as is the Finnish rank everstiluutnantti.
Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.
Brigadier general is the Germanic variant of Brigadier general.
Commissioned officers' rank comparison chart of all land forces of NATO member states.
This page lists the enlisted ranks and insignia of NATO member armies. For the comparison chart of the commissioned officers, see Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers.
Oberst is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti and the Icelandic rank ofursti.
Fregattenkapitän is the middle ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies.
The following are the ranks and insignia of NATO Air Forces Enlisted personnel for each member nation.
Each officer rank in the navy of a NATO country may be compared with the ranks used by any military service in other NATO countries, under a standardized NATO rank scale. This is useful, for instance, in establishing seniority amongst officers serving alongside each other within multinational command structures.
This table shows the ranks and insignia of NCOs and Seaman in the navies of member countries of NATO. NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" in an attempt to match every member country's military rank to corresponding ranks used by the other members. The rank categories were established in the document STANAG 2116, formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel.
Specialist is a military rank in some countries' armed forces. Two branches of the United States Armed Forces use the rank. It is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the United States Army, above private (PVT), private (PV2), and private first class and is equivalent in pay grade to corporal; in the United States Space Force, four grades of specialist comprise the four junior enlisted ranks below the rank of sergeant.
Fähnrich is an officer candidate rank in the Austrian Bundesheer and German Bundeswehr. The word Fähnrich comes from an older German military title, Fahnenträger, and first became a distinct military rank in Germany on 1 January 1899. However, Fähnrich ranks are often incorrectly compared with the rank of ensign, which shares a similar etymology but is a full-fledged commissioned officer rank.
The military ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were established on March 1992, when Ukraine adopted the Law on Military Duty and Military Service 1992.
Commissioned officers' and enlisted rank comparison chart of all marine forces.
Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10.
Rank comparison chart of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and enlisted personnel for all armies and land forces of the European Union member states.
Rank comparison chart of all navies of the European Union member states.
Rank comparison chart of all navies of the European Union member states. Some EU member states do not have naval forces, either because they are landlocked Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovakia.
Rank comparison chart of air forces non-commissioned officers and other personnel of the European Union member states.