Understanding U.S. Military Ranks in the World Wars

When you open a personnel record in this archive, the rank is one of the first things you see. Rank tells you where a man stood in the chain of command, the weight of responsibility he carried, and often something of his experience. Here is a plain guide to the grades you will encounter.

Enlisted grades

Most servicemen were enlisted men. In the Army and Army Air Forces the ladder ran broadly from Private and Private First Class, up through the technician grades (Technician Fifth, Fourth and Third Grade — specialists in a trade), to the non-commissioned officers below.

Non-commissioned officers (NCOs)

The NCOs were the backbone of every unit: Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Technical Sergeant and Master Sergeant. These were the men who led squads and sections and turned orders into action. In the Navy the parallel ranks were the petty officers; in the Marine Corps the sergeant grades carried the same hard authority.

Commissioned officers

Officers held a commission from the President. The junior ranks — Second Lieutenant and First Lieutenant — led platoons and flew aircraft. A Captain commanded a company or an air-crew; a Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel commanded battalions, groups and regiments. The Navy's equivalents ran from Ensign and Lieutenant up to Commander and Captain.

Why rank matters to your search

Rank narrows the field. Two men of the same name are often told apart by their grade and service number. Rank also hints at a man's role on the day he died — a Second Lieutenant in a bomber group and a Private in an infantry regiment fought very different wars. Read it together with the unit, and the record begins to tell a story.

For more on decoding a file, see Reading a World War II Service Record.