Originally published in November, 2001.

To the outsider, military rank is at once baffling and yet readily understandable once you learn the basics.

Despite different specific rank titles, each of the armed services has three tiers of personnel. They are commissioned and warrant officers; noncommissioned officers (sergeants and petty officers); and junior enlisted personnel.

The enlisted and officer manpower rosters for each of the services resembles a pyramid, with the number of personnel of each rank shrinking as you ascend the chain of command. For instance, the Air Force in June 2001 had a total of 280,007 active-duty enlisted personnel of which 130,220, or 46 percent, were in the lowest four ranks: Airman Basic (E-1), Airman (E-2), Airman 1st Class (E-3) and Senior Airman (E-4). The next five rank tiers - noncommissioned officers - continue the pyramidal structure: There were 69,634 Staff Sergeants (E-5), 42,139 Technical Sergeants (E-6), 29,463 Master Sergeants (E-7), 5,731 Senior Master Sergeants (E-8) and only 2,820 Chief Master Sergeants (E- 9).

The officer cadre in each service has a similar pyramidal shape. For the Air Force, the lower three officer ranks in 2001 - 2nd Lieutenant (O-1), 1st Lieutenant (O-2) and Captain (O-3) - comprised 39,105 of the service's 68,689 commissioned officers, or 56 percent of the total. And as you ascend the rank structure from Major (O-4) to four-star General (O-10), the number of personnel in each category also declines sharply. There were 15,405 Majors, 10,081 Lieutenant Colonels (O-5), 3,832 Colonels (O-6), 137 Brigadier Generals (O-7), 80 Major Generals (O-8), 38 lieutenant Generals (O-9) and 11 four-star Generals (O-10).

One interesting set of facts that emerges from these numbers is the increasing competition for promotion as you climb the rank structure. For instance, two out of every three Captains are promoted to Major, while the number of Majors selected for lieutenant Colonel is slightly less, at 64 percent. But the number of Lieutenant Colonels advanced to Colonel sharply diminishes:

Only 38 percent of Lieutenant Colonels can expect to advance to Colonel.

Making flag rank is even more competitive by an entire order of magnitude: Only 3 percent of Colonels can expect to pin on the single star of a Brigadier General. But if an officer surmounts this most difficult of all promotion obstacles, he or she will have more than even odds to become a two-star general. About 58 percent of the service's Brigadier General receive promotions to Major General. From there, it is nearly even odds to attain three-star rank: The Air Force has 38 Lieutenant Generals selected from a pool of 80 Major Generals or 47 percent. To attain the supreme rank as a four-star general the odds tighten again to slightly more than one in four, with 11 four-star general slots for which those 38 Lieutenant Generals compete.

Footnote: Officers who go on to become 3- and 4-star admirals and generals are not selected by promotion boards, but instead are recommended for promotion either by committees composed of their service's senior 3- and 4-star counterparts, or by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or even the secretary of defense and president. As one Marine general told put it, "At that level, there is a job opening (requiring a 3- or 4-star officer) and the job comes looking for you." For instance, a three-star general responsible for his service's budget and plans would likely be selected by the Air Force uniformed leadership in coordination with the civilian secretariat, while the nominee for chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff is selected by the secretary of defense and president. All 3- and 4-star generals and admirals require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

There is one unavoidable source of confusion for those encountering the military rank structure for the first time: The commonality of specific terms employed for different ranks, and the use of the same title for different ranks in different military services. You will find the term Lieutenant in six different military titles: 2nd Lieutenant (O-1) (Army, Air Force, Marines); 1st Lieutenant (O-2) (Army, Air Force, Marines); Lieutenant (O-3) (Navy/Coast Guard); Lieutenant Commander (O-4) (Navy /Coast Guard); Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) (Army, Air Force, Marines), and Lieutenant General (Army, Air Force, Marines). Then there is the rank of Captain, which in three of the services is a mid-level officer (O-3) (Army, Air Force, Marines), but a senior officer (O-6) in the other two (Navy and Coast Guard). And, of course, the rank title of every enlisted person in the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps between the rank of E-5 and E-9 contains the word Sergeant; while Navy and Coast Guard NCO ranks E-7 through E-9 are a variant of the term Chief Petty Officer (see accompanying chart).

I have found that there is only way to overcome this semantic chaos: Study the rank chart long enough that you assimilate the specific titles for each rank.

Commissioned Officers

These are men and women who upon graduation from a military service academy, or civilian college and an officer training program such as Officer Candidate School or Reserve Officer Training Corps, become commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

There are also a limited number of warrant officers in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps (but not Air Force) who receive these special commissions after rising through the enlisted ranks. In addition, a small number of senior enlisted personnel may receive commissions as limited duty officers (usually the lower three ranks) because they hold an important technical specialty.

There are ten ranks for officers corresponding to the separate pay grade description of O-1 (the lowest) to O-10 (four-star rank). As they acquire time in service and professional experience, officers proceed up the rank structure, serving at that level for a number of years as they hold down jobs commensurate with a particular rank. Promotion boards consisting of senior officers regularly convene to select individual officers for elevation to the next rank. A synopsis of officer rankings is as follows:

Ensign/2nd Lieutenant and Lieutenant (Junior Grade)/1st Lieutenant
Upon receiving their commissions, junior officers serve for their first four or five years in positions that are comparable to management trainee functions at a large corporation. For example, Navy and Air Force fliers spend nearly two years in various flight schools before joining operational squadrons, while Air Force, Army and Marine lieutenants receive advanced training (e.g. Army Ranger school) before commanding small units such as platoons or "flights" under the close supervision of more senior officers and assisted by senior enlisted personnel.

Lieutenant/Captain
Promotion to this rank usually occurs between 3-10 years after commissioning. Scope of responsibilities ranges from command of an Army infantry or armored company (several hundred soldiers), to command of a ship's division. During this time they are engaged in their primary military specialty such as flying aircraft, operating warship systems or combat equipment. They will also serve at least one three-year staff assignment ranging from ROTC instructor, junior aide to a senior officer, or staff officer in the Pentagon or field headquarters.

Lieutenant Commander/Major
These career officers, with anywhere between 10 and 20 years in service, may hold more senior operational commands such as executive officer of a Navy destroyer or attack submarine, or brigade or divisional staff positions.

Commander/Lieutenant Colonel
This is the first rank for many prime combat unit commands. A Navy or Coast Guard Commander is the commanding officer of all but the largest warships, and his or her counterpart in the ground services would command either an infantry battalion or Air Force or Navy squadron. Promotion to this rank normally comes after 15 years of service.

Captain/Colonel
This is the ultimate rank attained by a majority of commissioned officers, and is usually attained after 22-25 years of active duty. Colonels and Captains (O-6) command Army brigades, Navy and sometimes Air Force aircraft wings and Navy aircraft carriers.

Rear Admiral (LH)/Brigadier General
A small percentage of Colonels and Captains will be select- ed for one-star rank, which comes usually after 25 years in the service. Navy Rear Admirals (lower half) command carrier battle groups, while Brigadier Generals serve as assistant Army or Marine Corps division commanders. They normally command Air Force aircraft wings. Those holding this rank also serve in senior Pentagon staff positions.

Rear Admiral (UH)/Major General
Two-star flag officers reach this rank usually as they approach the 3D-year mark in their careers. In the Army and Marine Corps, they command divisions, while in the Air Force and Navy they hold senior administrative command posts.

Vice Admiral/Lieutenant General
Promotion to three-star rank usually comes after three to five years as a Major General or Rear Admiral (UH). Officers in this rank command Navy numbered Fleets, Air Force numbered Air Forces and Army corps headquarters commands, as well as senior deputy staff positions at the Pentagon or Unified Military Commands.

Admiral/General
The 33 four-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military serve in two broad arenas: They comprise the chairman and vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff as well as the four 4-star uniformed service leaders (Army and Air Force chiefs of staff, chief of naval operations and Marine Corps commandant), or their deputies. They also hold down the command slots of the nine Unified Combatant Commands (such as the U.S. European Command and U.S. Strategic Command) and the major service component commands (U.S. Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet). Other four-star officers command unique headquarters such as the Combined Forces Command Korea or the Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Program.

For information about ordering Pen & Sword: A Reporter's Guide to Covering the Military, go to the website for Marion Street Press Inc. at http://www.marionstreetpress.com/.

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