Pay grades are used by the eight

uniformed services of the United States The United States has eight federal uniformed services that commission officers as defined by Title 10 and subsequently structured and organized by Titles 10, 14, 32, 33 and 42 of the U.S. Code. Uniformed services The uniformed services ...

(

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

Space Force A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

Public Health Service Commissioned Corps The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), also referred to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, is the federal uniformed service of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and one of the e ...

, and

NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis ...

) to determine wages and benefits based on the corresponding

military rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a ...

of a member of the services. While different ranks may be used among the eight uniformed services,

pay grade A pay grade is a unit in systems of monetary compensation for employment. It is commonly used in public service, both civil and military, but also for companies of the private sector. Pay grades facilitate the employment process by providing a fix ...

s are uniform and equivalent between the services and can be used to quickly determine seniority among a group of members from different services. They are also essential when determining a member's entitlements such as basic pay and allowances.

Structure

Pay grades are divided into three groups:

enlisted Enlisted may refer to: * Enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or ...

(E),

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

(W), and

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

(O). Enlisted pay grades begin at E-1 and end at E-9; warrant officer pay grades originate at W-1 and terminate at W-5; and officer pay grades start at O-1 and finish at O-10. Not all of the uniformed services use all of the grades; for example, the

has authority to use, but does not use the grades of W-1 and W-5, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

formerly did not use the grade of W-1 and the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

discontinued appointing new warrant officers in 1959 (although the last USAF warrant officer did not retire until 1992). Although authorized to do so, neither the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...

(NOAA Corps) nor the

United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), also referred to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, is the federal uniformed service of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and one of the ...

use any of the enlisted or warrant officer grades. Additionally, while not formally established as one of the eight uniformed services, the Maritime Service (which provides officers serving in the

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...

and as administrators and instructors at the

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchant ...

(USMMA), and the six state-operated maritime academies) is also authorized, but does not currently employ, enlisted or warrant officer grades. Officers in pay grades O-1, O-2, and O-3 with more than four years of prior cumulative service (creditable toward both length of service and retirement) in an enlisted or warrant officer grade are paid "... the special rate of basic pay for pay grade O-1E, O-2E, or O-3E," respectively. This benefit does not affect their rank and is used simply for reward and incentive purposes in recognition of their prior enlisted (or warrant officer) experience. A cumulative total of 1,440 days of creditable Federal active duty and/or reserve inactive duty for training days is required to qualify. The pay grade of W-1 is normally reserved for officers appointed using a "warrant" rather than a "commission" by the Secretary of Defense or by each of the service secretaries, using authority delegated from the President, to an intermediate rank between enlisted non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers (starting at W-2). However, appointments to this grade can by made by commission by the service secretaries, defense secretary, or the President, but this is more uncommon. By law, regulation, and traditional customs and courtesies across the military services, warrant officers serving in pay grade W-1 have the same privileges as commissioned officers (with certain exceptions grounded in the distinction required in the Constitution that all "officers of the United States" be commissioned, which affects the command authority and specific standing of W-1's under the

Uniform Code of Military Justice The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 801–946 is the foundation of military law in the United States. It was established by the United States Congress in accordance with the authority given by the United States Constitutio ...

(UCMJ) and the

Manual for Courts-Martial The ''Manual for Courts-Martial'' (''MCM'') is the official guide to the conduct of courts-martial in the United States military. An Executive Order of the President of the United States, the ''MCM'' details and expands on the military law establi ...

). While cadets and midshipmen directly appointed by the President to four of the Federal Service Academies (

U.S. Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

; U.S. Naval Academy; U.S. Air Force Academy; U.S. Coast Guard Academy) are members of the Regular Component of their Service, serving on active duty, they hold neither a commission nor a warrant of appointment, nor do they hold an enlisted grade or rank. U.S. statutes no longer include any pay grade for cadets or midshipmen; as "inchoate officers" appointed using the

Appointments Clause The Appointments Clause of Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, of the United States Constitution empowers the President of the United States to nominate and, with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the United States Senate, appoint public offi ...

of the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...

as "inferior officers," they are recognized as having only a precedence below the most junior warrant officer, and above the enlisted grades, and almost entirely lack any authority over any other servicemembers (including other cadets and midshipmen) except for specific internal Academy functions, or very narrowly drawn training purposes while serving with their Service for leadership and skills development. Those appointed to attend the

(the fifth Federal Service Academy), by the Administrator of the

(within the Department of Transportation), will also be appointed by the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

directly as Midshipmen,

U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called R ...

, without enlistment. Additionally, the Service Secretaries will appoint the cadets or midshipmen of the Senior

Reserve Officers Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

(ROTC), but unlike the cadets and midshipmen of each Federal Service Academy, ROTC cadets and midshipmen are first enlisted into the reserve component of their respective service. Cadets and midshipmen from both the USMMA and ROTC are appointed as "inchoate officers" without a commission or warrant, but unlike the other four Federal service academies, they are also appointed under Article II as "inferior officers" in their respective reserve component, and only serve on active duty during authorized training events (typically the "Sea Year" for USMMA midshipmen, or for ROTC during the summers between years of college). They share the ill-defined precedence, and lack of statutory pay grade, of cadets and midshipmen of the Academies, and have even less apparent authority (since they are generally not in any official duty status) beyond their internal USMMA and ROTC requirements, although they—like the cadets and midshipmen serving in the Regular Component at the Federal Service Academies—have the innate potential to command troops in emergencies, and otherwise perform duties far beyond their academic environment, as required by competent authorities. The basic pay rate for both Academy and non-active duty ROTC cadets and midshipmen is $1,217.10, effective 1 January 2022, which is "the monthly rate equal to 35 percent of the basic pay of a commissioned officer in the pay grade O–1 with less than two years of service."

NATO equivalents

The enlisted grades correspond with the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

rank codes, with E-1 being equivalent to OR-1, E-2 equivalent to OR-2, and so on. The officer grades are all one higher than their NATO equivalent (except O-1) as the O-1 and O-2 grades are both equivalent to the NATO code of OF-1. Hence O-3 is equivalent to OF-2, O-4 is equivalent to OF-3, and so on. U.S. warrant officer grades (W-1 through W-5) are depicted in the NATO system as WO-1 through WO-5. The United States is the only nation that has officers in this category.

Enlisted

''Note: The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps consist entirely of commissioned officers and do not use any of the enlisted (or warrant officer) pay grades.''

Warrant officer

Officer

Notes

References

External links

Current and historic pay charts
{{US armed forces insignia navigation United States Department of Defense United States military pay and benefits