A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

in many navies and coast guards, usually above petty officer.

By country

Australia

"Chief Petty Officer" is the second highest non-commissioned rank in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

Canada

"Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) ( or in French) is equivalent to a master warrant officer in the Army and Air Force, and chief petty officer 1st class (CPO1) ( or ) is equivalent to a chief warrant officer in the Army and Air Force. In spoken references, chief petty officers may be addressed as "chief" but are never addressed as " sir".

India

A Chief petty officer in

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

is a junior-commissioned officer. This rank is equivalent to Naib subedar in Indian Army and Junior warrant officer in

Indian Air force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

. The two highest enlisted ranks are Master Chief Petty Officer Second Class (MCPO II), equivalent to Subedar/Warrant Officer and Master Chief Petty Officer First Class (MCPO I), equivalent to Subedar Major/Master Warrant Officer in Indian Army/Indian Air Force respectively.

Pakistan

Fleet chief petty officer is a commissioned and gazetted rank in Pakistan Navy above chief petty officer and below master chief petty officer. It is equivalent to the Pakistan Air Force

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, 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 ...

and the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

subedar.

Philippines

In the Philippine Navy, the rank of chief petty officer, is equivalent to master sergeant in the Philippine Marine Corps and Philippine Air Force.

United Kingdom

In the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, the rank of chief petty officer comes above that of petty officer and below that of warrant officer class 2. It is the equivalent of

colour sergeant Colour sergeant (CSgt or C/Sgt) is a rank of non-commissioned officer found in several armies and marine corps. Australia In the Australian Army, the rank of colour sergeant has only existed in the Corps of Staff Cadets at the Royal Military ...

in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

, colour sergeant or

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, and flight sergeant in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

United States

Chief petty officer is an E-7

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 warrant officers, except in United States ...

in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above petty officer first class and below senior chief petty officer. Chief petty officers are classified as senior

s. The grade of chief petty officer was established on April 1, 1893, for the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Congress first authorized the U.S. Coast Guard to use the promotion to chief petty officer on 18 May 1920. Unlike petty officer first class and lower rates, advancement to chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy not only carries requirements of time in service, superior evaluation scores, and specialty examinations, but also carries an added requirement of

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...

. British Royal Navy OR-7.svg, Antigua and Barbuda Coast Guard Royal Australian Navy OR-8.svg,

Bahamas-Navy-OR-7.svg, Royal Bahamas Defence Force 03.BNF-CPO.svg, Bangladesh Navy Barbados Coast Guard OR7.png, Barbados Coast Guard Belize CG OR-7.svg, Belize Coast Guard British Royal Navy OR-7.svg, Republic of Fiji Navy 04.Ghana Navy-CPO.svg, Ghana Navy blank.svg, Guyana Coast Guard Ireland-Navy-OR-7.svg,
Irish Naval Service Jamaica-Navy-OR-7.svg, Jamaican Coast Guard blank.svg, Liberian National Coast Guard India-Navy-OR-7.svg,

04-Namibia Navy-CPO.svg, Namibian Navy RNZN OR-7.svg,

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

PNG_Maritime_OR-7.svg, Papua New Guinea Maritime Element Sierra Leone-Navy-OR-7.svg, Sierra Leone Navy SAN-Navy-OR-7.svg, South African Navy Sri_Lanka-Navy-OR-7.svg,

Sri Lanka Navy The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) (; ) is the navy, naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography. It is responsible for the maritime defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its ...

Trinidad & Tobago-Navy-OR-7.svg, Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard British Royal Navy OR-7.svg,

CPO GC.svg,

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

USCG CPO.svg,

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

References

External links

History of the Chief Petty Officer Grade
{{US enlisted ranks Marine occupations Military ranks of Australia Military ranks of Canada Military ranks of the Commonwealth Military ranks of the Royal Navy Naval ranks Non-commissioned officers