US Army Ranks

The United States Army (aka US Army) is a unit of the United States Armed Forces which is in charge of land-based military operations for the United States of America. It is one of the five different branches of the military which come under the United States Department of the Army - a part of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). This unit of the United States Armed Forces is headed by the Secretary of the Army. Other than the US Army, the United States Armed Forces also includes the US Navy, US Air Force, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard. Even though the US Army was officially formed on 3rd June, 1784, its history can be traced back to the formation of the Continental Army (on 14th June, 1775) - which was active during the American Revolution. On the basis of the US Army ranks in order, various army personnel are grouped into three categories - enlisted personnel, warrant officers and commissioned officers. (While the following information is pertaining to rank structure in the United States Army, you may go through military ranks in order or military ranks: lowest to highest for more information on the rank structure in all five units of the United States Armed Force.)

US Army Ranks Lowest to Highest

As of 2009, the US Army had a total of 1,112,703 soldiers of which 549,015 were active personnel and 563,688 were from the Reserve and National Guard personnel (Army National Guard (ARNG) and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) were formed by 358,391and 205,297 personnel respectively.) Given below is a list of US Army ranks in order starting from the lowest, along with their pay grades.

Enlisted Personnel
Any personnel who serves at the rank below a commissioned officer or warrant officer is the enlisted personnel in the United States Army. These personnel, which also include non-commissioned officers of the US Army, typically carry out tasks which are related to their own occupational specialty.

Rank	Abbreviation	Pay Grade*
Private	PVT	E-1
Private 2	PV2	E-2
Private First Class	PFC	E-3
Specialist	SPC	E-4
Corporal	CPL	E-4
Sergeant	SGT	E-5
Staff Sergeant	SSG	E-6
Sergeant First Class	SFC	E-7
Master Sergeant	MSG	E-8
First Sergeant	1SG	E-8
Sergeant Major	SGM	E-9
Command Sergeant Major	CSM	E-9
Sergeant Major of the Army	SMA	E-9

Warrant Officers
In the United States Army, a warrant officer is a highly skilled officer - who is ranked as an officer above the senior most enlisted rank and below the commissioned officer grade. Given below are the details of military rank structures pertaining to warrant officer grade.

Rank	Abbreviation	Pay Grade*
Warrant Officer	WO1	W-1
Chief Warrant Officer 2	CW2	W-2
Chief Warrant Officer 3	CW3	W-3
Chief Warrant Officer 4	CW4	W-4
Chief Warrant Officer 5	CW5	W-5

Commissioned Officers
In order to become a commissioned officer in the United States Army, an individual can opt for one of the numerous paths - including going through military schools and academies - such as the United States Military Academy or the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Rank	Abbreviation	Pay Grade*
Second Lieutenant	2LT	O-1
First Lieutenant	1LT	O-2
Captain	CPT	O-3
Major	MAJ	O-4
Lieutenant Colonel	LTC	O-5
Colonel	COL	O-6
Brigadier General	BG	O-7
Major General	MG	O-8
Lieutenant General	LTG	O-9
General	GEN	O-10
General of the Army**	GA	Special

*The pay grades given in the aforementioned military ranks list are used to determine the wages and benefits of various military ranks in the United States of America.
**Among the various commissioned officers ranks mentioned here, the General of the Army rank is reserved for war situations only.

Going through this write-up on the US Army ranks and pay grades must have surely helped you understand what the United States Army is all about. While the primary objective of the US Army is to defend the United States of America against any other country which is responsible for aggressive acts that may hamper peace and/or security of the country, it also supports national policies and plays a crucial role in implementation of national objectives in the country. A noble career that the US Army is, it's not at all surprising that the number of people who intend to join the Army (or pursuing any other military job) has increased significantly over the last few years.