US Marine Ranks

Serving in any of the seven uniformed services of the United States is undoubtedly a matter of pride, so much so that those aspiring to join the forces have their mind focused on one of these seven units right from the beginning. Among the thousands of individuals who seek military job, a huge chunk of individuals aspire to join the US Marine Corps - even though it is the smallest unit of the United States' Armed Forces (DoD). Generally, the strength of active personnel of the US Marines is just under 203,000, while the same for reserved personnel is only 40,000 (as of October 2010). These servicemen are categorized into different groups on the basis of the military ranks that are conferred upon them. The hierarchy of ranks in the US Marine Corps start from the Private and goes on to the General - which is the highest rank of the US Marines.

United States Marine Corps (USMC)

The United States Marine Corps (at times simply referred to as the US Marines) are assigned the task of power projection or force projection from the sea. A term widely used in military, power projection refers to the capacity of a state to conduct expeditionary warfare in some area which is not its own territory. Even though the USMC is a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces, it works closely with the United States Navy when it comes to training, transportation and logistics. The US Marines boast of being one of the very few forces of the world which can be used for hybrid warfare as well as combat operations. Being well-versed with amphibious warfare, the US Marines have played an important role in every single armed conflict of the 20th century in which the United States had direct involvement - including the War of Afghanistan and Iraq War. Though it is the smallest unit of the US Armed Forces, the US Marine Corps is much larger and powerful than the armies of various nations of the world.

US Marine Ranks in Order

Coming back to the United States Marine Corps ranks, the Marines can be broadly categorized into three groups - Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers and Enlisted Personnel. As with the other branches of US Army, Commissioned Officers of the US Marine Corps are distinguished by their 'commission' - a formal written authority, issued in the name of the President of the United States. Similarly, Warrant Officers - who provide leadership and training in specialized fields of the Marine Corps, are conferred with 'warrants'. The last group comprises Enlisted Personnel or Enlisted Marines - who comprise non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and Staff Noncommissioned Officers (SNCOs). Given below is a military ranks list which comprises various ranks that are conferred upon US Marines - going through which will help you get a better understanding of the hierarchical system followed in the United States Marine Corps.

US Marine Corps Ranks

Commissioned Officers* Rank Abbrev. Pay Grade General Gen O-10 Lieutenant General LtGen O-9 Major General MajGen O-8 Brigadier General BGen O-7 Colonel Col O-6 Lieutenant Colonel LtCol O-5 Major Maj O-4 Captain Capt O-3 First Lieutenant 1stLt O-2 Second Lieutenant 2ndLt O-1

Warrant Officers Rank Abbrev. Pay Grade Chief Warrant Officer 5 CW5 W-5 Chief Warrant Officer 4 CW4 W-4 Chief Warrant Officer 3 CW3 W-3 Chief Warrant Officer 2 CW2 W-2 Warrant Officer 1 WO1 W-1

Enlisted Personnel Rank Abbrev. Pay Grade Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps SgtMajMarCor E-9 Special Sergeant Major SgtMaj E-9 Master Gunnery Sergeant MGySgt E-9 First Sergeant 1stSgt E-8 Master Sergeant MSgt E-8 Gunnery Sergeant GySgt E-7 Staff Sergeant SSgt E-6 Sergeant Sgt E-5 Corporal Cpl E-4 Lance Corporal LCpl E-3 Private First Class PFC E-2 Private Pvt E-1

*The Commissioned Officers are further divided into Generals, Field Grade Officers and Company Grade Officers - with the General, Lieutenant General, Major General and Brigadier General being the Generals, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and Major being the Field Grade Officers and the Captain, First Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant being the Company Graded Officers.

In any given military organization, ranks establish a system of hierarchy and play a crucial role in ensuring discipline within the organization. That being said, the knowledge of these ranks can be helpful in deciding the course of action for those individuals who aspire to join the army and serve the nation.