US Navy

The Navy apprentice ladder runs Seaman Recruit E-1, Seaman Apprentice E-2, and Seaman E-3, marked by diagonal white stripes on the...

Petty Officer Third Class wears an eagle above one chevron with a rating mark between, and the word petty enters English from Fren...

Petty Officer Second Class wears the eagle and rating mark above two chevrons and typically runs a work center, a divisional shop ...

Petty Officer First Class wears three chevrons below the eagle and rating mark and is the senior technician of a division, often i...

Chief Petty Officer wears an anchor with the letters USN in a shield, moves into the khaki uniform of the chief community, and is ...

Senior Chief Petty Officer adds one silver star above the anchor and holds department-level supervisory billets: leading chief pet...

Master Chief Petty Officer wears two stars above the anchor and serves as the senior enlisted leader of departments, ships, major ...

The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, MCPON, wears an anchor with three stars and advises the Chief of Naval Operations on e...

Ensign wears a single gold stripe and receives a commission through the Naval Academy, ROTC, or Officer Candidate School. New ensi...

Lieutenant Junior Grade wears one full and one thin stripe and is promoted from ensign after roughly two years. LTJGs continue as ...

Navy Lieutenant wears two full stripes and corresponds in grade, OF-2, to an Army captain, though the same title in the Army names...

Lieutenant Commander wears two full stripes with a thin stripe between, a visual arithmetic of the half step between lieutenant an...

Commander wears three full stripes and, in the classic pattern, takes command of a destroyer, frigate, submarine, or aviation squa...

The naval Captain wears four stripes and commands aircraft carriers with crews of five thousand, cruisers, submarine squadrons, ai...

Rear Admiral comes in two grades, lower half with one star, OF-6, and upper half with two, OF-7, a division restored in the 1980s ...

Vice Admiral wears three stars and holds the Navy largest operational commands: numbered fleets like the Seventh in the Pacific, n...

Admiral wears four stars and occupies the Navy peak billets: Chief of Naval Operations, Vice Chief, commanders of fleet and combat...

Fleet Admiral was authorized in December 1944, matching the Army General of the Army, so senior American naval commanders would ra...

Midshipmen at Annapolis and in NROTC hold a special status: sworn service members, paid, but officer candidates rather than rated ...

Almost every enlisted sailor begins naval service as a Seaman Recruit at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes in Illinois, the Nav...