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Defense Primer: Military Officers (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date Revised June 4, 2024
Report Number IF10685
Report Type In Focus
Authors Lawrence Kapp
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
Older Revisions
  • Premium   Revised Nov. 23, 2022 (2 pages, $24.95) add
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Summary:

The armed forces are hierarchical organizations with clearly defined levels of authority. The different levels for officers are defined in law and called grades, while rank refers to the order of precedence among those in different grades and within the same grade (e.g., someone who has been a Major for three years outranks someone who has been a Major for two years; see 10 U.S.C. §741). However, it is common for the term rank to be used as a synonym for grade. Pay grade is an administrative classification that determines certain rates of pay, but it is sometimes used to indicate grade as well. For example, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy may be referred to as an O-4. See Figure 1 on reverse.