Military Rank Jeopardy Template

Enlisted Beginnings

NCOs

Officers Basic

From Bars to Icons

Generalizations

100

Enlisted 1

How many Chevrons ?

What do you call them?

Has 0 chevrons

What is A...

Private (Army)

Private (Marines)

Seaman Recruit(SR) (Navy)

Airman Basic (Airforce)

Specialist 1(Spc1) (Spaceforce)

Seaman Recruit(SR) (CoastGuard)

100

Sergeant(Sgt)

Petty Officer Second Class **(PO2)

Staff Sergeant(SSgt)

Sergeant(Sgt)

Petty Officer Second Class **(PO2)

100

Officers

What are the ...

commissioned ranks are the highest in the military. These officers hold presidential commissions and are confirmed at their ranks by the Senate. Army, Air Force and Marine Corps officers are called company grade officers in the paygrades of O-1 to O-3, field grade officers in paygrades O-4 to O-6 and general officers in paygrades O-7 and higher. The equivalent officer groupings in the Navy are called junior grade, mid-grade and flag.

Naval officers wear distinctively different rank devices depending upon the uniform they're wearing. The three basic uniforms and rank devices used are: khakis, collar insignia pins; whites, stripes on shoulder boards; and blues, stripes sewn on the lower coat sleeves.

100

MajorMaj

Lieutenant CommanderLCDR

MajorMaj

Lieutenant CommanderLCDR

100

Average age of Enlisted Members in US Miliatary

The average age of enlisted members in the US military is 27.3 years.

Private (E-1) - 18 (join + 6 months)
Private First Class (E-2) - 19 - (join + 1 year)
Specialist/Lance Corporal (E-3) - 20 (join + 18 months)
Corporal (E-4) - 21
Sergeant (E-5) - 22 (join + 4.2 years)
Staff Sergeant (E-6) - 27 (join + 8.5 years)
Sergeant First Class (E-7) - 32 (join + 13.6 years)
Master Sergeant/First Sergeant (E-8) - 35 - (join + 17 years)
Sergeant Major (E-9) - 39 - (join + 20.8 years)

Or if you're talking officer, start at say age 23, and then add:

O-2 (Lt): 25 (join + 18 months)
O-3 (Capt): 27 (join + 4 years)
O-4 (Major): 33 (join + 10 years)
O-5 (Lt.Col): 39 (join + 16 years)
O-6 (Col): 45 (join + 22 years)

Anything at or above O-7 is competitive, so there's no average age/time available, although with Generals it's usually late 40s and 50s (50).

200

E-2

Private(PV2)

Private First Class(PFC)

Seaman Apprentice(SA)

Airman(Amn)

Specialist 2(Spc2)

Seaman Apprentice(SA)

200

What is A...

E-6

Staff Sergeant(SSG)

Staff Sergeant(SSgt)

Petty Officer First Class **(PO1)

Technical Sergeant(TSgt)

Petty Officer First Class **(PO1)

200

Warrant Officers

What are officers that hold warrants from their service secretary and are specialists and experts in certain military technologies or capabilities. The lowest-ranking warrant officers serve under a warrant, but they receive commissions from the president upon promotion to chief warrant officer 2.

These commissioned warrant officers are direct representatives of the president of the United States. They derive their authority from the same source as commissioned officers but remain specialists, in contrast to commissioned officers, who are generalists. There are no warrant officers in the Air Force.

200

Lieutenant ColonelLTC

Lieutenant ColonelLtCol

CommanderCDR

Lieutenant ColonelLt Col

CommanderCDR

200

GO Mandatory Retirement

The mandatory retirement age for all general officers is 62 (this can be deferred to age 64 in some cases, or indefinitely in the case of G.I. Joe). Under the law (10 USC, Sec 635), an officer who has been promoted to O-7 but is not on the recommended list to O-8, must retire five years after promotion to O-7, or 30 years of active-duty service, whichever is later.

An O-8 must retire five years after being promoted to O-8, or 35 years of service, whichever is greater (10 USC, Sec 636).

The Secretary of the Service Concerned (i.e., Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Air Force) or the President of the United States, can defer the above mandatory retirements, up until the time that the officer reaches the age of 62 (10 USC, Sec 637).

300

Lance Corporal(LCpl)

Seaman(SN)

Airman First Class(A1C)

Specialist 3(Spc3)

Seaman(SN)

300

What is A...

E-7

Sergeant First Class(SFC)

Gunnery Sergeant(GySgt)

Chief Petty Officer **(CPO)

Master Sergeant(MSgt)

First Sergeant

Master Sergeant(MSgt)

Chief Petty Officer **(CPO)

300

Second Lieutenant2ndLt

EnsignENS

Second Lieutenant2d Lt

EnsignENS

300

O-6

ColonelCOL

ColonelCol

CaptainCAPT

ColonelCol

CaptainCAPT

300

National Guard Averages

Typically, Guard members tend to stay longer in their positions, changing the average age ranges.

The average age of the enlisted member of the Army Guard was 29.5 with 44.9% of the total enlisted force being age 25 or below.

The Army National Guard Officer average age was 37.5 with 39.6% of the officer force being age 41 or older.

The average age of army national guards is 40+ years years old, representing 56% of the army national guard population

The average of age of Air National Guard Officers is 40.7, and the average age of Air National Guard Enlisted members is 34.3

400

Specialist(SPC)

Corporal(Cpl)

Petty Officer Third Class **(PO3)

Senior Airman(SrA)

Specialist 4(Spc4)

Petty Officer Third Class **(PO3)

400

E8 & E9

What are the differences between branches?

Some differences by Branch:

At the E-8 level, the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force have two positions at the same paygrade. Whether one is, for example, a senior master sergeant or a first sergeant in the Air Force depends on the person's job.

The same is true for the positions at the E-9 level. Marine Corps master gunnery sergeants and sergeants major receive the same pay but have different responsibilities. All told, E-8s and E-9s have 15 to 30 years on the job, and are commanders' senior advisers for enlisted matters.

A third E-9 element is the senior enlisted person of each service. The sergeant major of the Army, the sergeant major of the Marine Corps, the master chief petty officer of the Navy and the chief master sergeant of the Air Force are the spokespersons of the enlisted force at the highest levels of their services.

400

First Lieutenant1stLt

Lieutenant Junior GradeLTJG

First Lieutenant1st Lt

Lieutenant Junior GradeLTJG

400

General Officers

Starts with a STAR

Brigadier GeneralBGen

Rear Admiral Lower HalfRDML

Brigadier GeneralBrig Gen

Rear Admiral Lower HalfRDML

400

The difference between these 3 terms often confuse those new to the military culture.

Rank: Think of rank as the military’s organizational structure.
Insignia: Insignia on service members’ uniforms can represent rank, rate or designator. It may include various emblems such as chevrons, bars, oak leaves or stars. Typically, service members wear insignia on the shoulder or collar of their uniform, but stripes on a uniform sleeve often represents years of service.
Pay grade: Military members of the same pay grade are paid the same amount in each branch of service. The service branches represent pay grades by a letter and a number, so an officer at the first pay grade is an O-1; an enlisted member at the fourth pay grade is an E-4.

500

NCO

What is a noncommissioned officer

Ranks E5 and above

Leadership responsibility significantly increases in the midlevel enlisted ranks. This responsibility is given formal recognition by use of the terms noncommissioned officer and petty officer. An Army sergeant, an Air Force staff sergeant and a Marine corporal are considered NCO ranks. The Navy NCO equivalent, petty officer, is achieved at the rank of petty officer third class.

500

E8 & E9

Recognize by Chevrons and icons inside the Chevorns

What is a...

Army:

E8 Master Sergeant / First Sergeant

E9 Sergeant Major/ Command Sergeant Major/ Sergeant Major of the Army

Marines

E8 Master Sergeant, First Sergeant

E9 Master Gunnery Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Sergeant Major of the MC

Navy

E8 Senior Chief Petty Officer

E9 Master Chief Petty Officer, Fleet/Command MC Petty Officer, MC Petty Officer of the Navy

Air Force

E8 Senior Master Sergeant, First Sergeant

E9 Chief Master Sergeant, First Sergeant, Command Chief Master Sergeant, Chief MS of the Airforce

Space Force

E8 Senior Master Sergeant

E9 Chief Master Sergeant, Chief MS of the Space Force

Coast Guard

E8 Senior Chief Petty Officer

E9 Master Chief Petty Officer, Fleet/Command Master Chief Petty Officer, MC Petty Officer of the Coast Guard

500

CaptainCapt

LieutenantLT

CaptainCapt

LieutenantLT

500

VIPs

0 10

You should instantly be able to recognize anything above ONE STAR as a VIP

Name some VIPs in your branch

500

The different Insignia

Who wears what and why

Here’s a breakdown of the insignia:

Chevrons: Most enlisted personnel in every military service branch wear chevrons, or V-shaped stripes.
Bars: Officers in the lower pay grades wear bars. Officers at the O-1 pay grade wear one gold bar, O-2 wear one silver bar, O-3 wear two silver bars and warrant officers wear striped bars.
Oak leaves: Officers at the O-4 pay grade wear a gold oak leaf, and officers at the O-5 pay grade wear a silver oak leaf.
Eagles: Officers at the O-6 pay grade wear a silver eagle.
Stars: Officers at the O-7 through O-10 pay grades wear one, two, three or four stars, respectively.