Other ranks

Other ranks (ORs) in the Royal Marines (RM), the British Army, and the Royal Air Force (RAF), along with the navies, armies, and air forces of many other Commonwealth countries and the Republic of Ireland, are those personnel who are not commissioned officers, but usually include non-commissioned officers (NCOs).^[1][2] In the Royal Navy (RN), these personnel are called "ratings"^[3] rather than "other ranks". "Non-commissioned member" (NCM) is the equivalent term in the Canadian Armed Forces, and "enlisted rank" is used in the United States and elsewhere.

The term "other ranks" is often considered to exclude warrant officers (WO), and occasionally in some militaries also excludes NCOs. Formally, a regiment consists of the "officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and men", or the "officers, warrant officers, and other ranks".^[4]

British other ranks

NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Royal Navy[5] v t e
	Warrant officer class 1						Warrant officer class 2		Chief petty officer		Petty officer												Leading rate						Able rate
Royal Marines[6] v t e																													No insignia
	Warrant officer class 1						Warrant officer class 2		Colour sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal				Lance corporal		Marine
British Army[7] v t e																													No insignia
	Warrant officer class 1						Warrant officer class 2		Staff/Colour sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal				Lance corporal		Private (or equivalent)
Royal Air Force[8] v t e																																			No insignia
	Warrant officer								Flight sergeant	Chief technician	Sergeant												Corporal				Lance corporal (RAF Regiment only)		Air specialist (class 1) technician		Air specialist (class 1)		Air specialist (class 2)		Air recruit
Royal Air Force[8] (Aircrew) v t e
	Master aircrew								Flight sergeant aircrew		Sergeant aircrew
NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1

Notes

See also

• Royal Navy other rank insignia
• British Army other ranks rank insignia
• RAF other ranks
• Ranks and insignia of NATO

References

1. Berman, Gavin; Rutherford, Tom (17 November 2011). "Defence personnel statistics (SN/SG/02183)". www.Parliament.uk. House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
2. "PACMAN Chapter 3 Part 1 Part B Division 5: Salary (Other Ranks)". Defence.gov.au. Ministry of Defence, Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2014.^{[failed verification]}
3. "Life as a Rating". www.RoyalNavy.MoD.uk. Royal Navy. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
4. Roll of Honour of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment. 1951. OCLC 44849381.
5. "Shaping your career". royalnavy.mod.uk. Royal Navy. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
6. "RM Officers & Other Ranks Badges of Rank". Royal Navy website. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
7. "Rank structure". army.mod.uk. British Army. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
8. "RAF Ranks". raf.mod.uk/. Royal Air Force. Retrieved 21 September 2021.