NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to standardize NATO codes of rank for military personnel and indicate correspondence with nations ranks.[1] It is intended to be used "by nations when preparing personnel tables, requisitions, reports and returns destined for NATO nations, organizations and commands." The NATO rank reference code categories were established in 1978 in STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel). The current- 7th - edition[a] is just the cover, and the core of the standard is in set out in "NATO Codes For Grades Of Military Personnel" (APersP-01)[b][1].
The NATO codes assigned for each grade are based on the agreed corresponding army grades with the naval and air forces grades determined from them by "national regulations".[2].
OR-5 – OR-9: Non-commissioned officers (for NATO purposes)
OR-1 – OR-4: other ranks/enlisted ranks
In the US armed forcesWarrant Officer is a separate and distinct category of officers. This officer rank and precedence is below those of officer personnel, but above that of non-officer personnel, and has a special group of codes (W-1 – W-5).[5] In the Commonwealth tradition (for NATO the British Armed Forces and Canadian Armed Forces in NATO) warrant officers are the highest other ranks.[6]
In the British Armed Forces senior non-commissioned officers are in OR-5 to OR-7 and junior non-commissioned officers (eg corporals) are in OR-3 and OR-4.[7] In the US military OR-5 and above are non-commissioned officers for the US Army and US Air Force but in the US Marine Corps and US Navy (both parts of the Department of the Navy), OR-4 and above are non-commissioned officers.[8]
Platoon:[e] commanded by an OF-1/OF-2 or OR-7/OR-8
This is a general NATO practice, which does not prevent individual branches of the armed forces, for example, the British Army[10], the US Army[11] and the US Marine Corps[12], from having their own approaches to the positions held by certain officers and NCOs.
In 2010, Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation produced NATO NCO Bi-SC Strategy and Recommended NCO Guidelines.[13] The current Bi-SC joint document (19 December 2023) Directive 040-002 "NATO Non-Commissioned Officer and Junior Officer Bi-Strategic Command Employment and Development Strategy", describes the NATO rank indicators for NCOs:[14]
OR-1 — OR-3: "These are the basic entry ranks into the military structure."
OR-4: "The first level of leadership within the NATO NCO ranks."
OR-5: "The OR-5 is the first NATO designated NCO grade and the level of leadership with the greatest impact on subordinate ranks."
OR-6: "This is the first grade at which OR should be considered for Staff NCO duties at NATO higher headquarters employment. As such some NATO nations may recognize OR-6 through OR-9 as Senior NCOs (SNCO) or Warrant Officers (WO)."
OR-7: "The OR-7 is empowered and considered a key element within the command structure. At this level, SNCOs are expected to be able to provide sound advice to their leadership. While no formal mandate exists, this is the level at which, when consistent with their national authorities, SNCOs start to provide mentorship/assistance for Junior Officers (OF-1/OF-2)."
OR-8: "Uses enhanced leadership skills and broad operational experience to advise unit/element leaders and commanders on organizational effectiveness. OR-Bs are expected to merge subordinates talents, skills, and resources with other NATO crossfunctional team(s) and organization(s) to implement planning and management processes for collective mission accomplishment."
OR-9: "The most experienced SNCO within the NATO NCO structure. This grade is normally utilized in an advisory capacity when assigned to a higher headquarters."
Staff NCO: "When assigned to the NCS [NATO Command Structure ], the Staff NCO performs technical duties and project or portfolio management based upon their education, training, and experience. Based on the depth of their tactical experience, Staff NCO should participate in relevant working groups across the higher headquarters or NATO organisations".
Senior Enlisted Leader: "While traditionally an ancillary duty, this individual serves as an advisor to the senior staff directorate or element leadership".
Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL): "The CSEL, at the pinnacle of the NCO Ranks, serves on the Command Team as an advisor to the commander and the staff element leadership".
The numbers in the system broadly correspond to the U.S. uniformed services pay grades, with OR-x replacing E-x. The main difference is in the commissioned officer ranks, where the US system recognises two ranks at OF-1 level (O-1 and O-2), meaning that all O-x numbers after O-1 are one point higher on the US scale than they are on the NATO scale (e.g. a major is OF-3 on the NATO scale and O-4 on the US scale).
Based on the intentions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine to join NATO, NATO codes for military ranks have been officially introduced in these countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a corresponding law in 2005.[16] In Ukraine, the introduction of NATO codes for military ranks took place in two stages. Firstly in 2020, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) amended the structure of military ranks[17] which was followed in January 2021, by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine approving the compliance of military ranks with NATO codes by order[18] though the order had a confidential status.[f]
Some European NATO partners such as Austria[19] and Ireland[20][21] describe their ranks in terms of NATO rank codes for comparison with NATO forces.
NATO codes are also sometimes used to describe equivalence for countries that are not aligned with NATO. Eg in setting out commissioned officer ranks in the Israel Defense Forces with those in the US Army.[22][23][24][25][26], because in the IDF officer ranks are not determined by the position held, but on length of service.
Similarly other officer rank systems, such as the Soviet one, are not readily matched with NATO codes.[g]
Commissioned officers of the general officer grade are usually defined by the number of stars they ‘wear’. This is a model adopted from the US which, starting at one-star, utilises an increasing number of stars to identify an officer’s increasing rank.[3]
In STANAG 2116 (5th ed.), uses the term "four star" for referring to certain Italian OF-9 appointments in the air force and navy.[27] The term is also used to differentiate between two rank grades of a Portuguse general[28] APersP-01 notes that the French ranks of "général de division" and "vice-amiral" may carry the 4 star and 5 star rank marks.[29]
