A Guide for Marine Corps and Ranking System

There exist 7 different uniformed services in the United States military. Of these, the Marine Corps has always been known as one of the most rigorous, dedicated and hard-working armed service. The Marine Corps works closely with the United States Navy to provide combined-arms tasks forces. Within this branch of the military, the Marine Corps rank the individuals according to their level of importance, authority and responsibilities in service. Within the Marine Corps ranks, there exist 3 main categories, which help organize personnel into levels of authority. Enlisted personnel, warrant officers and commissioned officers comprise the organizational levels of authority. With each promotion, every enlisted personnel, warrant officer and commission officer receives a new insignia to help identify their position among the Marine ranks.

Enlisted personnel stand at the lowest point of reference for authority figures. Beginning the list are new recruits, or Privates. Privates are in fact an exception to the rule of corresponding insignia, as they are not presented with one upon entering Marine ranks. However, advancement from Private (PVT) to Private First Class (PFC) earns a single stripe. Subsequently, a promotion from PFC to Lance Corporal (LCPL) adds the symbol of two rifles intersected at the middle, shown just below the first given stripe. Similar to the United States Army, each level of promotion after this point comes with an additional stripe and reorientation of the overall design pattern. Advancement through the enlisted personnel for the Marine ranks takes place as follows: Private, Private First Class, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant, Master Sergeant, First Sergeant, Master Gunnery Sergeant, Sergeant Major and Sergeant Major of the Corps.

Warrant officers stand above enlisted personnel with reference to their level of authority. The terms describing this section of Marine Corps rank resemble the United States Army, yet again, in the simplicity of reference. For instance, the lowest level of authority begins with Warrant Officer 1 (WO) and continues on as follows: Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CWO2), Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CWO3), Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CWO4) and Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CWO5). Unlike the category for enlisted personnel, Marine Corps rank coincides with a metallic insignia. For WO, the corresponding insignia displays two red bars surrounded by a gold border. The CWO2 wears 3, smaller, red bars, also surrounded with a gold border. The CWO3’s 2-red bars are surrounded by a silver border in much the same way gold surrounds WO’s insignia. The CWO4’s insignia resembles CWO2’s insignia but replaces the gold border with a silver one. The CWO5’s insignia stands out among the rest in that there’s only a single, vertical, red stripe, which is surrounded by a silver border.

Commissioned officers take the highest level of authority and command responsibilities within the compilation of Marine ranks. The chain of authority among this category begins with the Second Lieutenant (2nd Lt), progresses to First Lieutenant (1st Lt) and proceeds as follows: Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and General. The insignia for commissioned officers is also metallic but unlike warrant officer’s insignia, each rank has its own particular design. For the 2nd Lt, the Marine Corps rank insignia is a single yellow bar. Following in suit, the 1st Lt’s insignia is a single silver bar. The Captain wears 2 silver bars, side-by-side. The Major bears an insignia of a 7-pointed gold symbol. The Lieutenant Colonel bears the same 7-point symbol but in silver, instead of gold. The Colonel bears the Marine ranks insignia of a bald eagle. The Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and General all bear silver 5 pointed stars, in a row of 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

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