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// Officer Hierarchy

OFFICER RANKS

The U.S. Navy commissions 10 grades of regular officers — Ensign (O-1) through Admiral (O-10) — and appoints 5 grades of warrant officers (W-1 through W-5) as single-track technical specialists.

Portrait of T Madden Alford
Written by
T Madden Alford — U.S. Naval Academy '02 · U.S. Navy Reserve Captain (O-6) · Former submarine officer, USS Key West
Reviewed by
REVIEWER_TODO — Active or Retired U.S. Navy Officer — REVIEWER_TODO — Commissioned or warrant officer with verified service record (Navy.mil leadership directory)
Last reviewed: May 25, 2026 · Sources checked: May 25, 2026

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

WARRANT OFFICERS

Officer Ranks (high → low, mobile-friendly)

  1. W-5Silver bar with vertical blue stripe — Navy Chief Warrant Officer 5 collar deviceCHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 5CWO5
  2. W-4Gold bar with four narrow blue breaks — Navy Chief Warrant Officer 4 collar deviceCHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 4CWO4
  3. W-3Gold bar with three narrow blue breaks — Navy Chief Warrant Officer 3 collar deviceCHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 3CWO3
  4. W-2Gold bar with two narrow blue breaks — Navy Chief Warrant Officer 2 collar deviceCHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 2CWO2
  5. W-1Navy-blue bar with two narrow gold breaks — Navy Warrant Officer 1 collar deviceWARRANT OFFICER 1WO1
  6. O-10Four silver stars — U.S. Navy Admiral flag insigniaADMIRALADM
  7. O-9Three silver stars — U.S. Navy Vice Admiral flag insigniaVICE ADMIRALVADM
  8. O-8Two silver stars — U.S. Navy Rear Admiral flag insigniaREAR ADMIRALRADM
  9. O-7One silver star — U.S. Navy Rear Admiral (Lower Half) flag insigniaREAR ADMIRAL (LOWER HALF)RDML
  10. O-6Silver eagle — U.S. Navy Captain collar deviceCAPTAINCAPT
  11. O-5Silver oak leaf — U.S. Navy Commander collar deviceCOMMANDERCDR
  12. O-4Gold oak leaf — U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander collar deviceLIEUTENANT COMMANDERLCDR
  13. O-3Two silver bars — U.S. Navy Lieutenant collar deviceLIEUTENANTLT
  14. O-2Single silver bar — U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade collar deviceLIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADELTJG
  15. O-1Single gold bar — U.S. Navy Ensign collar deviceENSIGNENS
See Also
Navy Officer Designators
Every commissioned officer carries a four-digit designator code identifying their warfare community or staff corps — Surface Warfare (1110), Naval Aviator (1310), JAG (2500), and 21 more.
Browse Officer Designators

Editorial policy

  • Source priority. We cite navy.mil officer insignia plates, MyNavyHR / MILPERSMAN, and DFAS basic pay tables first; 10 U.S.C. §531 et seq. for commissioned-officer authority. Non-government sources are not used as primary evidence on this page.
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