Re: Translate military paygrades to rank salutations

In addition to corrections by Limbic~Region, et. al., here are a few more, from the perspective of the US Army:

A W-1 is a 'Warrant Officer 1' -- it is only at the 2-4 levels that he or she becomes a 'Chief Warrant Officer (2|3|4).
An E-1 is generally referred to as a 'Private Recruit' as opposed to an E-2 ('Private').

Personally, I never made it beyond E-5 (Sergeant) but my brother recently pinned on his Colonel (O-6) eagles! A good day for him. :)

No good deed goes unpunished. -- (attributed to) Oscar Wilde

Comment on Re: Translate military paygrades to rank salutations

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Re^2: Translate military paygrades to rank salutations by ptum (Priest) on Jun 02, 2006 at 17:03 UTC
Not necessarily, but it has been a while since I was in the Army. Sometimes a lower-ranked person in a class of ranks will be referred to by the class name -- so you might call an E-1 a 'Private' out of courtesy. Similarly, you'll see 2nd Lieutenants (2LT) referred to simply as 'Lieutenant' and even Lieutenant Colonels (LTC) referred to as 'Colonel'. Looking at the DOD rank page, it seems as though the term 'Recruit' has been dropped for the Army (although it is still there for the Navy, and an E-1 is a 'Private' while an E-2 is a 'Private E-2'. I guess I have to move with the times. :) No good deed goes unpunished. -- (attributed to) Oscar Wilde	[reply]
Re^2: Translate military paygrades to rank salutations by girarde (Hermit) on Jun 02, 2006 at 16:02 UTC
Thanks, I can't believe the W-1 got by me. But is an E-1 actually addressed as Private Recruit?	[reply]