Pay grades are divided into three groups:[1]enlisted (E), warrant officer (W), and officer (O). Enlisted pay grades begin at E-1 and end at E-9; warrant officer pay grades originate at W-1 and terminate at W-5; and officer pay grades start at O-1 and finish at O-10.[a] Not all of the uniformed services use all of the grades; for example, the Coast Guard has authority to use - but does not use - the grades of W-1 and W-5.[8][9]
Officers in pay grades O-1, O-2, and O-3 with more than four years of prior cumulative service (creditable toward both length of service and retirement) in an enlisted or warrant officer grade are paid "... the special rate of basic pay for pay grade O-1E, O-2E, or O-3E,"[19] respectively.[4] This benefit does not affect their rank and is used simply for reward and incentive purposes in recognition of their prior enlisted (or warrant officer) experience. A cumulative total of 1,440 days of creditable Federal active duty and/or reserve inactive duty for training days is required to qualify.[20][21]
The pay grade of W-1 is normally reserved for officers appointed using a "warrant"[3][22] rather than a "commission"[23][24] by the Secretary of Defense or by each of the service secretaries, using authority delegated from the President,[25] to an intermediate rank between enlisted non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers (starting at W-2).[9] However, appointments to this grade can be made by commission by the service secretaries, defense secretary, or the President,[22] but this is more uncommon. By law, regulation, and traditional customs and courtesies across the military services, warrant officers serving in pay grade W-1 have the same privileges as commissioned officers (with certain exceptions grounded in the distinction required in the Constitution that all "officers of the United States" be commissioned,[26] which affects the command authority and specific standing of W-1's under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Manual for Courts-Martial).[27][28][29][30][31]
While cadets and midshipmen directly appointed by the President to four of the Federal Service Academies (U.S. Military Academy; U.S. Naval Academy; U.S. Air Force Academy; U.S. Coast Guard Academy) are members of the Regular Component of their Service,[3] serving on active duty, they hold neither a commission nor a warrant of appointment, nor do they hold an enlisted grade or rank.[32] U.S. statutes no longer include any pay grade for cadets or midshipmen;[1] as "inchoate officers"[33][34] appointed using the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution[35] as "inferior officers," they are recognized as having only a precedence below the most junior warrant officer, and above the enlisted grades, and almost entirely lack any authority over any other servicemembers (including other cadets and midshipmen) except for specific internal Academy functions, or very narrowly drawn training purposes while serving with their Service for leadership and skills development.[30]
Those appointed to attend the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (the fifth Federal Service Academy), by the Administrator of the Maritime Administration (within the Department of Transportation),[36][37] will also be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy directly as Midshipmen, U.S. Navy Reserve, without enlistment.[38] Additionally, the Service Secretaries will appoint the cadets or midshipmen of the Senior Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC),[39][40] but unlike the cadets and midshipmen of each Federal Service Academy, ROTC cadets and midshipmen are first enlisted into the reserve component of their respective service.[41][42][43][3][44][45] Cadets and midshipmen from both the USMMA and ROTC are appointed as "inchoate officers"[33][34] without a commission or warrant,[33] but unlike the other four Federal service academies, they are also appointed under Article II as "inferior officers" in their respective reserve component,[35] and only serve on active duty during authorized training events (typically the "Sea Year" for USMMA midshipmen,[17] or for ROTC during the summers between years of college).[4][45][42] They share the ill-defined precedence, and lack of statutory pay grade, of cadets and midshipmen of the Academies, and have even less apparent authority (since they are generally not in any official duty status) beyond their internal USMMA and ROTC requirements, although they—like the cadets and midshipmen serving in the Regular Component at the Federal Service Academies—have the innate potential to command troops in emergencies, and otherwise perform duties far beyond their academic environment, as required by competent authorities.[17][30][31][32][33][34][41]
The basic pay rate for both Academy and non-active duty ROTC cadets and midshipmen is $1,272.20, effective 1 January 2023, which is "the monthly rate equal to 35 percent of the basic pay of a commissioned officer in the pay grade O–1 with less than two years of service."[46][20][45]
NATO equivalents
The enlisted grades correspond with the NATOrank codes,[47] with E-1 being equivalent to OR-1, E-2 equivalent to OR-2, and so on. The officer grades are all one higher than their NATO equivalent (except O-1) as the O-1 and O-2 grades are both equivalent to the NATO code of OF-1. Hence O-3 is equivalent to OF-2, O-4 is equivalent to OF-3, and so on. U.S. warrant officer grades (W-1 through W-5) are depicted in the NATO system as WO-1 through WO-5. The United States is the only nation that has officers in this category.
Note: The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps consist entirely of commissioned officers and do not use any of the enlisted (or warrant officer) pay grades.
Schedule 8 - Pay of the Uniformed Services Part I--Monthly Basic Pay ($) (as of 1 January 2024)
[49][46]
^Applies to personnel who have served less than 4 months on active duty.
^Applies to personnel who have served 4 months or more on active duty.
^Basic pay for senior enlisted member (grade E-9) is $10,294.80 regardless of years of service while serving as:
Senior Enlisted Advisor of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Sergeant Major of the Army; Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy; Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force; Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps; Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force; Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard; or Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. If a member is placed on terminal leave pending retirement immediately following the completion of service as the senior enlisted member of a Military Department, the member is entitled to the higher senior enlisted pay $10,294.80 up to a maximum of 60 days. If a member is hospitalized, and during or immediately before such hospitalization, completed service as the senior enlisted member of that Military Department’s Armed Force, the member will continue to be entitled, for not more than 180 days while so hospitalized, to the rate of basic pay authorized for a senior enlisted member.
^ abcRates do not apply to commissioned officers who have been credited with over 4 years (i.e., at least 4 years and 1 day) of active duty service as an enlisted member or as a warrant officer or as both an enlisted member and a warrant officer.[1][19][20][21]
^Basic pay for O-6 and below is limited by Level V of the Executive Schedule in effect during Calendar Year 2024 which is $15,000.00.[20][46]
^ abBasic pay for an O-7 to O-10 is limited by Level II of the Executive Schedule in effect during Calendar Year 2024 which is $18,491.70 per month. This includes officers serving as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of Space Operations, Commandant of the Coast Guard, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, or commander of a unified or specified combatant command (as defined in 10 U.S.C. 161(c)).[20][46]
^For officers serving as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Chief of Space Operations, Commandant of the Coast Guard, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, or commander of a unified or specified combatant command (as defined in 10 U.S.C. 161(c)), basic pay for this grade (as of 2016, the latest year for which this information could be found [1]) was calculated to be $21,147.30 per month, regardless of cumulative years of service computed under 37 U.S.C. 205. Nevertheless, actual basic pay for these officers is limited to the rate of basic pay for level II of the Executive Schedule in effect during calendar year 2023, which is $17,675.10 per month.[20][46]
Schedule 8 - Pay of the Uniformed Services Part I--Monthly Basic Pay ($) (as of 1 January 2024)[46][20][49]
^Before the death of General of the ArmyOmar Bradley in 1981, the pay grade of O-11 was authorized.[5] Currently, O-10 is the highest authorized pay grade and pay grade O-11 appears nowhere in Title 10 of the US Code pertaining to authorized distribution of general/flag officers,[6] nor within various documents establishing rates of pay[3][1][7]
^ ab"Article 137 Briefing, Uniform Code of Military Justice". 11 November 2018. See especially Articles 7,9, 15, 25, 88-92, 133, 138, 139; and the distinctions between W-1 and commissioned officers/cadets/midshipmen concerning amenability to Article 15, Summary and Special Courts-Martial, and the distinctions between "dismissal" of commissioned officers/cadets/midshipmen and "dishonorable discharge" for W-1.
^"10 U.S. Code § 2107 - Financial assistance program for specially selected members". Retrieved 29 December 2021. The Secretary of the military department concerned may appoint as a cadet or midshipman, as appropriate, in the reserve of an armed force under his jurisdiction ... [who must] enlist in the reserve component of an armed force for the period prescribed by the Secretary of the military department concerned ...
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