NATO military rank codes

NATO military ranks use a standardized system of codes (OF for officers, OR for other ranks) to allow for comparison between member nations, though the specific names for each rank vary by country.

Rank codes

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 indicated correspondence with nations ranks. NATO's standardized reference system is intended to be used "by nations when preparing personnel tables, requisitions, reports and returns destined for NATO nations, organizations and commands."

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".

The NATO rank reference code categories were established in STANAG 2116 (formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel). It is known for certain that STANAG 2116 was ratified by Denmark on 19 January 1971 and that the 3rd edition of STANAG 2116 was adopted no later than October 1975. The current- 7th - edition is just the cover, and the core of the standard is in set out in APersP-01 Ed. A.

Officers codes

OF-10 – OF-1 (highest to lowest rank code) are used for commissioned officers:

OF-10 – OF-6: General officers

OF-5 – OF-3: Senior officers

OF-2 – OF-1: Junior officers

According to the standard, OF-10 is a national title, so it is not found in most of the armed forces of NATO countries, including the US Armed Forces. For example, in the French Armed Forces OF-10 is not a rank but a title, which corresponds moreover to a high position in the state. There is no OF-10 in the British Royal Marines; in the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, rank OF-10 is applicable in wartime only. The armed forces of Albania, Latvia and Luxembourg also lack the OF-9 rank.