Pay grades are used by the uniformed services of the United States to determine wages and benefits based on the corresponding military rank of a member of the services. While different titles or ranks may be used among the seven uniformed services, pay grades are uniform and equivalent between the services and can be used to quickly determine seniority among a group of members from different services. They are also essential when determining a member's entitlements such as basic pay and allowances.
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Pay grades are divided into three groups: 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-11. Not all of the uniformed services use all of the grades; for example, the Navy and Coast Guard (USCG) do not use the grade W-1 (the USCG also does not use W-5), and the Air Force (USAF) discontinued appointing new warrant officers in 1959 (although the last USAF warrant officer did not retire until 1992).
Currently, neither the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration nor the Public Health Service (USPHS) use any of the enlisted or warrant officer grades. However, in October 2004 the USPHS initiated "a program to establish a cadre of Warrant Officers to support the long-established Commissioned Corps of the PHS." (As of 2/1/2014 the program was still in development.) Additionally, while not one of the seven uniformed services, the Maritime Service, (which provides officers serving in the Maritime Administration and as administrators and instructors at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and the six state-operated maritime academies) is also authorized, but does currently employ, enlisted or warrant officer grades.
Officers in pay grades O-1, O-2, and O-3 with more than four years of prior cumulative service in an enlisted or warrant officer grade are paid increased wages using the special pay grades of O-1E, O-2E, and O-3E, respectively. This benefit does not affect their rank and is used simply for reward and incentive purposes in recognition of their prior enlisted experience.
For pay tables and information on specific pay grade wages and entitlements for members of the uniformed services, see United States military pay.
Equivalent grades in NATO armed forces
The enlisted grades correspond with the NATO rank codes, 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.
Enlisted pay grades
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 pay grades.