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All commissioned officers (including a chief
[commissioned] warrant officer) hold a com-
mission granted by the President and signed by
the Secretary of the Navy.
OFFICERS’ GRADES AND TITLES
The following shows how naval officers’
grades correspond to those of the other services:
Navy
Admiral
Vice admiral
Rear admiral, upper half (UH)
Rear admiral, lower half (LH)
Captain
Commander
Lieutenant commander
Lieutenant
Lieutenant (junior grade)
Ensign
Chief warrant officer (W-4)
Chief warrant officer (W-3)
Chief warrant officer (W-2)
Army, Marine Corps,
Air Force
General
Lieutenant general
Major general
Brigadier general
Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Major
Captain
First lieutenant
Second lieutenant
Same as Navy*
Same as Navy*
Same as Navy*
*The U.S. Air Force does not have a chief warrant officer
rank.
Flag Officer
Officers of the grade of rear admiral and
above are known as flag officers. Flag officers
have the privilege of flying a personal flag on the
ship or station to which they are attached. The
number of stars decorating the flag indicates the
officer’s grade as follows:
Rear admiral (LH)
1 star
Rear admiral (UH)
2 stars
Vice admiral
3 stars
Admiral
4 stars
The personal flag of an officer of the line has
a blue field with white stars. The personal flag
of a staff corps officer has a white field with blue
stars.
Admiral
The title of admiral comes from the Arabic
amir-al-bahr, meaning ruler of the sea. The
Moorish also used the term emir as the title given
to the senior ranking officer in the Moorish army.
See figure 9-1 for a description of the term
admiral. The French and English used the title
long before the discovery of America, but the
grade was not established in the U.S. Navy until
1862 (along with commodore).
In 1944 Congress established the five-star
grade of fleet admiral (a comparable grade of
General of the Army). The first officers appointed
to this grade were Admirals William D. Leahy;
Ernest J. King; Chester W. Nimitz; and William
F. Halsey, Jr. Authority for the grade of fleet
admiral no longer exists (it expired with the death
of Admiral Nimitz in 1966). Its reestablishment
will require another act of Congress.
Commodore
Until 1862 all captains in the United
States Navy commanding or having com-
manded squadrons of ships were customarily
addressed as commodore, though never com-
missioned as such. Commodore became a
fixed grade in 1862 and then was abandoned
as a grade on the active list in 1899. In
1943 the grade of commodore was reestablished
for temporary service in time of war or national
emergency.
Line and Staff Corps Officers
Navy officers who are eligible to assume
command of ships (and stations) are designated
unrestricted line officers, being in the line of
command. Other officers serve as members of the
several staff corps or as specialists in various
fields.
9-2
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