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| - Following is a list of Common Ranks in some of the world's prominent existing and historical military forces: USA (Yanks With Tanks), UK (Brits With Battleships), USSR/Russia (Reds with Rockets and Russians With Rusting Rockets, respectively), Imperial Japan, and the Third Reich (Nazis With Gnarly Weapons). The Imperial Japan military (Katanas of the Rising Sun) is included instead of JSDF (Kaiju Defense Force) because the imperial ranks are far more common in Anime than JSDF ones, so that's what you are probably looking for, anyway. See also certain Useful Notes pages for historical armies to find uncommon ranks that were used in them, such as Russians With Rifles.
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| abstract
| - Following is a list of Common Ranks in some of the world's prominent existing and historical military forces: USA (Yanks With Tanks), UK (Brits With Battleships), USSR/Russia (Reds with Rockets and Russians With Rusting Rockets, respectively), Imperial Japan, and the Third Reich (Nazis With Gnarly Weapons). The Imperial Japan military (Katanas of the Rising Sun) is included instead of JSDF (Kaiju Defense Force) because the imperial ranks are far more common in Anime than JSDF ones, so that's what you are probably looking for, anyway. See also certain Useful Notes pages for historical armies to find uncommon ranks that were used in them, such as Russians With Rifles. See also Common Military Units. For when someone is promoted on show, see Rank Up. For the sake of easier comparison, the NATO rank scale is used, so several disclaimers should be made:
* Note that US and UK are the only members of NATO on the list. Moreover, NATO was formed in 1949, whereas Imperial Japanese and the Third Reich's armies were disbanded in 1945 (though the modern Bundeswehr did inherit all Wehrmacht's ranks up to OF-9, save for those of the disbanded Waffen-SS). Additionally, the Schutzstaffel rank ladder was shuffled multiple times before 1934, and this list refers to its final version.
* Both Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union also had the rank of Generalissimus, which is largely off the NATO scale and was awarded just six times in history. Russian Federation has inherited its complete rank ladder from the Soviet Union (except the Marshal of the Soviet Union, which was obviously renamed).
* Also note that the ranks for Reds with Rockets as listed here were estabilished in 1940s (non-general officer ranks were in late 1930s). Before that, the Red Army used position names (e.g. brigade commander, regiment commander) instead of ranks. Rudiments of this system existed during WWII in ranks such as "regiment commissar" or "division military lawyer".
* Ranks above OF-9 (four star general) have never been awarded in peacetime in the USA.
* The list also doesn't contain the Commander-in-Chief of the entire national military. The CIC may not hold any military rank at all (e.g. a democratically elected president) but still be on top of the entire chain of military command.
* Due to reductions in numbers of squadrons, in the UK a Squadron is usually commanded by a Wing Commander today.
* Warships of destroyer size or smaller tend to be commanded by officers of OF-4 rank (i.e. Commanders), but The Captain (aka The Skipper) is always The Captain while aboard ship, regardless of their actual rank. (Likewise, if any member of the Army/Marine Corps/etc. is on board who's actually holding the rank of Captain, he is addressed as "Major" to avoid confusion.) Those of cruiser size or greater have OF-5s in charge, so you have a Captain for a Ticonderoga-class cruiser and a Commander for an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. A few notes about the notation: the army ranks are written in green; navy ranks, in (duh) navy blue; marines, in blue (if none given, the navy equivalent is used for marines, except in the USMC that uses Army ranks for its officers instead); and air force, in gray (if none given, the army equivalent is used). Schutzstaffel is a special case, so it's just black, whereas universal ranks not attached to a particular service are maroon.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)