Other ranks (UK)

Other ranks (ORs) in the Royal Marines, British Army, Royal Air Force and in the armies and air forces of many other Commonwealth countries are those personnel who are not commissioned officers, usually including non-commissioned officers (NCOs).[1][2] In the Royal Navy, these personnel are called "ratings"[3] rather than "other ranks". Non-commissioned member is the equivalent term for the Canadian Armed Forces. Colloquially, members of the other ranks are known as "rankers".

The term is often considered to exclude warrant officers, and occasionally also excludes NCOs. Formally, a regiment consists of the "officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men" or the "officers, warrant officers and other ranks".[4]

British India

In British India, a distinction was made between British other ranks (BORs) and Indian other ranks (IORs).[5][6]

Comparative ranks

NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
United Kingdom (Edit)																	No equivalent										No equivalent								No equivalent
	Warrant officer class 1						Warrant officer class 2 (phased out 2014)		Chief petty officer		Petty officer												Leading seaman						Able seaman
United Kingdom (Royal Marines) (Edit)																	No equivalent												No equivalent						No insignia
	Warrant officer class 1						Warrant officer class 2		Colour sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal				Lance corporal								Marine
NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
United Kingdom (Edit)																	No equivalent												No insignia
	Warrant officer class 1						Warrant officer class 2		Staff/Colour sergeant		Sergeant												Corporal				Lance corporal		Private (or equivalent)
NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
United Kingdom (Edit)							No equivalent										No equivalent																		No insignia
	Warrant officer								Flight sergeant	Chief technician	Sergeant												Corporal				Lance corporal RAF Regiment only		Senior aircraftman/ woman technician		Senior aircraftman/ woman		Leading aircraftman/ woman		Aircraftman/ woman
United Kingdom (Aircrew) (Edit)							No equivalent										No equivalent
	Master aircrew								Flight sergeant aircrew		Sergeant aircrew
NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1

See also

• Enlisted rank
• British Army other ranks rank insignia
• Royal Navy ratings rank insignia
• RAF other ranks

References

1. "PACMAN Chapter 3 Part 1 Part B Division 5: Salary (Other Ranks)". Defence.gov.au. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
2. Berman, Gavin; Rutherford, Tom (19 September 2013). "Defence personnel statistics (SN/SG/02183)" (PDF). House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
3. Royal Navy. "Life as a Rating". Royal Navy. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
4. Roll of Honour of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment
5. Valerie Anderson, Race and Power in British India: Anglo-Indians, Class and Identity in the Nineteenth Century, 2015
6. Paul Knight, The British Army in Mesopotamia, 1914–1918, 2013