Sharing Information About Australia
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AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
Military Rank Equivalents
Military rank (or rank) is a system of listing the seniority and command (degree of decision-making responsibility) within military organizations. The following are rank equivalents in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) three service branches: Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
Commissioned Officers
| AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | NAVY (RAN) | |||
| Marshal of the RAAF | MRAAF | Field Marshal | FM | Admiral of the Fleet | AF |
| Air Chief Marshal | ACM | General | GEN | Admiral | ADML |
| Air Marshal | AIRMSHL | Lieutenant General | LTGEN | Vice Admiral | VADM |
| Air Vice-Marshal | AVM | Major General | MAJGEN | Rear Admiral | RADM |
| Air Commodore | AIRCDRE | Brigadier | BRIG | Commodore | CDRE |
| Group Captain | GPCAPT | Colonel | COL | Captain | CAPT |
| Wing Commander | WGCDR | Lieutenant Colonel | LTCOL | Commander | CMDR |
| Squadron Leader | SQNLDR | Major | MAJ | Lieutenant Commander | LCDR |
| Flight Lieutenant | FLTLT | Captain | CAPT | Lieutenant | LEUT |
| Flying Officer | FLGOFF | Lieutenant | LT | Sub Lieutenant | SBLT |
| Pilot Officer | PLTOFF | 2nd Lieutenant | 2LT | ... | |
| ... | ... | Midshipman | MIDN | ||
Note: Lieutenant is pronounced "Left-tenant"
Warrant Officers
| AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | NAVY (RAN) | |||
| Warrant Officer | WOFF | Warrant Officer Class One | WO1 | Warrant Officer | WO |
| ... | Warrant Officer Class Two | WO2 | ... | ||
Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs)
| AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | NAVY (RAN) | |||
| Flight Sergeant | FSGT | ... | Chief Petty Officer | CPO | |
| ... | Staff Sergeant | SSGT | ... | ||
| Sergeant | SGT | Sergeant | SGT | Petty Officer | PO |
| Corporal | CPL | Corporal Bombardier |
CPL LBDR |
Leading Seaman | LS |
| ... | Lance Corporal Lance Bombardier |
LCPL LBDR |
... | ||
Other Ranks
| AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | NAVY (RAN) | |||||||||||||||||
| Leading Aircraftman Leading Aircraftwoman |
LAC LAC W |
... | Able Seaman | AB | |||||||||||||||
| Aircraftman Aircraftwoman |
AC AC W |
|
Seaman | SMN | |||||||||||||||
Other Information
The term "Australian Defence Force" is singular and is the only correct term that should be used. "Australian Defence Forces" with an "s" is wrong. The following terms are also wrong and should not be used: "armed services" and "armed forces".
"Australian Army" is the correct title that should be used, NOT the "Royal Australian Army".
More Information
- Australian Military links on our website
- Victoria Cross and Australia's Victoria Cross Recipients on our website
- Australian Army Website How to correctly write ranks and abbreviations
- Defence Service Records at the National Archives government website
- Department of Defence Personnel Portal
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