U.S. Army enlisted rank insignia

This chart represents the U.S. Army enlisted rank insignia with seniority increasing left-to-right inside a given pay grade. All ranks of Corporal or Sergeant and higher are considered non-commissioned officers (NCOs).

The rank of Specialist is a soldier of paygrade E-4 who has not yet attained non-commissioned officer status. It is common that a soldier may never be a Corporal and will move directly from Specialist to Sergeant, attaining NCO status immediately.

In each command of company sized units and smaller, there is assigned a senior enlisted who is monitor and advocate of the Enlisted Personnel to the commanding officer. This position, usually Master Sergeant (E-8) or higher rank, carries the title of First Sergeant. In units larger than a company, a Command Sergeant Major serves this same function.