ANATO standard grade scale is used by theNATO and its partners for the purpose of comparingmilitary ranks across themember nations militaries, as well as for a number of administrative tasks.

NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" which is also known as a "standardized reference system" in an attempt to standardize NATO codes of rank for military personnel and indicated correspondence with nations ranks. NATO's standardized reference system is intended to be used "by nations when preparing personnel tables, requisitions, reports and returns destined for NATO nations, organizations and commands."^[1]

The NATO codes assigned for each grade are based on the agreed corresponding army grades with the naval and air forces grades determined from them by "national regulations".^[1]

The NATO rank reference code categories were established inSTANAG 2116 (formally titledNATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel). It is known for certain that STANAG 2116 was ratified by Denmark on 19 January 1971 and that the 3rd edition of STANAG 2116 was adopted no later than October 1975.^[2] The current- 7th - edition is just the cover, and the core of the standard is in set out in APersP-01 Ed. A.^[3]

OF-10 – OF-1 (highest to lowest rank code) are used forcommissioned officers:^[1]

• OF-10 – OF-6:General officers
• OF-5 – OF-3:Senior officers
• OF-2 – OF-1:Junior officers

According to the standard, OF-10 is a national title,^[a] so it is not found in most of the armed forces of NATO countries, including theUS Armed Forces.^[b] For example, in theFrench Armed Forces OF-10 is not a rank but a title, which corresponds moreover to a high position in the state.^[6] There is no OF-10 in the BritishRoyal Marines,^[c] in theBritish Army,Royal Navy andRoyal Air Force rank OF-10 applicable in wartime only.^[7] The armed forces ofAlbania,Latvia,Lithuania andLuxembourg also lack the OF-9 rank.

In the Latvian Armed Forces the officer rank Lieutenant is identified by the Code OF-0.^[8]

OR-9 – OR-1 (highest to lowest rank code) are used for other ranks (enlisted ranks andnon-commissioned officers (NCO)):^[1]

• OR-9 – OR-5: Non-commissioned officers
• OR-4 – OR-1: Other ranks/enlisted ranks

For NATO purposes, NCOs are ranked OR-5 to OR-9.^[1] However, national rank structures might differentiate from this.

In theU.S. armed forces,warrant officer is a separate and distinct category of officers. This officer rank and precedence is below those of officer personnel, but above that of non-officer personnel, and has a special group of codes (W-1 – W-5).^[9] In the Commonwealth tradition (for NATO theBritish Armed Forces andCanadian Armed Forces)warrant officers are the highest other ranks.^[10]

In the British Armed Forces senior non-commissioned officers (e.g. sergeants) are in OR-5 to OR-7 and junior non-commissioned officers (eg corporals) are in OR-3 and OR-4.^[11] In the U.S. military OR-5 and above are non-commissioned officers for the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force but in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy (both parts of the Department of the Navy), OR-4 and above are non-commissioned officers.^[12]

The numbers in the system broadly correspond to theU.S. uniformed services pay grades, with OR-x replacing E-x. The main difference is in the commissioned officer ranks, where the US system recognizes two grades at OF-1 level (O-1 and O-2), meaning that all O-x numbers after O-1 are one point higher on the US scale than they are on the NATO scale (e.g. amajor is OF-3 on the NATO scale and O-4 on the US scale). For warrant officers, NATO codes andU.S. uniformed services pay grades are equivalent.^[13]

Annex B to APP-06 (related to STANAG 2019^[14]) standard lists 11 formation/unit groups (13 in U.S. Armed Forces from 0 to 12) and identifies the command level of some of them:^[15]

The Bilateral Strategic Command Directive 040-002 "NATO Non-Commissioned Officer and Junior Officer Bi-Strategic Command Employment and Development Strategy" (19 December 2023), based on the NATO Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) and Junior Officer (JO) Bi-SC Strategy and NCO Guidelines^[19] describes the NATO rank indicators for NCOs:^[20]

• OR-1 — OR-3: "These are the basic entry ranks into the military structure."
• OR-4: "The first level of leadership within the NATO NCO ranks."
• OR-5: "The OR-5 is the first NATO designated NCO grade and the level of leadership with the greatest impact on subordinate ranks."
• OR-6: "This is the first grade at which OR should be considered for Staff NCO duties at NATO higher headquarters employment. As such some NATO nations may recognize OR-6 through OR-9 as Senior NCOs (SNCO) or Warrant Officers (WO)."
• OR-7: "The OR-7 is empowered and considered a key element within the command structure. At this level, SNCOs are expected to be able to provide sound advice to their leadership. While no formal mandate exists, this is the level at which, when consistent with their national authorities, SNCOs start to provide mentorship/assistance for Junior Officers (OF-1/OF-2)."
• OR-8: "Uses enhanced leadership skills and broad operational experience to advise unit/element leaders and commanders on organizational effectiveness. OR-8s are expected to merge subordinates talents, skills, and resources with other NATO cross functional team(s) and organization(s) to implement planning and management processes for collective mission accomplishment."
• OR-9: "The most experienced SNCO within the NATO NCO structure. This grade is normally utilized in an advisory capacity when assigned to a higher headquarters."

Based on the intentions ofBosnia and Herzegovina andUkraine to join NATO, NATO codes for military ranks have been officially introduced in these countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a corresponding law in 2005.^[21] In Ukraine, the introduction of NATO codes for military ranks took place during 2019-2021, including::

Some European NATO partners such asAustria^[30] andIreland^[31][32] describe their ranks in terms of NATO rank codes for comparison with NATO forces.Finland andSweden also had a conversion table to NATO standards prior tobecoming a NATO member.^[33]

General officer grades are usually defined by the number of stars they ‘wear’. In the third edition of the STANAG 2116, OF-6 to OF-10 were described as "to be used for one to five star ranks or equivalents respectively".^[34] In the fourth through sixth editions of the standard, the term 'four star' was used for the OF-9 of theItalian andPortuguese armed forces.^[35] APersP-01 Ed. A clarified that in theFrench forces the OF-9 "is the highest rank in the hierarchy … therefore, carry the 4 stars and 5 stars rank marks".^[7]

• Ranks and insignia of NATO member army officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member army enlisted
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member air force enlisted
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member navy officers
• Ranks and insignia of NATO member navy enlisted

• Air officer
• Comparative military ranks
• Flag officer

• Military ranks of NATO

• CS1 Ukrainian-language sources (uk)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• CS1 Bosnian-language sources (bs)
• CS1 Finnish-language sources (fi)