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Commander)
- For the rank structure of the Original Series, see Military Ranks (TOS)
Rank table
This table is largely based on an older blog entry by Ronald D. Moore, in which he replies to a question about the show's rank structure (see Official Statements below). It has been expanded a little to include additional ranks that have been established since then (lieutenant colonel, rear admiral) and ones they may likely exist as well (vice admiral, senior chief petty officer). Speculative ranks are marked with "(s)".
The ranks are a mix of naval and army/air force ranks, which is derived from the Original Series, but mirror naval practices in execution. It is possible to create a rough equivalence to real world armed forces. However, while the Colonial Fleet has many parallels with modern armed forces it is a fictional organization and diverges from reality in certain places, for example in the duties of commanders and admirals, or the place of the CAG within the ship's hierarchy.
The officer ranks of the Colonial Marine Corps of have yet to be established on screen (with the exception of lieutenant) or by official sources and thus are not listed here. The Marine Corps's enlisted ranks seen so far mirror real world ranks.
| Admiral [1] |
| Nagala, Corman
|
| Vice Admiral (s) [2] |
|
|
| Rear Admiral [3]
|
| Helena Cain, William Adama (Season 2.5+) |
|
| Commander |
| William Adama (Miniseries-Season 2.5), Barry Garner (Season 2.5), Jack Fisk (Season 2.5), Lee Adama (Season 2.5-Season 3.0)
|
| Colonel |
| Saul Tigh, Jurgen Belzen, Jack Fisk
|
| Lieutenant Colonel [4] |
| Jack Fisk (Razor)
|
| Major |
| Jackson Spencer, Doctor Cottle, Kendra Shaw, Lee Adama (Season 3+)
|
| Captain |
| Lee Adama (Miniseries-Season 2.5), Kara Thrace (Season 2.5+), Aaron Kelly, Karl Agathon (Season 3+)
|
| (Senior) Lieutenant |
| Kara Thrace (Miniseries-Season 2.5), Karl Agathon (Miniseries-Season 2)[5], Terry Burrell[6] (CMC)
|
| Junior Lieutenant [7] |
| Sharon Valerii, Felix Gaeta, Louanne Katraine (Season 1-2), Anastasia Dualla (Season 2+)
|
| Ensign |
| Davis, Diana Seelix (Season 3+), Samuel Anders (Season 4)
|
| Master Chief Petty Officer | Sergeant Major
| Socrata Thrace (CMC, retired)
|
| Senior Chief Petty Officer (s) [8] | Master Sergeant (s)
|
|
| Chief Petty Officer | Gunnery Sergeant
| Galen Tyrol (Miniseries-Season 4), Erin Mathias (CMC), Peter Laird
|
| Petty Officer 1st Class | Staff Sergeant
| Hadrian (CMC) [9]
|
| Petty Officer 2nd Class | Sergeant
| Anastasia Dualla (Miniseries-Season 2), Cally Henderson (Season 3-4)
|
| Specialist [10] | Corporal
| Cally Henderson (Miniseries-Season 3), Socinus, Prosna, Venner (CMC)
|
| Deckhand | Private First Class
| Scott Kelso (CMC)
|
| Recruit [11] | Private
| Sykes (CMC), Stewart Jaffee (CMC)
|
Insignia
| 
| 
| 
| 
|
| Admiral [1]
| Rear Admiral [3]
| Commander
| Colonel
| Lieutenant Colonel [4]
|
| 
| 
| 
|
|
| Major
| Captain
| (Senior) Lieutenant
| Junior Lieutenant/
Ensign[12]
|
| 
| 
|
|
| Chief Petty Officer
| Petty Officer 1st Class [9]
| Petty Officer 2nd Class
|
|
| 
|
|
|
| Specialist
| Deckhand (CF)/
Private First Class (CMC)
|
|
|
These pictures were created by Jim Stevenson a.k.a. "137th Gebirg".
Insignia for the other ranks have yet to be shown on screen and thus aren't listed here.
Senior officers' ranks can also be identified by the color of the piping on their uniforms.
Additional Images
Commander rank pin in detail
|
Chief Petty Officer pin in detail
|
Official Statements
- In a blog entry on February 19, 2005 Ronald Moore gave a little insight into the rank structure of Battlestar Galactica:
"What is the rank structure? It doesn't seem consistant [sic] with the Navy."
The rank structure is derived from the original series. I didn't want to change Commander Adama to Captain Adama or Colonel Tigh to Commander Tigh, so I elected to simply embrace the co-mingled nature of the original rank structure. For our internal purposes, we've decided that the ranks are indeed a mixture of naval and army nomenclature and are basically as follows:
Officers:
- Admiral
- Commander
- Colonel
- Major
- Captain
- Lieutenant
- Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Ensign
Enlisted:
- Master Chief Petty Officer
- Chief Petty Officer
- Petty Officer (1st, 2nd Class)
- Specialist
- Deck Hand
- Recruit
Just to complicate matters further, there are also Marines aboard Galactica which conform more closely to the traditional enlisted Marine ranks, with Sergeants, Sergeant-Majors (sic), etc. Unresolved is the question of whether the Marine officers would also adhere to the mixed rank structure (which sounds odd) or if they are strictly army equivalents (which makes no sense given that the "Navy" ranks seem oblivious to there being any such distinction). Aren't you glad you asked?
See Also
External Links
A detailed analysis of Battlestar Galactica's uniform devices by Jim Stevenson. Also the source for this article's images.
References
