Military Ranks (RDM)

Ranks

Rank Pay Grade	BSG Military Rankings	U.S. Navy Equivalent	U.S. Army / Air Force Equivalent	BSG Examples
FLAG OFFICERS
[O-11]	Fleet Admiral	Fleet Admiral	General of the Army/Air Force (5 Star)	Nagala (see Note #2)
[O-10]	Admiral	Admiral	General (4 Star)	Nagala (see Note #2),
[O-9]	Vice Admiral	Vice Admiral	Lieutenant General (3 Star)
[O-8]	Rear Admiral	Rear Admiral(Upper Half)	Major General (2 Star)	Nelena Cain (see Note #8)
[O-7]	Commander	Rear Admiral(Lower Half) (formerly Commodore)	Brigadier General (1 Star)	William Adama (see Note #3)
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
[O-6]	Colonel	Captain	Colonel	(Saul Tigh) (see Note #4)
[O-5]	Major	Commander	Lieutenant Colonel	Dr. Cottle (see Note #5)
[O-4]	Captain	Lieutenant Commander	Major	Lee Adama, Kelly (see Note #5)
[O-3]	Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Felix Gaeta, Kara Thrace
[O-2]	Junior Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade	Lieutenant Junior Grade	First Lieutenant	Karl C. Agathon, Sharon Valerii
[O-1]	Ensign	Ensign	Second Lieutenant	Davis
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
[E-9]	Master Chief Petty Officer (Fleet); Sergeant Major (Marines)	Master Chief Petty Officer	Sergeant Major / Chief Master Sergeant
[E-8]	Senior Chief Petty Officer (Fleet); Senior Master Sergeant (Marines)	Senior Chief Petty Officer	Master Sergeant / Senior Master Sergeant
[E-7]	Chief Petty Officer (Fleet); Master Sergeant (Marines)	Chief Petty Officer	Sergeant (1st Class) / Master Sergeant	Galen Tyrol, Sergeant Hadrian (See Note #6)
[E-6]	Petty Officer 1st Class (Fleet); Staff Sergeant (Marines)	Petty Officer 1st Class	Staff Sergeant / Technical Sergeant
[E-5]	Petty Officer 2nd Class (Fleet); Sergeant (Marines)	Petty Officer 2nd Class	Sergeant / Staff Sergeant	Anastasia Dualla
[E-4]	Petty Officer 3rd Class (Fleet); Corporal (Marines)	Petty Officer 3rd Class	Corporal / Senior Airman	Venner, Cally (assumed)
ENLISTED PERSONAL
[E-3]	Crewman (Fleet); Private 1st Class (Marines)	Seaman	Private 1st Class / Airman 1st Class	Socinus (assumed)
[E-2]	Crewman Apprentice (Fleet); Private 2nd Class (Marines)	Seaman Apprentice	Private E2 / Airman	Prosna (assumed)
[E-1]	Crewman Recruit (Fleet); Private Recruit (Marines)	Seaman Recruit	Private / Airman Basic

Insignia

OFFICERS
Admiral	Commander	Colonel	Major
File:Admiralpip sm.jpg	File:Commanderpip sm.jpg	File:Colonelpip sm.jpg	File:Majorpip sm.jpg
Captain	Lieutenant	Lieutenant JG	Ensign
File:Captainpip sm.jpg	File:Lieutentantpip sm.jpg	File:Ltjuniorpip sm.jpg	File:Ensignpip sm.jpg
Enlisted
Master Chief	Chief Petty Officer	Petty Officer
File:Masterpopip sm.jpg	File:Chiefpopip sm.JPG	File:Pettyofficerpip sm.jpg
Specialist	Deckhand	Recruit
File:Specialistpip sm.jpg	File:Deckhandpip sm.jpg	File:Recruitpip sm.jpg

Notes

1. 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 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, 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?

The images of the ranks were drawn by Kevin Houghton and are based on Ronald Moore's list. The ones that I have seen and/or have photos of are admiral, commander, colonel, captain, lieutenant, chief petty officer, petty officer, and specialist. The rest are conjecture based on a somewhat logical progression of the different ranks as seen, and how most military ranks progress.

See Also

• Military Ranks (TOS) - Ranks from the original series.