United States military ranks

United States military insignia is that insignia which was used by the United States armed forces to display rank.

General rank	insignia example	historical examples
4 star general	File:US o-10 rank pin.png	General Norman Schwarzkopf, US Army
3 star general	File:US o-9 rank pin.png	Lt. General Rex Denning, US Army Air Corps

One and two star generals have never been seen on screen, but their existence is implied by the appearance of three and four star generals. Two additional ranks, "General of the Army" (five star) and "General of the Armies" (six star), have been held by Douglas MacArthur and George Washington respectively, but the insignia for these ranks has never been seen or discussed.

Officer rank	insignia example	historical examples
colonel	File:US o-6 rank pin.png	Stephen G. Richey, US Air Force
lieutenant colonel or commander	File:US o-5 sleeve.png	Commander Rogerson, US Navy
	File:US o-5 rank pin.png	Lieutenant Colonel Fellini, US Air Force
major	File:US o-4 rank pin.png	US Army Air Corps major, 1947
captain or lieutenant	File:US o-3 rank pin.png	Captain John Christopher, US Air Force
	File:LTstripes.png	Cetacean Institute tourist
first lieutenant	File:US o-2 rank pin.png	US Marine Corps lieutenant, USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

The United States officer ranks of second lieutenant, ensign, lieutenant j.g., lieutenant commander, and the rank of naval captain have never been seen or discussed in Star Trek, hence their omission from the above table.

Enlisted rank	insignia example	historical examples
first sergeant	File:USMC-1st-sgt.png	Marine Corps Security Commander, USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
master sergeant	File:US Master sergeant.png	---
staff sergeant	File:USAF staff sergeant.png	Air Police Sergeant, US 498th Airbase Group, Omaha, Nebraska
sergeant	File:Police sergeant.png	---
petty officer	File:PettyOfficer.png	Navy Electronics Technician
corporal	File:USCorporal.png	San Francisco tourist
private	–	–
airman	–	Security policeman, US 498th Airbase Group, Omaha, Nebraska

The above United States armed forces insignia have appeared in various Star Trek productions including TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday", TOS: "Miri", Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, DS9: "Little Green Men", VOY: "The Killing Game, Part II", and ENT: "Storm Front, Part II".

This chart shows only general equivalencies based on the ranks used by many governments on Earth, as well as the rest of the galaxy.