The Australian Government has a number of military ranks and these are used across the military forces that it supports. The following table shows some equivalencies between the different ranks used by this government.
Military rank (or rank) is a system of listing the seniority and command (degree of decision-making responsibility) within military organizations. The following are rank equivalents in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) three service branches: Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
Commissioned Officers
AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | Navy (RAN) | |||
Marshal of the RAAF | MRAAF | Field Marshal | FM | Admiral of the Fleet | AF |
Air Chief Marshal | ACM | General | GEN | Admiral | ADML |
Air Marshal | AIRMSHL | Lieutenant General | LTGEN | Vice Admiral | VADM |
Air Vice-Marshal | AVM | Major General | MAJGEN | Rear Admiral | RADM |
Air Commodore | AIRCDRE | Brigadier | BRIG | Commodore | CDRE |
Group Captain | GPCAPT | Colonel | COL | Captain | CAPT |
Wing Commander | WGCDR | Lieutenant Colonel | LTCOL | Commander | CMDR |
Squadron Leader | SQNLDR | Major | MAJ | Lieutenant Commander | LCDR |
Flight Lieutenant | FLTLT | Captain | CAPT | Lieutenant | LEUT |
Flying Officer | FLGOFF | Lieutenant | LT | Sub Lieutenant | SBLT |
Pilot Officer | PLTOFF | 2nd Lieutenant | 2LT | … | |
… | … | Midshipman | MIDN |
Note: Lieutenant is pronounced “Left-tenant”
Warrant Officers
AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | NAVY (RAN) | |||
Warrant Officer | WOFF | Warrant Officer Class One | WO1 | Warrant Officer | WO |
see note | Warrant Officer Class Two | WO2 | see note |
NOTE: The Army rank of Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) is equivalent to both
the RAN rank of Chief Petty Officer (CPO) and the RAAF rank of Flight Sergeant (FSGT).
Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs)
AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | NAVY (RAN) | |||
Flight Sergeant | FSGT | see note | Chief Petty Officer | CPO | |
… | Staff Sergeant | SSGT | … | ||
Sergeant | SGT | Sergeant | SGT | Petty Officer | PO |
Corporal | CPL | Corporal Bombardier | CPL LBDR | Leading Seaman | LS |
… | Lance Corporal Lance Bombardier | LCPL LBDR | … |
Other Ranks
AIR FORCE (RAAF) | ARMY | NAVY (RAN) | ||
Leading Aircraftman Leading Aircraftwoman | LAC LAC W | … | Able Seaman | AB |
Aircraftman Aircraftwoman | AC AC W | Private PTE Bandsman Craftsman CFN Gunner GNR Sapper SPR Signaller SIG Trooper TPR | Seaman | SMN |
Other Information
An enlistee in the RAAF is referred to as an Aircraftman / Aircraftwoman Recruit (ACR / ACWR) and remains as such until graduation from basic training (1RTU). On completion of basic training, the graduate is reclassified to the rank of Aircraftman / Aircraftwoman (AC/ACW).
The term “Australian Defence Force” is singular and is the only correct term that should be used. “Australian Defence Forces” with an “s” is wrong. The following terms are also wrong and should not be used: “armed services” and “armed forces”.
“Australian Army” is the correct title that should be used, NOT the “Royal Australian Army”.
More Information
- Australian Military links on our website
- Victoria Cross and Australia’s Victoria Cross Recipients on our website
- Australian Army Website How to correctly write ranks and abbreviations
- Defence Service Records at the National Archives government website
- Department of Defence Personnel Portal