My experience is based on the army. Nonetheless, with respect to rank in the military, everyone who serves is either officer or military. Warrent Officers are officers too.
Family members such as parents, husbands or wives tend to know whether their uniformed loved one is enlisted or officer. But many times civilian friends just don’t know. If their uniformed friend was going to college they may believe that their friend is an officer. College alone isn’t enough information to go on to know if a uniformed member is officer or enlisted.
Although it is true that recruitment policies being used have been undergoing changes such as whether specific branches, Army, Navy, or Marines or Air Force are allowing non high school graduates to join, or whether those with specific arrests on their records are being given waivers to join, the fact is that both officers and enlisted have many highly educated people within their ranks.
Generally if someone joins the military after high school, or starts signing up while a senior in high school they are going to be enlisted when they get in. Enlisted rank begins as privates in the Army and Marines. The pay grade for beginner privates is E-1 but the title is private. The navy uses enlisted rates, not enlisted rank. A beginner who joins the Navy and is in the pay category of E-1 is an SR, Seaman Recruit. There is an old Army saying that “when I say he, I mean everybody.” There is no seperate terminology for a Seawoman Recruit. A woman who joins and is in the pay of E-1 is a Seaman Recruit. Lkewise, a newbee who joins the Air Force and is in the pay of E-1 is a AB or Airman Basic. It doesn’t matter whether the new recruit is male or female. There is no seperate word for a female Airman Basic. I would like to add into this a pretty good list of enlisted pay grades and the titles that go with it.
Officers: In addition to completing specific education requirements, Officers also have to complete specific background checks, and some type of formal education such as an ROTC program or an Officer Basics Course (Army) and they have to recieve a formal document from the US Congress that is their Commission.
Non-Commissioned Officers: In the Army, enlisted soldiers who have stripes, Corporals (E-4), Sergeants (E-5), Staff Sergeants (E-6), Sergeants First Class (E-7) , First Sergeants or Master Sergeants (E-8) and Command Sergeant Majors (E-9) are also Non-Commissioned Officers. All of these various pay grades of sergeants are usually used in some type of duty position where they have some or a great deal of supervisory responsibilities. They lead, they train, they direct, they make it happen; whatever IT is. They get their orders or briefings from higher ranking sergeants or from the officers. Non-Commissioned Officers are frequently referred to verbally as NCO’s or non-coms. NCO is pronounced as 3 seperate letters, N-C-O.
In the Army there is one person in the pay grade of E-10. This is the Sergeant Major of the Army. The Sergeant Major of the Army is the highest ranking NCO and usually has a duty assignment at the Pentagon. Among other taskings the Sergeant Major of the Army is sopposed to represent enlisted affairs at the highest levels so that enlisted needs or concerns do not get overlooked by officers who may have never had their boots on the ground. The Sergeant Major of the Army has a lifetime of accomplishment and is the boots on the ground representative. I have never met a Sergeant Major of the Army but my definition is based on what I remember my drill sergeants told me.
