Australian Military Ranks

Navy Army Airforce | Commissioned Officers, Rank and File

Australian Defence Force ranks are divided into four bands: Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Rank and File.

Take care when using the word ‘Officer’. Officers hold a commission; Warrant Officers, Sergeants and Corporals do not. It is not accurate to shorten ‘Warrant Officer’ or ‘Petty Officer’ to ‘officer’.  

Stars apply across all three services Navy, Army and Air Force. Defining senior officers by stars (as in, ‘He/She is a Four-Star General’) is common practice in the United States. Recently, the convention has been adopted in Australia but is not reflected on uniform: Australian commissioned officers do not wear stars as indicators of rank.

It is important to refer to ranks correctly. Do not guess or assume that you know – making a mistake can cause offence also note that some Defence Personnel prefer to keep their rank confidential.
 
Lieutenant is pronounced Left-tenant (lef'tenuhnt) when referring to the Australian Army or Air Force. In the Australian Navy, it is pronounced le’tenunt or luh'tenuhnt, with less emphasis on ‘looh’ as in looh'tenuhnt (standard pronunciation in the United States).

Australian Defence Force Ranks

Serving Queen and Country

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) comes under the direction of the Minister for Defence. Important decisions regarding the ADF are approved by the Federal Cabinet. The Defence Minister gives his orders to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).

The  ADF did not exist before 1976. From World War I to Vietnam, the three Australian Services – the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force – tended to operate separately. After the Vietnam War, it was decided that Australia needed a single defence force. In 1973, the Navy, Army and Air Departments (which had existed since 1939 with their own ministers) were abolished and absorbed into the Department of Defence. The ADF was established in 1976.

Australian service people serve the nation. They normally have the word ‘Australia’ sewn on the shoulders of their uniforms. Because Australia is a monarchy, they also serve the Queen: her representative in Australia – the Governor General – is the Commander-in-Chief of the ADF.

For this reason, parts of the ADF usually have the word ‘Royal’ in their title. Ships in the Royal Australian Navy have the title Her Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS).

The Governor General cannot issue orders directly to the ADF. It receives its orders from the Australian government.

Royal Australian Navy

Following British tradition, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is called the senior service and is always listed first. The role of the navy is to protect Australia by patrolling the seas and fighting naval battles if necessary. Australian ships might also be sent to work with Allied navies or to support Australian forces serving overseas.

Since Federation, the navy’s ships have come in all shapes and sizes. Warships have different names, depending on their size and function.

Battleships

The biggest and most powerful warships in World War I. Note that Australia has never possessed battleships.

Cruisers

Slightly smaller ships than battleships. The RAN possessed several cruisers during World War I and II. The best known was HMAS Sydney, which sank an Italian cruiserin 1940 and was itself sunk off the coast of Western Australia on 19 November 1941.

Destroyers

Smaller than cruisers. Fast and manoeuvrable and often used to help protect battleships.

Frigates

Smaller warships include sloops, frigates, corvettes and patrol boats. The RAN’s main combat ship is now the frigate, but it also has patrol boats and supply ships.

Submarines

Australia had submarines during World War I; after 1918 they were not reintroduced to the RAN until 1960.

Australian Army

The army has its own structure. Soldiers are grouped in organisations that reflect their jobs, for example, infantry soldiers are in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and transport drivers are in the Royal Australian Corps of Transport. When the army needs to undertake a task it draws on personnel from its different corps to form temporary organisations.
These organisations are built up incrementally as shown in the following table.

This structure is not definitive. In World War I, for example, there were four battalions in a brigade; the size of divisions has also varied over time. Note that ‘corps’ has two meanings in the Australian Army: it can be a grouping of servicemen and women who do the same job; it can also be the name of a fighting organisation as in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Army Unit Names and Numbers

During World War I, the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army was called the Australian Imperial Force or AIF. Later, it became known as the first AIF to distinguish from the second AIF, raised during World War II.

To distinguish World War II battalions from those that served in World War I, numbers are used: for example, the 2/8th stand for the 8th Battalion of the 2nd AIF, and is pronounced ‘the Second Eighth’.

Note, however, that the formulations 1/2nd, 1/3rd etc. are never used for units in the first AIF. The only acceptable prefix is 2/xxth (applicable to World War II units). It is also the case that some World War II units did not have the 2/xxth prefix and this can cause confusion: it is not always clear to non-service people where a unit is from World War I or II. If in doubt, check.

Veterans may identify themselves by their corps, brigade, battalion or regiment. A regiment of armour, cavalry, artillery, signals, transport, aviation, is similar in size to a battalion. A regiment can also be a management grouping. The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery is, in effect, the artillery corps. The Royal Australian Regiment is also a kind of management grouping. The original battalions from which the first three battalions of the RAR were formed (the 65th, 66th and 67th) were raised after World War II to take part in the occupation of Japan.

Note that the 65th is a World War II battalion that does not take the 2/xxth prefix: it is known as the 65th and not the 2/65th. This also applies to the 66th and 67th battalions.

Royal Australian Air Force

The RAAF was formed in 1921 and first went to war in World War II. Since then the RAAF has flown four general categories of aircraft: fighters, bombers, maritime patrol aircraft and transport aircraft.

Its predecessor, the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), was formed in January 1916. Its first squadron was attached to Britain’s Royal Flying Corps and carried out reconnaissance flights over Turkey and Egypt. On joining British forces in Egypt the squadron became known as 67 (Australian) Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC). It reverted to its original name on 19 January 1918.

There are two broad categories of RAAF personnel: air crew and ground staff. The structure of the RAAF is more flexible than the Army and changes frequently according to operational requirements and circumstances. RAAF units build on each other incrementally.

RAAF unit names

Group

-

Wing

-

Squadron

(12-14 aircraft)

Flight

(three or more aircraft)

Individual aircraft

-

Like army units, squadrons are numbered: for example, No 3 Squadron. 

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