Civilian & Military Ranks & Paygrades

[Troy Loveridge]

Equivalence between military ranks and civilian paygrades is a complex matter. The table below attempts to provide a system that balances authenticity with simplicity. It also gives approximate age ranges for characters at each rank by taking the column on the left and adding it to the year your character graduated from boot camp, service academy, or college.

Starting ranks for civilians based on education:

• PhD - GS-11
• Masters degree - GS-9
• Bachelor degree - GS-7

Characters without a Bachelor Degree commence between GS-1 and GS-4 depending on experience and education. These ranks are equivalent to enlisted ranks Airman Basic (E-1) to Senior Airman (E-4).

IOA and NID characters start at the entry level (GS-7) and work their way up in similar timeframes to military characters. Retiring military characters can transfer on-level to civilian, IOA or NID positions.

Characters who were previously part of the Stargate Academy should refer to the Cadet Promotions thread.

United States military ranks are used as examples only, and military characters from other countries are encouraged to join.

Military	Civilian	IOA	NID	Promotion
Commissioned Officers
Major General	Senior Executive Service	Minister-Counselor	Associate Director
Brigadier General		Counselor	Assistant Director
Colonel	GS-15	First Secretary	Special Agent in Charge	+22
Lieutenant Colonel	GS-14 GS-13	Second Secretary	Assistant Special Agent in Charge	+16
Major	GS-12		Supervisory Special Agent	+10
Captain	GS-11 GS-10		Special Agent	+4
First Lieutenant	GS-9 GS-8	Third Secretary		+2
Second Lieutenant	GS-7		Probationary Special Agent	+0
Warrant Officers
Chief Warrant Officer Five				+22
Chief Warrant Officer Four				+17
Chief Warrant Officer Three				+12
Chief Warrant Officer Two				+7
Warrant Officer One				+5
Enlisted
Chief Master Sergeant				+22
Senior Master Sergeant				+20
Master Sergeant				+17
Technical Sergeant				+13
Staff Sergeant				+5
Senior Airman				+3
Airman First Class				+1
Airman				+0.5
Airman Recruit				+0

Sources:

• Air Force Instruction 31-1201 'Protocol' (2013) <static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afi34-1201/afi34-1201.pdf>
• Office of Personnel Management 'General Schedule qualification standards' <www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=GS-PROF>
• Wikipedia 'Senior Foreign Service' <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_Foreign_Service>