Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia / How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign Countries

by Dion Williams

The personnel of the Lighthouse Service pursuant to statute law consists of the officers and enlisted men in the following grades:

FOR SERVICE AFLOAT IN LIGHTSHIPS AND TENDERS

Captain
Master	Mess attendant
Master and Pilot	Chief Engineer
First Officer	Engineer
Second Officer	Assistant Engineer
Third Officer	First Assistant Engineer
Cadet Officer	Second Assistant Engineer
Mate	Cadet Engineer
Second Mate	Wireless Operator
Mate and Carpenter	Machinist
Quartermaster	Oiler
Seaman	Fireman, first class
Deck hand	Fireman, second class
Shipkeeper
Steward
Cook
FOR SERVICE ASHORE AT LIGHTHOUSES
Keeper	Assistant Keeper
Laborer	Assistant Laborer

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Command

Since rank and grade carry with them the corresponding responsibilities and duties appropriate to the office it is necessary to know the commands to which the various grades are ordinarily assigned in order to properly understand the meaning of rank and grade.

In the Army the commands considered appropriate for the officers of the various grades are as follows:

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

General		Two or more Field Armies operating together.
Lieutenant General		A Field Army.
Major General		A Corps or a Division.
Brigadier General		A Brigade.
Colonel		A Regiment.
Lieutenant Colonel		Second in Command of a Regiment.
Major		A Battalion of Infantry or Artillery
		or a Squadron of Cavalry.
Captain		A Company of Infantry, a Battery
		of Artillery or a Troop of Cavalry.
First Lieutenant		Junior Officers of a Company,
Second Lieutenant		Battery or Troop.

NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS

Sergeant Major, Regimental	The senior or highest noncommissioned officer of a regiment.
Sergeant Major, Battalion	The senior noncommissioned officer of a battalion of infantry or artillery or of a squadron of cavalry.
or Squadron
First Sergeant	The senior noncommissioned officer of a company, battery or troop.
Color Sergeant	The noncommissioned officer who carries the national flag, or colors, of a regiment.
Sergeant	The noncommissioned officer who acts as the right and left guide of a company, battery or troop, or of a subdivision of such a unit.
Corporal	The noncommissioned officer who acts as a squad leader.

The duties of the corresponding grades of noncommissioned officers as given in the list on [pages 30 and 31] are explained to a great extent by their titles.