Military Titles and Abbreviations in AP Style

Guide to Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Air Force Titles

Apr 24, 2009
Megan B. Wyatt

The logo of the Associated Press - AP Photo

Keep this military guide close by. It's your every reference for military titles, abbreviations, and when to capitalize, lowercase, abbreviate or spell out each.

Remembering when to capitalize or lowercase and abbreviate or spell out military titles can be frustrating. Here's your simple solution: all the rules plus all the abbreviations in one spot. The following are the basics that apply to any military title followed by a list of abbreviations based on military branch.

Any time a military rank precedes a person's name, it should be capitalized. Any time the rank is referred to alone without a name, it should be lowercased.
Always spell out the military title and person's full name on first reference within the article, but use abbreviations and the person's last name on following references.
Always spell out and lowercase the title if used instead of the person's name.
For plural names of the same rank or title, add an s to the end of the abbreviation followed by a period.
For retired officials, used the lowercased, spelled-out word retired before the applicable title/abbreviation. Remember to only include this if relevant to the story.

Army

Commissioned Officers

brigadier general -- Brig. Gen.
captain -- Capt.
colonel -- Col.
first lieutenant -- 1st Lt.
general -- Gen.
lieutenant colonel -- Lt. Col.
lieutenant general -- Lt. Gen.
major -- Maj.
major general -- Maj. Gen.
second lieutenant -- 2nd Lt.

Warrant Officers

chief warrant officer -- Chief Warrant Officer
warrant officer -- Warrant Officer

Enlisted Personnel

command sergeant major -- Command Sgt. Maj.
corporal -- Cpl.
first sergeant -- 1st Sgt.
master sergeant -- Master Sgt.
private -- Pvt.
private first class -- Pfc.
sergeant -- Sgt.
sergeant first class -- Sgt. 1st Class
sergeant major -- Sgt. Maj.
sergeant major of the Army -- Sgt. Maj. of the Army
specialist -- Spc.
staff sergeant -- Staff Sgt.

Navy, Coast Guard

Commissioned Officers

admiral -- Adm.
captain -- Capt.
commander -- Cmdr.
ensign -- Ensign
lieutenant -- Lt.
lieutenant commander -- Lt. Cmdr.
lieutenant junior grade -- Lt. j.g.
rear admiral lower half -- Rear Adm.
rear admiral upper half -- Rear Adm.
vice admiral -- Vice Adm.

Warrant Officers

chief warrant officer -- Chief Warrant Officer

Enlisted Personnel

master chief petty officer -- Master Chief Petty Officer
master chief petty officer of the Navy -- Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
petty officer first class -- Petty Officer 1st Class
petty officer second class - Petty Officer 2nd Class
petty officer third class -- Petty Officer 3rd Class
seaman -- Seaman
seaman apprentice -- Seaman Apprentice
seaman recruit -- Seaman Recruit
senior chief petty officer -- Senior Chief Petty officer

Marine Corps

Same ranks and abbreviations for commissioned officers in the Army, and Marine Corps follows the same system for warrant officers as the Navy. In addition, the following abbreviations are used:

airman first class -- Airman 1st Class
corporal -- Cpl.
first sergeant -- 1st Sgt.
gunnery sergeant -- Gunnery Sgt.
lance corporal -- Lance Cpl.
master gunnery sergeant -- Master Gunnery Sgt.
master sergeant -- Master Sgt
private -- Pvt..
private first class -- Pfc.
sergeant -- Sgt.
sergeant major -- Sgt. Maj.
sergeant major of the Marine Corps -- Sgt. Maj of the Marine Corps
staff sergeant -- Staff Sgt.

Air Force

Use same ranks and abbreviations for commissioned officers as are used in the Army. Additional designations include the following.

Enlisted Designations

airman -- Airman
airman basic -- Airman
airman first class -- Airman 1st Class
chief master sergeant -- Chief Master Sgt.
chief master sergeant of the Air Force -- Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force
master sergeant -- Master Sgt.
senior airman -- Senior Airman
senior master sergeant -- Senior Master Sgt.
staff sergeant -- Staff Sgt.
technical sergeant -- Tech. Sgt.

Remember to use the appropriate military titles when relevant to a story. Always spell out the title and name of the person on first reference, switching to the abbreviated form with only the last name on subsequent references. Be sure to include significance of a military title where relevant to a story by incorporating the titles meaning directly following the title as part of the sentence.

Megan loves writing & coffee, especially combined., Megan Wyatt

Megan B. Wyatt - Megan B. Wyatt has a BA in English, edits fiction manuscripts and currently works as an entertainment reporter in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Comments

Aug 25, 2009 8:17 AM

Guest :

This is old school...the upper and lower Rear Adm rank has newer designations...RADM for upper half and RDML for lower half, AP should get with it.

Apr 12, 2010 10:42 PM

Guest :

The refresher on rank is always good. I would like to see a lesson on abbreviations of units. For example: Battalion is 1st Bn. However, I have seen sustainment brigade three different ways: 82nd SB, 82nd SBde, 82nd SBDE.

Jun 2, 2010 1:13 PM

Guest :

Coming from a civilian background on writing into military public affairs with no training (cue the newest UPAR theme), this was *very* helpful! I would have to agree - I'd like a lesson on unit abbreviations as well!

Dec 6, 2010 6:54 PM

Guest :

Why does the AP Style differ from the official military Abbreviations?? Many of these abbreviations were changed years ago. Commander is CRD not Cmdr. I just ended up paying double for an obit because the newspaper I ran it in uses the AP Style for military abbreviations which is wrong. AP needs to fix this. To help you out, here is the link for the official list of abbreviations from the Navy. http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=266
PLEASE correct this. I just paid an extra $250.00 to run the obit a second time with the correct abbreviations.

Feb 2, 2011 12:20 PM

Guest :

Good info except that the army uses all caps and no punctuation marks. Also the Marine Corps does not have an airman of any class, the proper abbreviation is LCpl. for a Lance Corporal not Lance Cpl.

Feb 14, 2011 9:46 AM

Scott Forbes :

I am a serving military officer with 23 years time in service. 90% of the information above concerning abbreviation of military rank is incorrect. For example, Army rank is always abbreviated in all caps with no punctuation (e.g. CPT for Captain and SSG for Staff Sergeant). The information for other branches is also incorrect. Some glaring examples include the fact that there is no Airman First Class rank in the Marine Corps. The abbreviations themselves for each branch of service are simply incorrect in almost every case. Readers would be advised to use another source for this information.

Mar 8, 2011 11:13 AM

Guest :

well in public affairs the army uses airforce style when writing an article on a specifc person versus addressing them

Apr 8, 2011 5:28 AM

Guest :

Mr. Forbes: I've been a military journalist for 18 years and this is the way we write ranks for civilian, external news releases. Using AP style is the industry standard, not the military standard. It all depends on the final destination for an article. Here is an example:
External publications: Chief Petty Officer ******
Navy style for Navy web sites and publications: Chief Mass Communication Specialist *****
Internal stories such as shipboard newsletters: MCC(SW/AW)
Army is the same, CPT for internal stuff, Capt. for external, always how it has been. Saying 90 percent (always spell out percent instead of using % - another AP Style rule) is wrong is, well wrong.

Apr 14, 2011 7:06 AM

Guest :

You are missing the point. This is the AP STYLE, emphasis on style. They are writing to lay audiences unfamiliar with the military. Their abbreviations are meant to be understandable/readable by the majority of their audience, and are not intended to mirror the official military way of doing things.

Sep 29, 2011 8:36 AM

Guest :

For whoever told Mr Forbes he was wrong obviously has never seen military documents. It is always 3 letters all caps on everything the army writes, all the time, 100 percent without fail. I understand this may be AP style, but the military (Army) doesn't use these at all. I've written and read so many papers and articles written in the Army and never seen these abbreviations so...... Telling someone they are wrong about saying something is wrong is wrong because you are wrong.

10 Comments