Rank Insignia of
Robotech Defense Force Army, Navy, Air Force, Spacy, and Marine Corps
Non-Rated, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Staff Non-Commissioned Officers

NOTE: THIS PAGE IS NOT YET COMPLETE, I.E. UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION


Pay Grade
Service Branch
Rank
Abbreviation
Chest
(Army)
Chest
(Navy)
Chest
(Spacy)
Chest
(Air Force)
Chest
(Marines)
Non-Rated
E-1 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Private
Seaman
Airman
Crewman
PVT
SMN
AMN
CMN
No Insignia No Insignia No Insignia No Insignia No Insignia
E-2 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Private Second Class
Seaman Second Class
Airman Second Class
Crewman Second Class
P2C
S2C
A2C
C2C
E-3 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Private First Class
Seaman First Class
Airman First Class
Crewman First Class
P1C
S1C
A1C
C1C
E-3 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Lance Corporal
Junior Petty Officer
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
LCPL
JPO
LCPL
LCPL
Non-Commissioned Officers
E-4 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Corporal
Petty Officer 2nd Class
Corporal
Corporal
CPL
PO2
CPL
CPL
E-5 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Sergeant
Petty Officer First Class
Sergeant
Sergeant
SGT
PO1
SGT
SGT
Staff Non-Commissioned Officers
E-6 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Staff Sergeant
Petty Officer
Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
SSGT
PO
SSGT
SSGT
E-7 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Gunnery Sergeant
Chief Petty Officer
Gunnery Sergeant
Gunnery Sergeant
GYSGT
CPO
GYSGT
GYSGT
E-8 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
First Sergeant
Senior Chief Petty Officer
First Sergeant
First Sergeant
1SGT
SCPO
FSGT
FSGT
E-9 Army/Marines
Navy
Air Force
Spacy
Sergeant Major
Master Chief Petty Officer
Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major
SGM/SGTMAJ
MCPO
SGM
SGM
E-9 Army

Marines

Air Force

Navy

Spacy

Sergeant Major of the Army
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Command Sergeant Major
Command Master Chief Petty Officer
Command Sergeant Major
SGM

SGTMAJ

CSGM

CMCPO

CSGM


RDF Commissioned Officer Insignia


Background notes as they relate to the ROBOTECH TV series:

 This rank structure is still evolving from nearly three years of discussion and debate on the ROBOTECH Mailing List, and private discourse between Dr. Peter W. Walker and myself. Round after round of email has been--and continues to be--exchanged between the two of us to arrive at this scheme, not to mention a literal ton of research on Peter's part, for which ROBOTECH fans should be grateful.

 The rank structure is still in flux, and Heaven only knows when we'll be done with it. In the meantime, please remember: this is not a United States Military structure. Frankly, I don't particularly care if the structure conflicts with the U.S. scheme because it is NOT the U.S. scheme. I believe the United States military had a great deal of influence, but not necessarily the final word. If the RDF structure conflicts with the U.S. scheme that is because the TV show did so and we must remain true to it. Enlisted ranks are fuzzy, but the following do exist in the show:

 Private: Eddie
 Private Second Class: Sean Phillips (after demotion)
 Private First Class: Bowie Grant
 Corporal: Angelo Dante ("Dana's story"), Louie Nichols, Max Sterling, Ben Dixon, Rick Hunter,
  and numerous others
 Sergeant: Dana Sterling ("Dana's Story"), Angelo Dante, Rick Hunter.

 The Lance Corporal is inserted, in part, to justify the existence of "Plane Captains" in Veritech Squadrons and to solve problems involving compression in the lower quarter of the rank structure. Since we have Corporals flying jets, we can't have their plane captains having equal rank, and the plane captain needs "command authority." Hence the Lance Corporal.

 A second motivation being that the "Fire Team" structure we see used in the show implies a U.S. Marine-style organizational system, with non-rated personnel in charge of Fire Teams. Hence, the Lance Corporal, who, though not a non-commissioned officer, has command responsibilities.

 Finally, ROBOTECH seems to, by convention, have multiple uses of rank names: PRIVATE, PRIVATE Second Class, PRIVATE First Class, Third LIEUTENANT, Second LIEUTENANT, First LIEUTENANT, Lieutenant COMMANDER, COMMANDER, CAPTAIN (Kramer), CAPTAIN (Gloval). Thus, it seems obvious there will not only be multiple Sergeant ranks, but also multiple Corporal ranks. Thus, Lance CORPORAL and CORPORAL both existing does not seem to conflict with the "flow" of the show.


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Rank images Copyright © 1996 by Jason W. Smith.
Drawn by Jason W. Smith using MS Paintbrush 95.

(Author's Note: This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual events, persons, etc. is coincidental--even if intentionally so!-- June 1995)

Based on characters and situations from
Robotech, © 1985 Harmony Gold, USA, Inc.

Robotech (R) is the property of Harmony Gold. This document is in no way intended to infringe upon their rights.

HTML by Jason W. Smith

Copyright © 1997 Jason W. Smith
Version Last Updated: 11 March 1999