Ranks AFU

Quote :

@slob
rank is what you earn, grade is what you wear.

@Jman, that is wrong in so many ways !!!, Sticks nailed it Correctly !!!!

Rank is what you are qualified to WEAR!
Grade is what you are Paid !!
Respect is what you Earn !!!

Rank comes with the position that you are qualified for, your pay grade is based on the the rank that you hold, the job that you do, and the area in which you are operating in.

Example,

SGT( RANK ) Doohickey MOS 11B2 (Infantry ) ( E-5, GRADE) with 7 years of service earns 2499 $ monthly staying at home in FT. Erwin, well for what ever reason SGT Doohickey decides that he needs more money and wants to increase his chances for promotion, so off he goes to Ranger School, Passes, and gets assigned to Batt.
Well by just completing the school his MOS now changes to 11B2V,and being the Gung Ho individual that he is, does the Army & Marine Sniper schools, and deploys to Iraq, so now SGT Doohickey is a 11B2VB4 ( U.S. Army, Airborne Ranger with Sniper Qualifications ), in a Combat Zone.
How does this all affect his Grade, well he will now recieve an extra 150$ for Jump Pay( 225 if he is HALO Qualified ), and extra 150 $ for HSD ( Hardship Duty ), and an extra 225$ Combat Pay. So what changed here, His Grade nothing more, nothing less, He is a SGT(Rank), ( E-5 GRADE ) but instead of earning 2499$ a month, his pay Grade increased to 3024$ a month.

The only other time that the term GRADE is used to denominate a RANK, is for Officers.
Example,
Field Grade Officers or "senior officers", officers who typically command units that can be expected to operate independently for short periods of time (infantry battalions, cavalry or artillery regiments, large warships, air squadrons), usualy in the Rank of Major to Colonel. Notice the Size of the Elements,

2LT, 1LT, CO, = Company Grade, PLT, Co, Sized Elements
MAJ, LTC, COL, = Field Grade, Batt, BDE, RGT Sized Elements
all GEN, = Staff Grade, DIV, Corp, Theater