Current Ranks
| Category | Rank name, rank equivalent and Nato code | Insignia | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Senior Officers or Field Grade Officers |
(רב-אלוף (רא"ל Rav aluf (Ra'al) (Chief of General Staff, Commander-in-chief) |
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| אלוף Aluf (Commanding General, Command of the Branch of Arms, Corps, Divisions) |
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| (תת-אלוף (תא"ל Tat aluf (Ta'al) (Commanding General, Command of the Service of Arms, Corps, Divisions, Brigades) |
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| (אלוף משנה (אל"מ Aluf mishne (Alam) (Executive Officer of a Division, or Brigade Commander) |
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| (סגן-אלוף (סא"ל Sgan aluf (Sa'al) (Executive Officer of a Brigade, or Regiment / Battalion Commander) |
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| (רב סרן (רס"ן Rav seren (Rasan) (Executive Officer of a Regiment or Battalion) |
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Ktzinim Junior Officers or Company Grade Officers |
סרן Seren (Company or Battery Commander) |
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| סגן Segen — since 1951 (סגן ראשון (סג"ר |
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| (סגן-משנה (סג"מ Segen mishne (Sagam) — since 1951 (סגן) |
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| קצינים אקדמאים Ktzinim Akademaim Academic Officers |
(קצין אקדמאי בכיר (קא"ב Katsín akademai bakhír (Ka'ab) (Professional Officer of the First Class in the Reserve — equivalent to a brevet Captain.) |
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| (קצין מקצועי אקדמאי (קמ"א Katsín miktsoí akademai (Kama) (Professional Officer of the Second Class in the Reserve — equivalent to a brevet First Lieutenant.) |
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Nagadim Non-Commissioned Officers |
(רב-נגד (רנ"ג Rav nagad (Ranag) (Chief Warrant Officer, most senior specialist professional, equivalent to NATO WO-2) |
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| (רב-נגד משנה (רנ"מ Rav nagad mishne (Ranam) (Warrant Officer, senior specialist professional, equivalent to NATO WO-1) |
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| (רב-סמל בכיר (רס"ב Rav samal bakhír (Rasab) (Warrant Officer, senior specialist professional, equivalent to NATO WO-1) |
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| (רב-סמל מתקדם (רס"מ Rav samal mitkadem (Rasam) (Sergeant Major, NATO OR-9, senior soldier of a company, battery, battalion or regiment) |
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| (רב-סמל ראשון (רס"ר Rav samal rishon (Rasar) (Master Sergeant, senior non-commissioned officer, equivalent to NATO OR-8) |
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| (רב-סמל (רס"ל Rav samal (Rasal) (Sergeant First Class, equivalent to Nato OR-7 |
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Hogrim Enlisted |
( סמל ראשון (סמ"ר Samal rishon (Samar) (Staff Sergeant, a Squad Leader, Nato OR-6 |
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| סמל Samal (Sergeant, a Squad Leader, Nato OR-5 |
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| (רב טוראי (רב"ט Rav turai (Rabat) (Corporal, Nato OR-4 |
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| טוראי Turai (Private E-2 or Private, Nato OR-2 |
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Officers (Ktzinim): Volunteers who have completed the Officer's Course. Promotions are based on ability and time served. It takes about a year to be promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st Lieutenant and three years to be promoted from 1st Lieutenant to Captain. Army officers have bronze-metal insignia (replaced with subdued black-metal insignia in 2002), Air Force officers have silver metal insignia, and Navy officers have gold-metal insignia.
Academic Officers (Ktzinim Akademaim): Special rank given to soldiers who are delaying completing officers' training so they can complete a professional education (usually in engineering, medicine, law, or religion). A Kama is equivalent to a 2nd Lieutenant, and a Ka'ab is equivalent to a 1st Lieutenant, but are treated as if they were breveted to the next higher rank. Officers of these ranks are considered professional manpower and rarely take posts of command. Upon finally completing officers' training, an Academic Officer is immediately awarded the corresponding next "real" rank due to their experience in grade. Their insignia bars are embossed with scrolls (megilot) rather than laurel branches (aronot).
Non-Commissioned Officers (Nagadim): The professional non-commissioned and warrant ranks, drawn from volunteers who signed on for military service after completing conscription. They usually are assigned to head-up the headquarters staff of a unit.
Enlisted (Hogrim): The conscript and field NCO ranks. All conscripts must start their duty at 18 (unless they get a deferment) and serve for 3 years. In the IDF enlisted ranks are earned by means of time in service (pazam), rather than by a particular post or assignment. After 4 to 12 months, the conscript is promoted to Rav Turai, after 18 to 24 months, promoted to Samal, and after 24 to 32 months, promoted to Samal Rishon.
Field NCOs (Samal and Samal Rishon) who command sub-units (fire team or squad, respectively) are called Mashak. This is an abbreviation that translates into English literally as "Non-Commissioned Officer". It is a term of respect like the French Army's Chef ("Chief").
Recruit (Tironim): Upon enlistment to military service in Israel, all soldiers begin a basic training course and undergo several days or weeks of 'integration' from citizens to soldiers. This course is called Tironut (recruit training) and the soldier being trained on this course is called a Tiron (or Recruit). This is often erroneously interpreted as a rank, similar to the US Army's Private (E-1); Tironim are ranked as Turai (Private), the same rank and paygrade as newly-trained conscripts. Tironim wear cloth sliders with a horizontal blue stripe on their fatigue-uniform epaulets and wear a diamond-shaped "general service" beret badge to indicate their status; this is exchanged for a corps beret with corps badge and unit insignia upon graduation.
Read more about this topic: Israel Defense Forces Ranks
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