Rifts: Steel and Chaos

NEMA Ranks

Determining your Rank
  1. Decide if you are an officer or not
    • An officer is responsible and accountable
    • An officer is educated in military subjects (history, tactics, ettiquette)
    • An officer commands
    • Enlisted troops serve
    • Enlisted troops are practical
    • Enlisted troops may not be planning to make a career of their service in NEMA
  2. Decide when you joined
  3. If you joined since the cataclysm you are a private 3rd class or private 2nd class, you may be promoted to Private First Class for meritorious service
  4. Consult the chart below for a basic idea of your rank

Other Factors
  • Civilian Education may increase your enlisted rank
    • Undergraduate College graduates start with a rank of Private First Class
    • Holders of advanced degrees will usually start as Corporals, but occasionally Sergeants
    • Highly trained specialists in particular demand such as Doctors may be given the rank of Lieutenant
  • Commissioned intel-agents and military specialists are generally one rank higher than indicated
    • for intel-agents follow normal progression after captain, intelligence officers above major are managerial or command normal/mixed forces
    • for commandos follow the normal progression after major, military specialists commandant and higher rarely see action personally
  • Enlisted power armor pilots, robot pilots, Intelligence officers and military specialists are generally one rank higher than indicated
    • Power armor pilots take almost a full year of training and thus are Private First class at level 1, but promote normally from there
    • Robot vehicle pilots take even more training and start as Lance Corporals, they will then become Corporals and about 6 months, an interim rank of Senior Corporal will be awarded 2.5 years later before promoting normally.
    • for intel-agents follow normal progression after staff sergeant
    • for military specialists follow the normal progression after Master Sergeant
  • Quality of service may affect promotion
    • Excellent service in any grade may allow promotion up to a year early, usually this will not happen in successive ranks
    • Subpar service in any grade may delay promotion for up to a year or strand you almost permanantly at that rank.
    • Officers not promoted for more than one year after the "normal" time are unlikely to ever be promoted
    • Quality of Service is increasingly more critical for the ranks from Major to Colonel and from Sergeant up
    • General Officer ranks are selected as a political exercise. Technically NEMA has no General Officers, instead the General Officers are promoted by their own countries, then requested by NEMA and loaned for service.
  • There are a few other notations that can be made to ranks in various cases:
    • Command - may be noted to the most senior Enlisted man in a unit who has only unit-wide responsibilities to support his or her unit.
    • Senior - For the grades with very long time in grade sometimes the notation of "senior" is awarded either officially, by their home nation, or unofficially by their unit
    • Promotable - The soldier has been reviewed and found to have a suitable quality of service, they need only time and perhaps some mandatory training
Enlisted Troops
Rank
Average Time in service for Promotion
NATO Equivalent
Private Third Class
None - Entry Grade
E-1
Private Second Class
6 months
E-2
Private First Class
1 year
E-3
Lance Corporal
18 months
E-4
Corporal
26 months
E-4
Sergeant
5 years
E-5
Technical Sergeant
7.5 years
E-6
Staff Sergeant
10 years
E-6
Gunnery Sergeant
15 years
E-7
Sergeant First Class
20 years
E-7
Master Sergeant
25 years
E-8
First Sergeant
30 years
E-8
Sergeant Major
35 years
E-9
Master Gunnery Sergeant
40 years
E-9


Officers
Rank
Normal Service Time to Promotion
NATO Equivalent
Third Lieutenant
None - Cadet Grade
O-1
Second Lieutenant
6 months
O-1
First Lieutenant
2 years
O-2
Captain
8 years
O-3
Major
14 years
O-4
Commandant
20 years
(Generally including a tour with their national military)
O-4
Lieutenant Commander
26 years
O-5
Commander
32 years
(Generally including a jointness tour with their national military)
O-5
Lieutenant Colonel
36 years
O-6
Colonel
40 years
(Generally including a command tour with their national military)
O-6
Brigadier General

O-7
Major General

O-8
Lieutenant General

O-9
General

O-10

References

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