Incursion Vector

Brief: INS Ranks

[▲] Interstellar Navy Commissioned Ranks
... Admiral of the Navy*
... Command Admiral**
... Admiral**
... Rear Admiral**
... Commodore
... Captain
... Commander
... Lieutenant Commander
... Lieutenant
... Flight Lieutenant***
... Ensign
... Midshipman

[ INS Non-Commissioned Ranks ]
... Warrant Officer
... Petty Officer
... Seaman 1st Class
... Seaman 2nd Class

[▲] Interstellar Marines Commissioned Ranks (all ranks subordinate to INS Captain****)
... Colonel (equal to INS Commander)
... Lieutenant Colonel (equal to INS Lieutenant Commander)
... Major (equal to INS Lieutenant)
... Captain (equal to INS Flight Lieutenant)
... 1st Lieutenant (equal to INS Ensign)
... 2nd Lieutenant (equal to INS Midshipman)

[ Interstellar Marine Non-Commissioned Ranks ]
... Sergeant Major (equal to INS Warrant Officer)
... Sergeant (equal to INS Petty Officer)
... Corporal (equal to INS Seaman 1st Class)
... Private (equal to INS Seaman 2nd Class)

* The rank of Admiral of the Navy exists only during declared war and for ten years immediately following the legal cessation of war. When instituted, the position is filled by a majority vote by all officers ranked Rear Admiral and above, the candidates always being the five most senior Command Admirals actively serving on the date war was declared.

** Those promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and above are not allowed to file for retirement after a full 40 years of service. Instead these officers are given conditional retirements which stipulate they will be required to return to active duty should a state of war be declared. As such they are still required to pass yearly physical and mental evaluations and failure of either results in an honorable medical discharge. The adage "someone's got to die before you make admiral" tends to be quite literal in the Navy as promotion to the rank before the death or discharge of an incumbent admiral has only occurred twice in the past 150 years.

*** The rank of Flight Lieutenant only exists on corvettes and destroyers, both ship classes piloted by 1-3 officers who are by necessity subordinate to only the captain of the ship. Outside of these vessels Flight Lieutenants are generally regarded as being the same rank as a senior-grade INS Lieutenant. However, the pay grade of a Flight Lieutenant is slightly higher than that of a Lieutenant Commander due to the fact that there are relatively few officers who pass the unforgiving qualification trials, thus Flight Lieutenants tend to remain Flight Lieutenants for the duration of their service unless circumstances require they be promoted.

**** While all INS Marine ranks fall beneath the INS Navy rank of Captain in the command hierarchy, an INS Captain rarely commands any Marine units individually, instead coordinating with the ship's Marine Commander, an officer ranked Major or above who is directly responsible for all Marines assigned to the vessel. INS Captains are responsible for the entirety of the ship and crew upon which a Marine unit is stationed and are expected to have the good judgment to know when to defer to their senior Marine officers. Those that lack this quality tend to find themselves relegated to desk work or placed in command of destroyers or corvettes which do not carry man-to-man assault forces. Conversely, if there exists probable cause in regards to corruption, treason, or dereliction of duty, a ship's Marine Commander can relieve (by force if necessary) their ship's Captain of command, though responsibility for the ship and crew subsequently falls to that vessel's Naval Executive Officer in such situations. Incidentally, most Captains of strike carriers, the ships with the largest active deployments of Marine personnel, tend to have begun their service within the Marine branch and not the main Navy.