Pakistan Army Ranks with Salary and Insignia
The structure of the Pakistan Army Ranks mainly based on British Army ranks but the rank structure of other ranks personnel and insignia are different. In this blog, we have explained the list of Pak Army Ranks from highest to lowest.
Pak Army Ranks List
Here is the he list of ranks in Pakistan Army:
- Second Lieutenant
- Lieutenant
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
- Brigadier (⭐️)
- Major General (⭐️⭐️)
- Lieutenant General (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
- General (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
- Field Marshal (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Basically, The Pak Army ranks are divided into three parts.
- Commissioned Officers
- Junior Commissioned Officers
- Non- Commissioned Officers
Officers and Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) of the Pakistan Army wear their rank insignia on the shoulders of their khaki uniform while Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) wear rank insignia on the arm. All army personnel in CCD wear insignia on the chest.
Back in the early years of camouflage uniform, the SSG and regular Pak army ranks insignia were worn on the chest. Well, this pattern changed in the era of General Kayani when insignia removed from the chest in CCD. And the Khaki uniform still has the same style for wearing ranks.
Officers and JCOs wear their ranks on the shoulders on the other hand NCOs wears on arm). Got a question in your mind that why they moved from shoulders to the chest? Well, we got many technical details behind this changed to it.
Pakistan Army Ranks from Lowest to highest
Sepoy is the lowest rank in the Pakistan Army and the highest rank is Field Marshal. The pay of the Pakistan Army ranks based on Basic Pay Scale (BPS). The pays mentioned below are the average pay of that rank and these are just meant to give an idea.
Whereas, BPS stands for Basic Pay Scale in Pakistan Government Institutes.
Pakistan Army ranks and salary are as follows:
Sepoy (Sepahi)
There is no title or rank of sepoy and their basic salary is according to BPS-5.
Non-Commissioned Officer
Lance Naik
The lowest rank is Lance Naik that promoted from soldier to get this title. The basic salary of lance naik is according to BPS-6 and it is known by single strip insignia shown at its arms.
Naik
When lance naik gets the promotion it becomes a naik and it is known by two strips and basic salary is according to BPS-7.
Havaldar
Havaldar is the highest rank in the Non-Commissioned Officers who promoted from Naik. It is known by three strips and its salary is according to BPS-8.
There are three naiks under one Havaldar and every naik has 10 soldiers in which one soldier is their head means lance naik.
Same as one havaldar leads two naiks and one Lance Havaldar. Havildar and Lance Havaldar get his title due to they have a good record.
Along with Non-Commissioned Officers and other ranks, company quartermaster havaldar, company havildar major, battalion quartermaster havildar, and battalion quartermaster major. Their ranks are equal to havildar but they get a special allowance. Because of this, their ranks are higher than havildar.
There are three companies in one unit or battalion that are Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. One company consists of eight havildars and one havaldar becomes the company quartermaster havildar who is the most perfect in performance.
The responsibility of company quartermaster havaldar is to provide food, helmets, guns, and jackets to its company. Afterward, one becomes the battalion havaldar major because of its good performance. Its duty is to gather information daily and send reports to its seniors. Battalion havildar is the person where soldiers do requests to get leave.
A battalion has twenty-four havildar and the most perfect personnel becomes Company quartermaster havildar who has the responsibility of its complete battalion. Same as the most educated and the able person becomes the battalion havildar major. This is the highest-ranked officer in the battalion and get complete reports from company havaldar of its battalion and send it to its seniors.
Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs)
Naib Subedar
Naib Subedar is the lowest rank in the Junior Commissioned Officer who gets a promotion from Senior Havildar by qualifying some tests. The salary of Naib Subedar is according to BPS-14 and this is known by one strip and crown.
Naib subedar gets reports from battalion havildar major of its company.
Subedar
Afterward, its Subedar and its insignia is one strip with two crowns and its salary is according to BPS-15.
Subedar Major
Subedar Major is a higher rank than subedar and insignia is one crescent (moon) and star with a strip. If you talk about its pay scale, the salary of a subedar major is according to BPS-17. Subedar Major has some special offers like if their performance is excellent then they can become Lieutenant or Major. This is a higher rank than every soldier can achieve by qualifying tests.
Subedar is also known as the father of the Battalion because he is the only person who spends his whole life in the battalion. Commissioned Officers get replaced every two years but always Subedar stays there. Because of this, he knew about the strength and weakness of its battalion.
Now it’s time to discuss Commissioned Officers.
Commissioned Officers
Second Lieutenant
The Second Lieutenant is known by its insignia one crown and the salary of the 2nd Lieutenant is according to BPS-17. In Pak Army, the 2nd lieutenant usually gets a promotion in six months and becomes a Lieutenant.
The rank of the Second Lieutenant is equal to the Midshipman of Pak Navy and the Pilot Officer of Pak Airforce.
Lieutenant
The rank of Lieutenant is equal to Flying officer of Pak Airforce and Sub-lieutenant of the Pakistan Navy. Lieutenant salary is according to BPS- 17 and recognized by two crowns.
Captain
The Captain is recognized by three crowns but the captain’s salary is according to BPS-17. Captain looks after the one company in a unit. The rank of army captain is equal to Flight Lieutenant of Pak Airforce and Lieutenant of Pakistan navy.
Major
Major rank is higher than the captain and recognized by one crescent and star. The salary of the Major is according to BPS-18. Major is the junior rank in the commissioned field and usually major is selected for operations officer. In the absence of a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major can control the army.
Lieutenant Colonel
The Lieutenant Colonel is recognized by one crown, crescent, and a star. Lieutenant Colonel salary is according to Basic Pay Scale: 18. A complete battalion is under the Lieutenant Colonel and rank is equal to the Wing Commander of Pakistan Airforce and Commander of Pak Navy.
Colonel
Colonel is recognized by two crowns, one crescent, and one star. The salary of a Colonel is according to BPS-19 and its rank is equal to Group Captain of Pak Airforce and Captain of Pak Navy. Colonel is the senior army rank.
Moving forward, now we will talk about General Officers of the Pak Army who also consists of brigadiers
Brigadier
Brigadiers are also including in General Officers and recognized by one crescent, one star, and three crowns and also call One-Star General. The pay scale of brigadier is 20 and its rank is equal to the Commodore of Navy and Air Commodore of Air Force.
A Brigadier controls the one complete brigade that is consist of three units.
Major General
Major General recognized by one crossed baton and one crown and also call Two-Star General. This rank is equal to the Rear-Admiral of Pak navy and Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) of Pak Air Force.
There are three divisions under the one Major General and one division consists of three brigadiers.
Lieutenant General
The insignia of Lieutenant General is one crossed baton, on the crescent, and one star. This rank is equal to the Vice-Admiral of Navy and Air Marshal of the Air force. Lieutenant General is also called Three-Star General and controls the complete army corp.
A corp consisted of three divisions. But there are also two corps in one division.
General
General is the highest rank of Pakistan Army and it is recognized by one crossed baton, one crescent, and one star and also called Four-Star General. Currently, there are two serving Generals of Pakistan, the one is Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the other is Chairman of Joint Chief of Army Staff.
The rank of General of Pakistan Army is equal to Admiral of Pakistan Navy and Air Chief Marshal (ACM) of Pakistan Airforce.
Field Marshal
Field Marshal rank is only the rank that is achieved by only one person in the history of Pakistan and no one can able to achieve this rank till now. The officer of this rank is called a Five-Star Officer and also called Field Marshal.
This rank is higher than General and insignia is two crossed baton, one crescent star both in a wreath of oak leaves separately.
General Ayub Khan was the one Field Marshal in the history of Pakistan. The interesting thing about this rank is, it is only achievable by that person who won the war by leading armies of one or two countries.
As you know General Ayub Khan didn’t lead the army of other countries but gave lectures to increase the passion and give goosebumps to the armies of Turkey and Iran.