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Full Moon -> IJN and IJA rank system (4/11/2003 11:33:19 PM)
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I haven't seen posts about this on this board, so I thought this information would be helpful.:)
Ranks of the aircrew in the IJN
(from lower to higher)
Airman (or, Flyer) 3rd Class
Airman (or, Flyer) 2nd Cclass
Airman (or, Flyer) 1st Class
Petty Officer 3rd Class
Petty Officer 2nd Class
Petty Officer 1st Class
Warrant Officer
Ensign
Lt. junior
Lt.
Lt. Commander
Commander
It was uncommon for a squadron to contain any personnel of higher rank than Lt., thus those with ranks higher seldom fly on anything near a regular basis. While most non-american air services contained many non-officer pilots, in the IJN, this was carried to the extreme with rating pilots being the predominant feature on the roster. Most squadrons had only two to four commissioned officers (Ens. and above) aircrew, though some went as high as six.
Generally, squadrons had 1-2 officers per chutai, with Kansen and Kanbaku having 2-3 chutai's, while Kanko had three. Also, the IJN was like the Fleet Air Arm and Luftwaffe in that the plane commander in multi-place aircraft was often not the pilot. Likewise, more often than not, the unit commander was a non-pilot.
Some of Japans best Naval aviators were petty officers. This however can be deceiving since Petty Officer status in IJN during WWII was most nearly if not equivalent to Ensign status in the USN. The range of IJN aviators in combat is usually Airman (or, Flyer) 1st Class and above. Those lower ranks of Airman 2nd Class and Airman 3rd Class are in training schools.
Officer ranks of IJN and IJA.
Japanese Officer ranks are the same for IJA and IJN. The point of difference is in translation. The terms after '=' are American equivalent of Army or Navy.
Taisho = General or Admiral
Chujo = Lt. General or Vice-Admiral
Shosho = Major General or Rear Admiral
Taisa = Colonel or Captain
Chusa = Lt. Colonel or Commander
Shosa = Major or Lt. Commander
Taii = Captain or Lieutenant
Chui = First Lieutenant or Lieutenant (JG)
Shoi = Second Lieutenant or Ensign
IJA Enlisted Ranks
Juni = Warrant Officer
Socho = Sergeant Major
Gunso = Sergeant
Socho = Corporal
Heicho = Lance Corporal (leading Private)
Jotohei = Superior Private
Ittohei = Private First Class
Nitohei = Private
IJN Enlisted Ranks for aircrew (pre-June 1941)
Joto (Koku) Heiso = (Air) Chief Petty Officer
Itto (Koku) Heiso = (Air) Petty Officer First Class
Nito (Koku) Heiso = (Air) Petty Oiicer 2nd Class
Santo (Koku) Heiso = (Air) Petty Officer 3rd Class
Itto (Koku) Hei = (Air) Airman 1st Class
Nito (Koku) Hei = (Air) Airman 2nd Class
Santo (Koku) Hei = (Air) Airman 3rd Class
IJN Enlisted Ranks for aircrew (post-June 1941)
Joto (Hiko) Heiso = (Flight) Petty Officer
Itto (HIko) Heiso = (Flight) Petty Officer 1st Class
Nito (Hiko) Heiso = (Flight) Petty Officer 2nd Class
Santo (Hiko) Heiso = (Flight) Petty Officer 3rd Class
Itto (Hiko) Hei = Flyer 1st Class
Nito (Hiko) Hei = Flyer 2nd Class
Santo (Hiko) Hei = Flyer 3rd Class
After November 1942, three changes:
the (Hiko) Heisocho = (Flight) Warrant Officer
was placed above the CPO; and an (Hiko) Heicho = Assistant (Flight) Petty Officer and a Joto (Hiko) Hei = Chief Flyer replaced the Santo (Hiko) Heiso.
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