Private

Once a recruit has completed their initial training, they are usually promoted to the rank of private. Privates (and their naval equivalent, the spaceman) make up the bulk of every army, performing every task from maintenance (as AsTechs) to the rifle carriers in infantry units to members of naval gunnery crews or vehicle crewmen.

Star League Defense Forces[edit]

Unlike most militaries, an SLDF recruit was only promoted to private after they had survived one battle. Their rank patch was divided into three sections by diagonal lines.^[1][2]

In the Second Star League Defense Force, a recruit was promoted to private immediately after graduating boot camp. Members of the Naval Command at this level were known as spaceman.^[3]

SLDF Rank Insignia

Rank	Army Insignia (First SLDF)[4][5]	Navy Insignia (First SLDF)[4][5]	Insignia (Second SLDF)[6]
Private

Lyran Commonwealth and Lyran Alliance[edit]

LCAF/LAAF Privates wear the "Narrow Arrow" as their rank insignia, like recruits. Unlike LAAF recruits, privates are allowed to wear Lyran Alliance insignia on their uniforms.^[7]

LAAF Military Rank Insignia

Rank	Insignia
Private

Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery[edit]

A DCMS heishi is a private. They wear a stylized kanji "1" in lavender as their rank, on a colored background based on their service branch.^[8]

DCMS Heishi Rank insignia by branch of service

DCMS Ranks						DCA Ranks
Rank	MechWarrior	Aerospace fighter	Infantry	Armor	Artillery	Rank	Naval crew Draconis Combine Admiralty	Technical Service
Heishi (Private)						Heishi (Private)

Armed Forces of the Federated Suns[edit]

The lowest rank for regular AFFS members is private, which is gained automatically after they pass basic training as a recruit. A private in the AFFS wears single "Scar" on their sleeve to show their rank. The edges of the Scar is black for Regular Army and March Militia units, while planetary militias edge the Scar in dark green. The interior of the Scar is color coded to the wearer's branch of service.^[9]

AFFS Private Rank Insignia by Branch of service

Rank	MechWarrior	Aerospace fighter	Infantry	Armor	Naval crew	Technical Service	Administrative	Medical	Legal	Logistics/ Transportation
Private

Capellan Confederation Armed Forces[edit]

Unlike other militaries, once a CCAF recruit graduates to regular service is still known as a Shia-ben-bing rather than a private. They continue to wear a plain green bar as their rank insignia.^[10]

Old Rank	New Rank	Insignia
Recruit	Shia-ben-bing

Free Worlds League[edit]

Privates in the FWLM use a single gold chevron edged in purple as their rank insignia. The FWLM Navy calls sailors at this rank spaceman. They typically have less than a year in service.^[11]

FWLM Military Rank Insignia

Rank	Insignia
Private

The Clans[edit]

In one sense, there are no privates or any other enlisted rank in the Clan toumans: Every warrior who tests out of training is simply a warrior. This means that there are no "official" ranks until a warrior tests up to a higher position (like Point Commander or Star Commander) or tests down into a solahma unit. This means that there are no specific insignia until higher ranks, so Clan warriors use their branch insignia (daggerstar) or Clan insignia as a rank device.^[12]

The color of the daggerstar varies by branch, and sometimes by Clan. The Snow Ravens, for example, use an orange daggerstar for combat vehicle crewmen, while the Steel Vipers use a white daggerstar. The Clans use the same colors for the main touman branches however: red for MechWarriors, blue for aerospace fighter pilots, green for Elementals, and black for naval forces.

Clan daggerstars, by branch of service

Clan	Branch	Insignia
All	MechWarrior
All	Aerospace fighter
All	Elemental
All	Naval
All	Nova Commander (MechWarrior CO w/Elementals)
All	Nova Commander (Elemental CO w/Mechs)
All	Nova Commander (ASF CO w/Elementals)
All	Nova Commander (Elemental CO w/ASF)
All	Nova Commander (MechWarrior CO w/ASF)
All	Nova Commander (ASF CO w/Mechs)
Snow Raven	Armor[13]
Snow Raven	Conventional Infantry[13]
Snow Raven	Support[13]
Steel Viper	Conventional Infantry[14]
Steel Viper	Armor[14]

ComStar/Word of Blake[edit]

Due to their unique base six structure, neither ComStar nor the Word of Blake Militia use the rank of private. Instead, soldiers are identified as acolytes.^[6]

ComStar acolytes use a ComStar logo with a gray halo to show their rank. Word of Blake acolytes use a brass medallion. Insignia shows theta symbol, indicating JumpShip/WarShip crew. Other service branches replace theta with appropriate Greek letter.

Com Guard/Word of Blake Militia Insignia

Rank	Com Guards Insignia	Word of Blake Militia Insignia
Acolyte

Free Rasalhague Republic[edit]

The KungsArmé uses the rank of private, but they use the Swedish term. Thus an infantry squad rifle carrier has the rank of menig.^[15] These soldiers wear a blue patch with an orange cross with two small orange squares appearing in the bottom corners as their rank insignia.

KungsArmé Military Rank Insignia

Rank	Insignia
Menig

Periphery Powers[edit]

Magistracy of Canopus[edit]

In the Magistracy Armed Forces, any volunteer who successfully completes basic training (and does not receive disciplinary action) is promoted to first ranker. For those serving out their compulsory service, this is the highest rank they will achieve. Those who want to make a career in the MAF will receive advanced training, typically from their lance corporal.^[16][17] Their rank insignia is similar to a volunteer's, but has a second smaller silver-edged blue green-diamond inside it.

Magistracy Armed Forces Insignia

Rank	Insignia
First Ranker

Taurian Defense Force[edit]

Infantry in the Taurian Defense Force are still known as recruits, though they will have already gone through their eighteen weeks of basic training when they are assigned to a field unit. They wear a silver ring with a red center as their rank insignia.^[18][19][20]

Taurian Defense Force Insignia

Rank	Insignia
Corporal

Marian Hegemony[edit]

In the Hegemony Armed Forces, a miles is a soldier who has successfully completed basic training in addition to the rank used by HAF recruits.^[21] They wear no rank insignia.

Outworlds Alliance[edit]

The Alliance Military Corps identifies all its lowest-level soldiers as defender. This has to do with the fact that the AMC is not granted much respect by the average citizen of the Outworlds Alliance.^[22] They wear a single green circle on their lapel to show their membership in the AMC.

Alliance Military Corps Insignia

Rank	Insignia
Defender

Notes[edit]

• Ranks, when not preceding a name, are not capitalized.^[23]

Ex: The major stood and rendered a salute to General DeChavilier.

• Non-English ranks, with the exception of those used by the Federated Suns or Lyrans, are italicized.^[23]

• For more information, see BattleTechWiki:Manual of Style

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]