The following 8-slide deck — Updated for 2025! — is designed for research, study, reference, or use by a briefer who already has some familiarity with the PLA enlisted and non-commissioned officer systems. To be used in briefing those who are not familiar with these systems.
Select slides cut in below as stand alone JPEG files may be useful wall charts for reference in your office or classroom, or in use in a PPT slide deck.
This briefing offers translation of each service’s NCOs in the PLA’s unified rank structure, then also offers insight into likely U.S. equivalents they may typically use in translation, presenting their NCO ranks in familiar U.S. service-specific terms, even though technically the PLA does not have any of the service culture unique terms among themselves when speaking in Mandarin – all their ranks are Army derived.
Special Thanks to MSG Zack Migli, USA; MSgt Ava Yuen, USMC; Ken Allen – CASI; Dennis Blasko, Brendan Mulvaney – CASI; Peter Wood; Ben Lowsen; Mike Dahm, and others who helped improve my first effort into Enlisted in the PLA.