Pilot Officer

A Pilot Officer's sleeve/shoulder insignia

Pilot Officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; PLTOFF in the RAAF and RNZAF; P/O in the former RCAF and frequently in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below Flying Officer. It normally denotes an Officer who has elected to join as a non-graduate direct entrant Officer, as those with Degrees, usually only serve a week at the rank after graduation from the RAF College Cranwell. Some newly commissioned officers hold the lower grade of Acting Pilot Officer.

It has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and is equivalent to a Second Lieutenant in the British Army or the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy has no exactly equivalent rank, and a Pilot Officer is senior to a Royal Navy Midshipman, but junior to a Sub-Lieutenant.

The rank title does not imply that an officer in the rank of Pilot Officer is a pilot. Some Pilot Officers are aircrew, whilst many are ground branch officers.

The rank insignia consists of a thin blue band on slightly wider black band. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform.

Other air forces

The rank of Pilot Officer is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth, including the Indian Air Force (IAF), Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) used the rank until the three armed services were unified into the Canadian Forces in 1968 and Army-type ranks were adopted. A Canadian Pilot Officer then became a Second Lieutenant.

See also

* RAF officer ranks
* Comparative military ranks