Malaysian military ranks

The following tables present the ranks of the Malaysian Armed Forces.^[1]

Rank list

SSM Grade	Equiv.	Type	Army	Navy	Air Force	NATO equivalents of ranks
Usually reserved for His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong		Commander-in-chief^{[note 1]}	Field Marshal	Admiral of the Fleet	Marshal of the Air Force	OF-10
VUZA3^{[note 2]}	Turus II	Commissioned officers	General	Admiral	General	OF-9
VUZA5^{[note 3]}	JUSA A		General	Admiral	General	OF-9
VUZA6	JUSA B		Lieutenant General^{[note 4]}	Vice Admiral^{[note 5]}	Lieutenant General^{[note 6]}	OF-8
VUZA7	JUSA C		Major General	Rear Admiral	Major General RMAF	OF-7
ZA26	54		Brigadier General	Commodore (lit. First Admiral)^[2]	Brigadier General RMAF	OF-6
ZA24	52		Colonel	Captain	Colonel RMAF	OF-5
ZA22	48		Lieutenant Colonel	Commander	Lieutenant Colonel RMAF	OF-4
ZA20	46A		Major	Lieutenant Commander	Major RMAF	OF-3
ZA18	44		Captain	Lieutenant	Captain RMAF	OF-2
ZA16	42		Lieutenant	Sub Lieutenant	Lieutenant RMAF	OF-1
ZA15	41		Second Lieutenant	Acting Sub Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant RMAF	OF-1
ZAL13/ZAL15			Officer Cadet	Midshipman	Officer Cadet	OF(D)
ZAL13/ZAL15			Officer Cadet	Officer Cadet	Officer Cadet	OF(D)
ZA12	38	Other ranks	Warrant Officer I	Warrant Officer I	Warrant Officer I	OR-9
ZA10	36		Warrant Officer II	Warrant Officer II	Warrant Officer II	OR-8
ZA8	32		Staff Sergeant^{[note 7]}	Chief Petty Officer	Flight Sergeant	OR-7
ZA6	29		Sergeant	Petty Officer	Sergeant	OR-6
ZA4	22		Corporal	Leading Seaman	Corporal	OR-4
ZA2	20		Lance Corporal	Able Seaman	Leading Aircraftman	OR-3
ZA1	19		Private^{[note 8]}	Ordinary Seaman	Aircraftman	OR-1
ZAL1			Recruit	Recruit	Recruit

Rank table

This table shows the rank structure and epaulette insignia from 1963 until today. For the ranks in the Malaysian Army, the shoulder board rank insignia for Senior Officers and Junior Officers comprises the star from the Order of the Crown of the Realm.

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers, based on the No. 2 and No. 3 Dress Uniform. For the insignia of the RMAF, the "KEHORMAT" was written for honorary officers.

Rank group	General / flag officers					Senior officers			Junior officers
Malaysian Army^[3] v t e
Malaysian Army^[3] v t e	Fil marsyal	Jeneral	Leftenan jeneral	Mejar jeneral	Brigedier jeneral	Kolonel	Leftenan kolonel	Mejar	Kapten	Leftenan	Leftenan muda
Royal Malaysian Navy^[3] v t e
Royal Malaysian Navy^[3] v t e	Laksamana armada	Laksamana	Laksamana madya	Laksamana muda	Laksamana pertama	Kepten	Komander	Leftenan komander	Leftenan	Leftenan madya	Leftenan muda
Royal Malaysian Air Force^[3] v t e
Royal Malaysian Air Force^[3] v t e	Marsyal tentera udara	Jeneral TUDM	Leftenan jeneral TUDM	Mejar jeneral TUDM	Brigedier jeneral TUDM	Kolonel TUDM	Leftenan kolonel TUDM	Mejar TUDM	Kapten TUDM	Leftenan TUDM	Leftenan muda TUDM
Rank group	General / flag officers					Senior officers			Junior officers

Student officer ranks

Rank group	Student officer
Royal Malaysian Navy^[3]
Royal Malaysian Navy^[3]	Pegawai kadet kanan	Pegawai kadet

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and enlisted personnel.

Rank group	Warrant officers		Senior NCOs		Junior NCOs		Enlisted
Malaysian Army^[4] v t e								No insignia
Malaysian Army^[4] v t e	Pegawai waran I	Pegawai waran II	Staf sarjan	Sarjan	Koperal	Lans koperal		Prebet	Rekrut
Royal Malaysian Navy^[5] v t e								No insignia
Royal Malaysian Navy^[5] v t e	Pegawai waran I	Pegawai waran II	Bintara kanan	Bintara muda	Laskar kanan	Laskar kelas I	Laskar kelas II	Perajurit muda
Royal Malaysian Air Force v t e							No insignia	No insignia
Royal Malaysian Air Force v t e	Pegawai waran udara I	Pegawai waran udara II	Flait sarjan	Sarjan udara	Koperal udara	Laskar udara kanan	Laskar udara I	Laskar udara II	Perajurit muda
Rank group	Warrant officers		Senior NCOs		Junior NCOs		Enlisted

Other military-based organization ranks

Royal Johor Military Force

The RJMF ranks are equal to Army ranks, but different pay grades. RJMF have their own service grade and basic salary scale.^[6]

Commissioned officers

The following are rank insignia for commissioned officers for the Royal Johor Military Force.

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
Royal Johor Military Force v t e																									No insignia
Royal Johor Military Force v t e	Komandan						Mejar Jeneral		Brigedier Jeneral						Mejar		Kapten		Leftenan			Leftenan Muda			Pegawai Kadet

Other ranks

The following are rank insignia for other ranks for the Johor Military Force.

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
Royal Johor Military Force v t e																																			No insignia
Royal Johor Military Force v t e							Pegawai Waren/Sarjan Mejar		Staf Sarjan		Sarjan												Korporal				Lans Korporal								Prebet	Rekrut

Malaysia Coast Guard

Malaysia Coast Guard ranks are equal to the Royal Malaysian Navy's ranks, but the MCG has their service grade and basic salary scale. In addition the MCG does not use the executive curl but instead, the badge of the MCG.

RELA Corps

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers
The People's Volunteer Corps v t e
The People's Volunteer Corps v t e			Chief Commissioner Ketua Pesuruhjaya		Deputy Chief Commissioner Timbalan Ketua Pesuruhjaya		Commissioner Pesuruhjaya		Deputy Commissioner Timbalan Pesuruhjaya		Senior Assistant Commissioner Penolang Pesuruhjaya Kanan		Assistant Commissioner Penolang Pesuruhjaya		Superintendent Penguasa		Senior Deputy Superintendent Timbalan Penguasa Kanan		Deputy Superintendent Timbalan Penguasa Kanan			Senior Assistant Superintendent Penolang Penguasa Kanan

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
The People's Volunteer Corps v t e
The People's Volunteer Corps v t e	Assistant Superintendent I Penolang Penguasa I						Assistant Superintendent II Penolang Penguasa II		Superior Officer I Pegawal tinggi I		Superior Officer II Pegawal tinggi II												Senior Officer I Pegawal Kanan I				Senior Officer II Pegawal Kanan II

RELA Corps ranks are equal to Army ranks, but the RELA Corps has different pay grade. RELA Corps have their basic salary and allowance scale, but RELA Corps have no fixed service grade. Only permanent officer has a salary and allowance like other civil service staff but RELA Corps NCO and lower rank has given an allowance only.

From 2012, RELA Corps rank system was changed and synchronized with the police rank system but still maintaining old insignia.

Notes

^ This rank is usually reserved to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
^ This grade is reserved to the Chief of Defence Force only.
^ This grade is reserved to the Chiefs of Army, Chief of Air Force and Chief of Navy only.
^ Colonel-in-Chiefs of the Army wear this rank.
^ Commodore-in-Chief of the Navy (the Sultan of Selangor) wears this rank.
^ Colonel-in-Chief of the Air Force (the Sultan of Pahang) wears this rank.
^ Malaysia, as a Commonwealth nation, has a rank structure similar to the British Army. This position may be referred to by a variety of names depending on the regiment or corps, such as "Colour Sergeant".
^ Just like the Staff Sergeant rank, the rank of Private has a variety of names depending on the regiment or corps. Other names for the rank of Private are "Ranger", "Gunner" and "Trooper".

References

^ "Pangkat-pangkat Dalam ATM" (in Malay). Retrieved 9 February 2012.
^ Chan, Dawn (2020-12-19). "Rohana, first woman appointed First Admiral in RMN | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Pangkat". mafhq.mil.my (in Malay). Malaysian Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
^ "Kategori Pangkat". army.mod.gov.my/ (in Malagasy). Malaysian Army. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
^ "RMN other ranks". navy.mil.my. Royal Malaysian Navy. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
^ "Jadual Gaji & Sifir Pemindahan Gaji - Keselamatan & Pertahanan" [Salary Schedule & Salary Transfer Code - Security & Defence] (PDF) (in Malay). Public Service Department (Malaysia). 1 July 2007: 194–203. Retrieved 27 August 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)