How Ranks (Current, Past and Squadron) are Determined & Displayed
In USPS there is a hierarchy of Ranks. They are shown below. While Current Rank is always higher than Past Rank, there are corresponding Past Ranks for certain Current Ranks. The exception is "P/C/C" which is always a Past Chief Commander's current rank.
Current Rank
Past Rank
Comments
C/C
P/C/C
V/C
P/V/C
R/C
P/R/C
D/C
P/D/C
Part of National reports to NXO
Stf/C
P/Stf/C
Cdr
P/C
Part of District reports to DXO
N/F/Lt
P/N/F/Lt
N/Chpln
Aide/CC
Website only, see Exception below
D/Lt/C
P/D/Lt/C
D/1st/Lt
D/Lt
Lt/C
P/Lt/C
1st/Lt
Lt
The originator of the hierarchy said, "Technically and by tradition, R/C and D/C are equal, but I had to do something (to distringuish them)... When I set up the hierarchy, I found a banquet seating guide (there was such a thing) to give me the order of precedence".
How is Current Rank determined? Current Rank is determined by a program which is run periodically on the Head Quarters Computer (HQ). It runs through all the positions (jobs) held by an active member to find the position with the highest rank. The results are essentially the same as going down the list below and stopping at the first match.
Position
Rank
Yrs
Chief Commander
C/C
*
Nat Educational Officer (NEO)
V/C
*
Nat Executive Officer (NXO)
V/C
*
Nat Admin Officer (NAO)
V/C
*
Nat Secretary (NSec)
V/C
*
Nat Treasurer (NTr)
V/C
*
Ast NEO, Ast NSec, Ast NTr
R/C
*
Nat Budget Officer, Nat Law Officer
R/C
*
Nat Committee Chair
R/C
*
District Commander
D/C
*
Nat Ast Committee Chair
Stf/C
3
Ast Budget Officer
Stf/C
3
Ast Law Officer
Stf/C
3
Squadron Commander
Cdr
*
Nat Flag Lieutenant
N/F/Lt
*
Nat Chaplain
N/Chpln
Aide to Chief Commander
Aide/CC
District Educational Officer (DEO)
D/Lt/C
3
District Executive Officer (DXO)
D/Lt/C
3
District Admin Officer (DAO)
D/Lt/C
3
District Secretary (DSec)
D/Lt/C
3
District Treasurer (DTr)
D/Lt/C
3
Ast DEO
D/1st/Lt
District Committee Chair
D/Lt
District IT Contact/td>
D/Lt
District District Public Contact
D/Lt
Squadron Educational Officer (SEO)
Lt/C
3
Squadron Executive Officer (XO)
Lt/C
3
Squadron Admin Officer (AO)
Lt/C
3
Squadron Secretary (Sec)
Lt/C
3
Squadron Treasurer (Tr)
Lt/C
3
Ast SEO
1st/Lt
Squadron Committee Chair
Lt
Squadron Law Officer
Lt
Squadron IT Contact
Lt
Squadron Roster Contact
Lt
Squadron Public Contact
Lt
If no Current Rank is found and there is a Past Rank, the Current Rank is set equal to the Past Rank.
How is Past Rank determined? The same process which sets Current Rank sets Past Rank. For those positions (jobs) which are held and have an * in the Yrs column, holding the position is enough to qualify the member for that past rank. For those with a 3 in the Yrs column, the member must hold any combination of the positions listed with that rank for 3 years, at the National, District, or Squadron level, to qualify at that level. The 3 years need not be consecutive. Past Rank is set to the highet qualifying past rank.
Squadron Rank is created using the DB2000 program and in general is not used by HQ or the WebSite. A member's Squadron Rank may be set to any Rank supported by DB2000 by their Roster Contact.
How Ranks are Displayed
The website allows three choices of how Rank is displayed; see Manage your own display options. The first, and default, is Current Rank based on the discussion above. It is the Rank which should be used in formal written communications. The second is "HQ" Rank which modifies Current Rank by applying the following rule: If the Current Rank is less than "D/Lt/C" or "Lt/C" and the past rank is "P/C" or higher it sets Rank equal to "Past Rank". The third displays Rank as Current Rank and if the "HQ" rule would have applied, *s are displayed following the Rank. The number of *s is based on: * for a P/C; ** for a P/Stf/C; *** for a P/R/C or P/D/C; and **** for a P/V/C
Why do we go through this strange process? When a member has a Current Rank which would not qualify to be called "Commander" but has a Past Rank which does, both Ranks are appropriate at meetings and in directories. Both HQ Rank and the enhanced Current with *s displays are designed to aid the viewer in determining the proper "Form of Address". For more informations see
.
DB2000 displays HQ Rank and SQ (Squadron) Rank.
Exception
"Aide/CC" - While both a rank and a position records for Aide to CC exist at HQ, the process does not look at those position records and so never sets the Current Rank to "Aide/CC". Whether it should is being investigated. On the WebSite a check is made for that position and for qualifying individuals the Current Rank is set to "Aide/CC".
