Pay grades

O-10: general and admiral

Four stars: service chiefs, the Joint Chiefs and combatant commanders. Titles by service, insignia and the 2026 pay.

O-10: rank in each service, insignia and 2026 pay

Used for the 2026 basic pay only.

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Army, O-10 · Commissioned officer

General (GEN)

General officer

Army General insignia
General
Marine CorpsGeneral (Gen)
NavyAdmiral (ADM)
Air ForceGeneral (Gen)
Space ForceGeneral (Gen)
Coast GuardAdmiral (ADM)
2026 basic pay, over 32 years$18,999.90 a month

Limited to the Executive Schedule level II rate for 2026 (DFAS officer note 4).

Same pay grade means the same basic pay in every service. Basic pay only: housing, food and special pays are not included.

Everything about O-10

O-10 is the highest commissioned officer pay grade in peacetime, marked by four stars. It is general in the Army (GEN), the Marine Corps, the Air Force and the Space Force (Gen), and admiral (ADM) in the Navy and the Coast Guard. Four-star officers include the chiefs of each service, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of combatant commands, the posts DFAS lists in its officer note on the pay cap. The Army notes that a general typically has over 30 years of service. Above O-10, the five-star ranks of general of the Army, fleet admiral and general of the Air Force are "reserved for wartime only" on the Department of War chart. In 2026 every O-10 cell of the basic pay table is $18,999.90 a month.

What is a promotion worth in basic pay?

O-9 to O-10, over 24 years

+$0.00 / mo

O-9$18,999.90
O-10$18,999.90
Over a year+$0

Same years of service in both grades, 2026 DFAS table.

Open the full pay calculator →

Ranks and pay tables read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources

The four-star posts

DFAS names the officers whose pay the level II cap limits: the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Chief of Space Operations, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau and the commanders of unified or specified combatant commands. All are four-star posts.

Quick check: 2026 basic pay

O-10, over 30 years

$18,999.90 / mo

Over a year$227,999
Lowest rate of the grade$18,999.90
Highest rate of the grade$18,999.90

Limited to the Executive Schedule level II rate for 2026 (DFAS officer note 4).

Open the full pay calculator →

Five stars

The Army's page names the five officers who held the 1944 rank of general of the Army: Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Arnold and Bradley. The rank, like fleet admiral, has not been held since the years after World War II. The five-star ranks page gives the details.

O-10 in the six services

Department of War rank chart, read on November 1, 2026.
ServiceRankAbbreviationInsignia
ArmyGeneralGENArmy General
Marine CorpsGeneralGenMarine Corps General
NavyAdmiralADMNavy Admiral
Air ForceGeneralGenAir Force General
Space ForceGeneralGenSpace Force General
Coast GuardAdmiralADMCoast Guard Admiral

O-10 basic pay in 2026, by years of service

DFAS basic pay table effective January 1, 2026: O-10 rates, shown where they change.
Years of serviceMonthly basic payOver 12 months
Over 20$18,999.90$227,999

Questions people ask

What is O-10 called in each branch?

Army: General; Marine Corps: General; Navy: Admiral; Air Force: General; Space Force: General; Coast Guard: Admiral. The title changes with the service; the pay grade, and so the basic pay, does not. Between services, the Department of War chart notes, rank and precedence are determined by pay grade, so a O-10 of one service ranks with a O-10 of any other.

What is the annual basic pay of O-10 in 2026?

Twelve months at the first rate of the O-10 row make $227,999, and twelve months at the top of the row $227,999. At over 32 years of service, a common point for the grade, the year comes to $227,999. These are amounts before tax, without allowances, special pays or bonuses.

How much is O-10 basic pay in 2026?

From $18,999.90 a month at over 20 years of service to $18,999.90 at the top of the row, under the DFAS table effective January 1, 2026. That is basic pay alone: the housing and food allowances, which most members also receive, are paid on top and depend on location and family.

Look up next

O-9

Lieutenant General and Vice Admiral (VADM): three stars, capped pay from twenty years.

Officer ranks

O-1 to O-10: company and field grade, generals and admirals, two naming systems and the 2026 pay cap.

2026 pay chart

Every 2026 basic pay rate, E-1 to O-10, by years of service, with the calculator and the DFAS notes.

Pay grades explained

E, W and O: what a pay grade is, how it differs from a rank, and why it sets pay in every service.

Official pages behind this page

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Independent publisher of a rank, insignia and basic pay reference for the six US armed forces, built on the Department of War rank chart and the DFAS pay tables

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Military ranks and basic pay 2026, read on the Department of War chart and the DFAS tables, last checked on