Private (E-2)

How to read it

The Army’s uniform guide, DA Pamphlet 670-1, describes the private second class insignia as one chevron, and says a private at E-1 wears no grade insignia at all. The Army’s ranks page calls PV2 the second most junior rank and the first at which a soldier wears rank insignia; PV1, below it, is the rank of a trainee starting Basic Combat Training. The Department of Defense lists the grade as Private (PV2), pay grade E-2. The next rank up is Private first class (E-3), whose chevron has an arc beneath it.

Also searched as: E-2 army, private second class, PV2.

How a private is addressed

Army Regulation 600-20 gives “Private” as the title of address for both grades of private and for a private first class, and the Army Recruiting Command’s customs training says the same of privates E-1 through private first class.

One chevron in the Marine Corps

A single chevron is a different grade in the Marine Corps. The Department of Defense lists the Marines’ E-2 as private first class, the title that is E-3 in the Army.