Private first class (E-3)

How to read it

DA Pamphlet 670-1 describes the private first class insignia as one chevron above one arc, and on the Army’s cloth insignia the lowest chevron joins the topmost arc at each side. The Department of Defense lists the grade as E-3. It sits between private (E-2), whose insignia is the chevron alone, and Specialist (E-4). The Army’s ranks page describes a PFC as a soldier who carries out orders issued to them, and the Department of Defense says service members at E-1 to E-3 are usually in training or on their first assignment.

Also searched as: E-3 army, PFC.

Private first class in the Army and the Marine Corps

The two services use the same title for different grades. In the Army a private first class is E-3; in the Marine Corps, private first class is E-2, according to the Department of Defense’s insignia chart.

How a private first class is addressed

As “Private”. Army Regulation 600-20 gives that title of address for PFCs, and the Army Recruiting Command’s customs training says privates E-1 through private first class are addressed as “Private” followed by their last name.