Private first class (E-2)

How to read it

The Marine Corps’ rank list puts private first class at E-2, one step above private (E-1) and below lance corporal (E-3). A private wears no insignia, so the single chevron is the first one a Marine wears. The lance corporal above adds crossed rifles under the chevron. The Department of Defense says service members in pay grades E-1 through E-3 are usually in some kind of training status or on their initial assignment.

Also searched as: E-2 marines, PFC.

Marine or Army private first class?

The same title sits at different pay grades. In the Army, one chevron on its own is private second class, E-2, the same pay grade as a Marine PFC. The Army’s private first class is E-3, and its insignia is one chevron above one arc. A Marine PFC with one plain chevron is therefore one pay grade below an Army PFC.