Master chief petty officer of the Navy (E-9)
The master chief petty officer of the Navy (MCPON) is the Navy’s most senior enlisted sailor, pay grade E-9. The collar insignia is the gold fouled anchor with USN and three silver stars above it.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The Department of Defense calls the post the senior enlisted person of the service, and names the master chief petty officer of the Navy, with the senior enlisted leaders of the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, as the spokespersons of the enlisted force at the highest levels of their services. The uniform regulations give the post three silver stars above the anchor on the collar, and on the dress rating badge three gold stars above the eagle with one gold star in place of the specialty mark. It sits above Master chief petty officer (E-9), whose anchor has two stars.
Also searched as: MCPON.
Ranks and insignia as the US Navy’s own uniform regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
The other three-star anchor
The senior enlisted advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also wears three stars above the anchor on the collar. The regulations tell the two rating badges apart: both have three gold stars above the eagle, but in the middle the MCPON has one gold star and the chairman’s senior enlisted advisor has an eagle surrounded by four gold stars.
More navy ranks
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Sources
- Navy Uniform Regulations, articles 4211–4214: CPO rate insignia, United States Navy Uniform Regulations (NAVPERS 15665J), arts. 4211–4214, Navy Personnel Command (MyNavy HR), art. 4211.2a–b; art. 4212.2
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Enlisted insignia, E-9; text; Enlisted text
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research