Senior chief petty officer (E-8)
Senior chief petty officer is the eighth enlisted rank in the US Navy, pay grade E-8. On khakis the insignia is the chief’s gold fouled anchor with USN and one silver star above it.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The uniform regulations give senior, master and master chief petty officer of the Navy collar insignia one, two or three silver stars above the anchor’s stock. On dress uniforms the rating badge has the chief’s eagle, chevrons and arc, and stars as the rate requires. The rank sits above Chief petty officer (E-7) (no star) and below Master chief petty officer (E-9) (two stars). Navy.com says senior chiefs lead larger teams, departments and programs and advise command leadership. Under federal pay law, an enlisted member can’t be placed in pay grade E-8 until completing at least 8 years of enlisted service.
Also searched as: E-8 navy, SCPO, senior chief.
Ranks and insignia as the US Navy’s own uniform regulations and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
One star, two or three
The star count tells the chiefs apart: the Chief petty officer (E-7) anchor has none, the senior chief’s one and the master chief’s two.
Read next
- Next in Navy ranksMaster chief petty officer (E-9)Master chief petty officer is the ninth and highest enlisted rank in the US Navy, pay grade E-9. On khakis the insignia is the gold fouled anchor with USN and two silver stars above it.
- The same shape in Accessibility symbolsAudio description symbol (AD)AD stands for audio description: a narrator describes what is happening on screen or on stage in the pauses between the dialogue, for people who are blind or have low vision.
More navy ranks
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with curves and waves, letters and numbers or stars.
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. 4211.1a; 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-8
- U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia, U.S. Navy Ranks & Insignia (navy.com), U.S. Navy Recruiting Command (navy.com), Senior Enlisted Leaders: E-7 to E-9
- 37 U.S.C. § 201: Pay grades, 37 U.S. Code § 201, Pay grades: assignment to; general rules, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, § 201(e)
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
Added . Last updated .