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
Counting stars is the quickest way to tell the chiefs apart. Look-alikes are the Chief petty officer (E-7) anchor with no star and the master chief’s with two.
More navy ranks
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)
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research