In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, captain (CAPT) is a senior officer, with the pay grade of O-6. Captain ranks above
Commander and below
Rear Admiral (lower half). Captain is equivalent to a colonel in the other uniformed services.
Navy captains with sea commands in the Surface Warfare community generally command ships of cruiser size or larger. The more senior the officer, the larger the ship. In Naval Aviation, captains with sea commands generally command aircraft carriers, air-capable amphibious assault ships, carrier air wings, functional air wings or special mission air wings or air groups. Commanders of aircraft carrier strike groups and expeditionary strike groups are normally rear admirals, while subordinate destroyer squadron commodores, amphibious squadron commodores, carrier air wing commanders and the individual ship commanding officers within the strike group are of captain rank or lower. In rare instances, the carrier air wing commander may be a Marine Corps colonel who is a Naval Aviator or Naval Flight Officer, while in the expeditionary strike group, the Marine Expeditionary Unit commanding officer will be a Marine Corps colonel.
Navy captains may also fill important senior staff positions or have shore based command assignments, such as commanding officer of naval stations, naval air stations, naval support activities, specialized centers or commanders of test wings or training air wings.
NOAA Corps and PHS Commissioned Corps captains are senior non-combatant officers that serve as directors or ranking supervisors in their respective Uniformed Service Corps.
