STANAG 2116 NATO codes for grades of military personnel

What it is

STANAG 2116 is a NATO Standardization Agreement, currently Edition 7, dated 13 January 2021. It is not a technical specification. It is the agreement by which NATO nations commit to implement APersP-01, Edition A, the Allied Publication that sets out NATO codes for grades of military personnel. The document's own aim is to respond to an interoperability requirement: "to standardize NATO codes of rank for military personnel and indicate correspondence with nations ranks." Read on its own, STANAG 2116 requires nothing of a supplier or contractor. Its obligations run to nations and to NATO's own structures, and the rank-code detail itself sits in APersP-01, not in this cover.

Who it binds, and how

STANAG 2116 is explicit that it binds nations rather than organisations. Its letter of promulgation describes the enclosed agreement as one "which has been ratified by member nations, as reflected in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD), is promulgated herewith." Under "Agreement," participating nations agree to implement APersP-01, Edition A - a national commitment, made by ratification, not a duty a supplier signs up to by reading this document. Ratification and implementation are kept separate: the text invites nations that have not yet reported their position to "advise the NSO of their intention regarding its ratification and implementation." So "is STANAG 2116 mandatory" has no single answer: it depends on whether a given nation has ratified and implemented it, and this cover names no supplier, manufacturer or contractor at all.

What the agreement commits nations to

The interoperability requirement STANAG 2116 responds to is "to standardize NATO codes of rank for military personnel and indicate correspondence with nations ranks." The STANAG states it "is effective upon receipt for use by the participating nations and NATO bodies" - a NATO-wide mechanism. Its implementation names two distinct users: nations, who work the codes "using NATO codes in their correspondence to designate the rank military personnel established within NATO," incorporating them into personnel training and into the correspondence between national ranks and NATO codes; and NATO itself, using the codes "for descriptions and job descriptions within its structures." Partner nations are separately invited, rather than obliged, to report their own adoption.

A cover agreement, not the rank codes themselves

A reader who only has STANAG 2116 in hand does not yet have the codes it points to. The rank list and the correspondence tables between national ranks and NATO codes sit in APersP-01, Edition A. STANAG 2116 names no other related document: "other related documents" is answered "None." Edition 7, 13 January 2021, supersedes STANAG 2116, Edition 6, dated 25 February 2010.

Reporting and review

National responses on ratification are recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database, and Allies provide their ratification details through the electronic reporting tool. Nations and NATO bodies provide their implementation details the same way, and partner nations are invited to provide theirs. The STANAG itself "is to be reviewed in accordance with AAP-03," with the result "recorded within the NSDD" - a check on whether the agreement is still current, not an audit of any nation's rank administration. The agreement is supervised under the authority of NATO's Military Committee Land structure (MC, MCLSB, LO, SLTSP).

What it does not cover

STANAG 2116 names no rank list, pay grade or promotion criterion of its own - that detail sits entirely in APersP-01. It also names no assessment or certification scheme: the only stated check is that the STANAG itself is reviewed periodically, not that a nation, an organisation or an individual is certified.