Wow. This thread has really wound some people up. As someone (Churchill?) once said, we really are two nations separated by a common language. Given that the US military strength is 2M against our 200k (on a good day), it should hardly be surprising that we have slightly different systems. So why the big drama over ranks? Even more so when the equivalent of the US Army CW aviator is the RAF Spec Aircrew - it's just that the US Army recognises that you don't need to be a fully commissioned officer to fly a helicopter. So who really has it wrong? Both are employed as pilots first, officers second. All that matters is that each does the job they are paid to do in the context of their own military system.