Pilot officer
Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; PLTOFF in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer.
| Pilot officer | |
|---|---|
Shoulder and sleeve insignia of a pilot officer from the Royal Air Force | |
| Service branch | Air forces |
| Abbreviation | Plt Off / PLTOFF |
| NATO rank code | OF-1 |
| Non-NATO rank | O-1 |
| Formation | 1 April 1918 (RAF) |
| Next higher rank | Flying officer |
| Next lower rank | Acting pilot officer |
| Equivalent ranks | |
| Related articles | |
| History | Royal Naval Air Service |
It has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and is equivalent to a second lieutenant in the British Army or the Royal Marines. The Royal Navy has no exact equivalent rank, and a pilot officer is senior to a Royal Navy midshipman and junior to a Royal Navy sub-lieutenant. In the Australian Armed Forces, the rank of pilot officer is equivalent to acting sub lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy.
The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was "assistant section officer".