The Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 2006

Rank or status U.K.

3.—(1) Where, for the purposes of any award under Part II or III or this Order in respect of the disablement or death of a member of the armed forces, the member's rank has to be determined, it shall be determined by reference to the relevant rank of the member as set out in Part I of Schedule 1 or Part I of Schedule 2 respectively.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this article, the relevant rank of a member shall be whichever is the highest of the following ranks, namely—

(a) the substantive rank held by him on the date on which he was last on full pay prior to the termination of his service;

(b) where on that date he held war substantive rank, or paid temporary or paid acting rank which would then have been allowed to reckon for the purpose of calculating service retired pay or the rank element of a service pension if he were eligible for such retired pay or pension, that war substantive rank, or paid temporary or paid acting rank, as the case may be;

(c) the substantive, war substantive, paid temporary or paid acting rank held by the member on any of the following dates, namely—

(i) the date on which he sustained the wound or injury, or was first removed from duty on account of the disease, on which the claim to the award is based,

(ii) where the member suffered aggravation of the injury on which the claim to the award is based (being aggravation which, in the case of death, persisted until death) as a result of service after the date mentioned in subparagraph (c)(i) of this paragraph, the date of the removal from duty on account of the aggravation, or, if there was no such removal from duty, the date of the termination of his service;

(d) in the case of an award in respect the death of a member of the military forces who held brevet rank, that rank, so however that the brevet rank of colonel shall be treated as being the equivalent rank of lieutenant-colonel;

(e) in the case of an officer in the air forces transferred from a non-flying branch to the general duties branch for aircrew duties, or of an airman re-mustered to an aircrew category, the substantive, war substantive or paid temporary rank held immediately before his transfer or re-mustering;

(f) in the case of a member of the air forces who, immediately before becoming such a member, was a member of the military forces, and who was transferred to the Royal Air Force for aircrew duties in the general duties branch or for duties in an aircrew category or to the Royal Air Force Regiment, the rank which is equivalent to the substantive or war substantive rank in the military forces which he held immediately before his transfer.

(3) In the case of a member of the Reserve or Auxiliary Forces, the relevant rank shall be—

(a) the paid rank held by him or, where pay was not in issue, the rank for which pay would have been in issue if he had been entitled to receive pay, on the date on which he sustained the wound or injury, or on which he was first removed from duty on account of the disease, on which the claim to the award is based; or

(b) if there was no such occurrence, the highest rank (ascertained in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph) held by him during the relevant period of service; or

(c) where the member suffered aggravation of the injury on which the claim to the award is based (being aggravation which, in the case of death, persisted until death) as a result of service after the date or period mentioned in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph, the date of the removal from duty on account of the aggravation, or, if there was no such removal from duty, the highest rank (ascertained in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph) held by him during such service.

(4) Where death is the result of, or is hastened by, more than one injury and different ranks were held when some or all of the injuries were sustained, an award under Part III shall be at a rate calculated by reference only to the higher or highest of those different ranks.

(5) For the purposes of an award in respect of the death of a retired officer who has been recalled to service or otherwise taken into employment as a commissioned officer, the relevant rank shall be the rank in which he was employed, or the rank appropriate to the appointment in which he was employed, at the date on which he was last on full pay prior to the termination of his service, or at any of the dates mentioned in paragraph (2)(c), whichever is most favourable.

(6) As regards members of the naval forces, the provisions contained in the principal Naval Regulations as to equivalent ranks of officers and ratings for the purposes of retired pay, pension or like grant thereunder, and as to the classification of different categories of ratings, shall have effect for the purposes of this Order.

(7) As regards members of the military forces, the classification of the ranks of soldiers set out in the Pension Warrant shall have effect for the purposes of this Order.

(8) As regards members of the air forces, any references in this Order to a warrant officer shall be treated as excluding a reference to a warrant officer, 2^nd class, and any reference to an aircraftman shall be treated as including a reference to an aircraft apprentice, an apprentice clerk and a boy entrant.

(9) For the purposes of any award under this Order, a Chaplain to the military forces shall be treated as holding the rank which is laid down as appropriate in his case in the Pay Warrant and a Chaplain to the naval or air forces shall be treated as holding such rank as is, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, appropriate in his case having regard to the length of his service, and the provisions made in the principal Naval Regulations or, as the case may be, the principal Air Force Regulations, as to the grant of retired pay, pension, allowances or gratuities to or in respect of Chaplains with that length of service.

(10) Where the relevant rank held by the member is not one mentioned in Schedule 2, for the purposes of this Order his relevant rank shall be such as the Secretary of State shall determine in the light of the available evidence.

(11) The foregoing provisions of this article shall, where appropriate, apply in relation to women members, any reference to a rank being treated where necessary as a reference to a status equivalent to that rank.