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...in the military sense. Is there a specified order of rank in an army, a basic chain of command that writers of militaristic fiction should know about? I know the names of the different positions (major, colonel, lieutenant, general, corporal, etc.), but as for the lineup of authority--except for the obvious, I have no idea in what order the ranks proceed.
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It also depends on who/what position is doing the talking and who/what the person doing the talking represents.
Former Military myself and a hugely military famliy (all officers but 1) provides an interesting family re-union.
That being said. A senior NCO (Master Sgt/Cheif Petty Officer/Master Gunnery) while not technically "senior" in rank to a second lt (0-1 or lowest officer rank) will likely give a him an informal chewing out if that officer is a real F-up.
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It depends on branch of service too. Navy uses different ranks, and has things like Admiral that don't exist in other branches of the service (other than the Coast Guard, I think.) Wikipedia is a good bet.
A series my whole family has been a big fan of is called the Brotherhood of War. Each book in the title uses a rank name, and follows one unlikely guy through his progression through the ranks. Author is WEB Griffin. I have no idea how he stands among other writers of military fiction or if he's well regarded, but I always enjoyed his books and found them accurate enough for me (having spent some years living near military installations and friends with many army/air force brats) and interesting.
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I know that every US Marine must know the exact chain of command between himself and the President of the United States. That's from the lowliest Private to the Commandant of the Corps.
I believe there are 13 individuals between a Marine private and the President.
And yes if you are doing military themed fiction, sci-fi or otherwise you should take a few hours to familiarize yourself with chain of command and ranks etc.
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Sorry I slightly misread your post. Yes wiki and google can give you rank listing etc. That said there are some gray areas when dealing with NCO vs CO as mentioned by another poster.
A green LT will technically have seniority over his sergeants, but it is the NCO corp that holds the service together and typically gets things done. So often the senior CO will defer to the a veteran NCO.
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In my opinion the Prince Roger Series is a fantastic SF military series.
Its SF but with classic fantasy themes. If you want a good intro in how to write deep characters in a military setting I don't think you can go wrong with anything John Ringo or David Weber writes.
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