Ranks in MI6 (James Bond)

Catenacci · April 2013

Hi! I have been a lurker here for quite while and then decide to register anyway. So please lmk if somehow I broke rules or the topic may has been discussed before

I've been wondering about the ranks in MI6, clearly M is the top (unless I'm wrong?

). Then how about chief of staff, tanner? And Q, 00 agents, etc. Where are they in the pyramids? Who outranks who? ?:)

Thanks!

Asp9mm · April 2013

M is head. Tanner is obviously his/her CoS and high up in the ranks and out ranks Bond.

Bond doesn't outrank Q and Q doesn't outrank Bond. They are in entirely different departments. Although Q is Head of Department and so technically is higher up in the pecking order than Bond. OO agents hold the same rank and are higher than other field agents. Field agents are not high up in the ranks unless they are heads of section.

Catenacci · April 2013

Asp9mm wrote:

M is head. Tanner is obviously his/her CoS and high up in the ranks and out ranks Bond.

Bond doesn't outrank Q and Q doesn't outrank Bond. They are in entirely different departments. Although Q is Head of Department and so technically is higher up in the pecking order than Bond. OO agents hold the same rank and are higher than other field agents. Field agents are not high up in the ranks unless they are heads of section.

Thank you, thats what I was thinking too, but just based on guessing hence the question.
it means Tanner also able to give orders to 00, can Q does the same? Has he ever done that before in boothroyd era? (None that I could remember of but who knows)

Asp9mm · April 2013

Q can't really give orders to Bond as he is in a different department and nothing to do with field agents. In regards to Q's department and services like IT and weaponry, Q certainly has authority over Bond. Just as Bond would have authority over Q in the field.

Firemass · April 2013

Can you explain the ranks in the film For Your Eyes Only?

Geoffry Keen used to be Sir Frederick Grey and then became Minister of Defense. Or are they one and the same?

Robert Brown used to be Admiral Hargreaves and later became M. Did he get promoted or is he playing a different character ?

the Tanner character must be 2nd in command if he fills in while M is away?

Barbel · April 2013

Gray is the Minister, same character.
Opinion is split on whether Brown' s M is Hargreaves.
Tanner is the No.2 to M.

Catenacci · April 2013

Great information, thanks to you all :007)

DEFIANT 74205 · April 2013

From the novels, we know Bond is a Commander in the Royal Navy, and that M is (or was) an Admiral. He has been seen in the film You Only Live Twice that he was wearing the uniform with a Vice Admiral's epaulettes. The cinematic character of 'Q' is based on the literary character Major Geoffrey Boothroyd.

Technically speaking, a Commander outranks a Major. In practice, however, Major Boothroyd is not directly in Commander Bond's chain of command.

Sir James Moloney · April 2013

The points about the relative ranks of Admiral Sir Miles, Commander Bond and Major Boothroyd are all spot-on (Moneypenny also holds the rank of Second Officer in the WRNS according to YOLT) but it should be pointed out that those ranks are irrelevant within the structure of the SIS as it's not a military organisation. Even if Bond outranked M, M would still be in command of Bond.

Asp9mm · April 2013

Sir James Moloney wrote:

The points about the relative ranks of Admiral Sir Miles, Commander Bond and Major Boothroyd are all spot-on (Moneypenny also holds the rank of Second Officer in the WRNS according to YOLT) but it should be pointed out that those ranks are irrelevant within the structure of the SIS as it's not a military organisation. Even if Bond outranked M, M would still be in command of Bond.

Spot on. Military ranks have no bearing on the hierarchy within MI6 or the Security Services.

always shaken · April 2013

IN Flemmings origanal books, yes Bond is a Royal Naval commander wich now holds
a NATO grade of OF4, now when he joins the civil service, he is made a principal officer,
wich has equivalnt NATO rank of a Captain OF5 wich out ranks a army Major. Now Q,even though he is called
Major ,its a rank left over from his army days ,Q is for pay scale purposes a PTO (proffesional and technical officer)
now im only assuming as he has been there years ,he is PTO4 wich (i might be wrong it was a long time ago)
equivalant to a half colonel (LT Col) wich if he visited various bases ,would be afforded
the courtesy and priviledges of that rank (officers mess ect) so a half colonel would not out rank a captian ,but would be equivalant to navy commander now even im confussed

Ranks in MI6 (James Bond)

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