Smaj trumps butter bar any day!!!

Everyone has covered the difference pretty well, more of a sum up, You have age, wisdom, experience all at play when discussing the rank. You also have paygrade, which might make it simple. (im not saying the respect between different ranks, matters in regard to pay grade, just a simple example of the difference)

Each service has a version of the naming for the different ranks, the Navy Lieutenant is slightly different than a Marine Corps or even Army Lieutenant when it comes to position. All US services operate on the same paygrade systems Enlisted Pay grade and Officer Pay grade. The enlisted operate from an E-1 to an E-9 scale, as the officers operate from O-1 to O-10. Each pay grade also has time in service that cross reference's to determine what they get per month.

For edification a SgtMaj is an E-9 with more than likely 10 or more years in service (never know with meritorious promotion), The comparison being he is on the top of the Enlisted Scale.

A Lieutenant in most cases is between O-1 to O-3(depends on the service) and has between zero and 5 years service in, being on the lower end of the Officer payscale.

Again, SMAJ trumps Butter BAr!!

One thing that wasnt mentioned was you have a middle rank called the Warrent Officer, which is a tough one to explain in this comparison, but I left a link below to explain. A WO or CWO technically out ranks SgtMaj, but is  below any Lieutenant. In some cases a CWO-4 is gonna command a lot more respect than some captains, majors, and SgtMaj's. There is technical then there is perspective.

Here are the links to all service rank structure and the pay grade table, fyi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_enlisted_rank_insignia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_officer_rank_insignia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_enlisted_rank_insignia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_officer_rank_insignia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps_enlisted_rank_insignia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps_officer_rank_insignia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_enlisted_rate_insignia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_officer_rank_insignia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard#Ranks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_Officer_%28United_States%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_grade

Chew on it:)

Trang