In James Cameron’s Aliens, what is Ripley’s military rank?

In James Cameron’s Aliens, Ellen Ripley holds the rank of warrant officer.

Ripley is identified as Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley, a former commercial space-freighter officer who survived the events of Alien. After decades in suspended animation, she is recruited to advise a Colonial Marine expedition sent to investigate the lost colony of Hadley’s Hope.

Sigourney Weaver’s performance presents Ripley as both a practical survivor and a protective parent figure to Newt. Although she is not a member of the Colonial Marines, her experience with the alien organism makes her the mission’s most knowledgeable adviser.

Ripley’s rank is sometimes confused with the military titles used by the Marines around her, including Sergeant Apone and Corporal Hicks. Her formal title is warrant officer, reflecting her technical and operational background rather than command of the Marine unit.