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General officer
A '''general officer''' is an Officer (armed forces)|officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. '''General''' can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is just called general.
All General officer ranks
The various grades of general officer are at the top of the rank structure; lower-ranking officers are known as field officers. The General Officer ranks came about by adding General as an adjective to existing names of ranks, although in some countries the highest general officers are titled Field Marshal or Marshal. All officers who commanded more than a single regiment (the most significant level of unit) came to be known as a "general officer".
Common systems
There are two common systems of using general ranks.
One form, the old European system, is used in the United Kingdom from which it eventually spread to the Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth and the United States|United States of America. The system is not British in origin, and variations of this system were once used throughout Europe.
The other is derived from the French Revolution, where generals' ranks are named according to the unit they (theoretically) command.
Old European system
More information about this system can be found on the page: Général.
Other variations
Other nomenclatures for general officers include the titles and/or ranks:
- Adjutant General
- Commandant-General
- Inspector General
- Captain General
- General of the Army (not to be confused with the title Army General)
- General of the Air Force (United States)|General of the Air Force (USA only)
- General of the Armies|General of the Armies of the United States (of America), a title created for General John J. Pershing, and subsequently granted posthumously to George Washington.
- General Admiral|Admiral General (or General Admiral) (German Navy)
- Air General, Aviation General, or General of the Air (Uruguayan Air Force|Uruguayan & Chilean Air Forces; roughly equivalent to Air Chief Marshal and Air Vice-Marshal respectively)
- Wing General and Group General (Mexican Air Force; roughly equivalent to Air Commodore and Acting Air Commodore respectively)
- Lieutenant-Colonel General (A Serb rank immediately inferior to Colonel General, and roughly equivalent to Commonwealth/US Major General)
- Director General (a common admistrative term sometimes used as an appointment in military services)
- Director General of National Defence (most senior rank in the Mexican Armed Forces)
- Controller General (general officer rank in the French National Police)
- Prefect General (the most senior rank of the Argentine Naval Prefecture)
- Master-General of Ordnance
The specific General rank
In the Old European system, a General, without prefix or suffix (and sometimes referred to informally as a "full general"), is usually the most senior type of general, above Lieutenant General and directly below Field Marshal. Usually it is the most senior peace-time rank, with more senior ranks (for example, Field Marshal) being used only in wartime, or as honorary titles.
In some armies, however, the rank of Captain General, General of the Army, Army General or Colonel General occupied or occupies this position. Depending on circumstances and the army in question, these ranks may be considered to be equivalent to a full General or to a Field Marshal.
The rank of General came about as a "Captain-General", the captain of an army in general, i.e. the whole army. The rank of Captain-General began appearing around the time of the organization of professional armies in the 17th century. In most countries "Captain-General" contracted to just "General".
General ranks by country
The following articles deal with the rank of General, or its equivalent, as it is or was employed in the militaries of those countries.
- General (Australia)|General (Australia)
- General (Canada)|General (Canada)
- Shang Jiang (China - PRC and ROC)
- Kindral (Estonia)
- Général (France)
- General (Germany)|General (Germany)
- Obergruppenführer (Nazi Germany, SS rank)
- Strategos (Greece)
- Aluf (Israel)
- Italian Army Ranks|Generale (Italy)
- Daejang (Korea - DPRK and ROK)
- General (Mexico)|General (Mexico)
- General (Switzerland)|General (Switzerland)
- General (United Kingdom)|General (United Kingdom)
- General (United States)|General (United States)
Image:Australian-Army-General.gif|General (Australia)
Image:BE-Army-OF9.gif|Général/Generaal (Belgium)
Image:Army slip-on Gen.png|Army General (Canada)
Image:Air Force slip-on Gen.png|Air Force General (Canada)
Image:DM-Army-OF9.gif|General (Denmark)
Image:ES-Army-OF21.jpg| Army Kindral (Estonia)
Image:Général d'armée.svg|Général (France)
Image:GR-Army-OF9.gif|Strategos (Greece)
image:IT-Army-OF9a.svg|Italian Army Ranks|Generale (Italy)
Image:Mexican Military Gral-secretario.gif|Mexican Army Ranks|General (Mexico)
Image:Nl-landmacht-generaal.svg|Royal Netherlands Army|Army Military ranks of the Dutch armed forces|Generaal (Netherlands)
Image:Nl-luchtmacht-generaal.svg|Royal Netherlands Air Force|Air Force Military ranks of the Dutch armed forces|Generaal (Netherlands)
Image:POL-Army-OF9.gif|Polish Armed Forces rank insignia|General (Poland)
Image:ROCA-1GEN.jpg|Shang Jiang (Republic of China|ROC)
Image:SL-Army-OF9.gif|Military of Slovenia|General (Slovenia)
Image:SP-Army-OF9.gif|Spanish Army|General (Spanish Armed Forces|Spain)
Image:CH Gen.gif|General (Switzerland)
Image:TR-Army-OF9a.gif|Chief of the General Staff (Turkey)
Image:TR-Army-OF9b.gif|İlker Başbuğ|Commander of the Turkish Army
Image:UK-Army-OF9.gif|General (United Kingdom)
Image:US Army O10 shoulderboard.svg|US Army General (United States)
Image:US-O10 insignia.svg|General (United States)
Air Force and Navy equivalents
Some countries (such as the United States) use the General Officer ranks for both the army and the air force; others only use the General Officer ranks for the army, while in the air force they use Air Officers as the equivalent of General Officers. They use the air force rank of Air Marshal as the equivalent of the specific army rank of General. This latter group includes the United Kingdom|British Royal Air Force and those based on it (e.g. India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Nigeria etc.).
In most navy|navies Flag Officers are the equivalent of General Officers, and the naval rank of Admiral is equivalent to the specific army rank of General. A noteworthy historical exception was the Oliver Cromwell|Cromwellian naval rank ''General at sea''. In recent years in the American service there is a tendency to use "Flag Officer" and "Flag Rank" to refer to generals and admirals of the services collectively.
See also
- Generalissimo
- Général
- Shogun
- Comparative military ranks
External links
- Generals of World War II
- Schema-root.org: US Generals News feeds for US Generals in the news
- Marines.mil: General Officer Biographies Biographies of United States Marine Corps General Officers
- Bios & Information on Generals of Western History Information on 10 Generals who influenced Western History
Category:Military ranks
Category:Generals|
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Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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