General (United States)
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- Please see "General" for other countries which use this rank
General is the most senior rank currently used in the United States Army, United States Air Force and United States Marine Corps. It is designated O-10 on the military pay scale.
Insignia
The different ranks of general are identified by the number of stars worn: a General of the Army (only so far used in World War II) wears five stars, a General four stars, a Lieutenant General three stars, a Major General two stars, and a Brigadier General one star. A "full General" is therefore often referred to as a "four-star general".
During the American Civil War, all generals in the Confederate military, regardless of grade, wore an insignia of three stars in a row with the middle one being slightly larger and placed in an open wreath. One exception to this was General Robert E. Lee who chose to wear the insignia of the lower rank of a (full) colonel (three stars) even after he became overall commander of the Confederate armies in 1865. (Napoleon Bonaparte and Gerd von Rundstedt also wore a colonel's uniform.)
In the 19th century, US generals' rank was also shown by the arrangement of buttons on the coat. This was a feature of generals' dress uniforms until the Army abandoned blue uniforms during World War I.
Modern use
All ranks are commonly addressed as "General".
Brigadier General (BG)
Typically serves as Deputy Commander to the Commanding General of an Army division and assists in overseeing the planning and coordination of a mission. In an infantry brigade not attached to an Army division, a Brigadier General serves as the unit's commander, while a Colonel serves as deputy commander.Major General (MG)
Typically commands division-sized units (10,000 to 15,000 soldiers).Lieutenant General (LTG)
Typically commands corps-sized units (20,000 to 45,000 soldiers).General (GEN)
Commands all operations that fall within his geographical area. The Chief of Staff of the Army is a four-star General.General of the Army (GA)
This rank is only used in time of war where the commanding officer must be equal or of higher rank than those commanding armies from other nations. The last officers to hold this rank served during and immediately following World War II.
U.S. commissioned officer ranks | |||||||||||||
| Student Officer | O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 | O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 | O-11 (wartime only) | Special Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Navy: | MIDN/OC | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | FADM | Admiral of the Navy |
| United States Marine Corps: | Midn | 2ndLt | 1stLt | Capt | Maj | LtCol | Col | BGen | MajGen | LtGen | Gen | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
| United States Army: | CDT/OC | 2LT | 1LT | CPT | MAJ | LTC | COL | BG | MG | LTG | GEN | General of the Army | General of the Armies |
| United States Air Force: | Cadet | 2nd Lt | 1st Lt | Capt | Maj | Lt Col | Col | Brig Gen | Maj Gen | Lt Gen | Gen | General of the Air Force | (no equivalent) |
| United States Coast Guard: | CDT | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
Statutory limits
U.S. law strictly limits the total number of general officers that may be on active duty at any time. This number is set at 302 for the Army, 279 for the Air Force, and 80 for the Marine Corps. Of these, no more than 50% may rank higher than Brigadier General. The percentage of generals ranking higher than Major General is capped at 15.7% for the Army and Air Force and 17.5% for the Marine Corps, and out of that total, no more than 25% may rank as a full General. This typically works out to about thirty full Generals on active duty at a time.
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