General of the Army (United States)
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- Please see "General of the Army" for other nations which use this rank.
General of the Army is historically the second most senior rank in the United States Army, equivalent to a Field Marshal in other militaries.
Origins of the rank
In an Act of the United States Congress on March 3, 1799, Congress provided "that a Commander of the United States shall be appointed and commissioned by the style of General of the Armies of the United States and the present office and title of Lieutenant General shall thereafter be abolished."
The proposed senior General rank was not bestowed, however, and when George Washington died, he was listed as a Lieutenant General on the rolls of the United States Army. Thus, a policy was established (whose exact reasons are lost in history) that the senior-most General rank to be held in the Regular Army of the United States would be that of Major General.
First version
On July 25, 1866, the U.S. Congress established the rank of "General of the Army of the United States" for Ulysses S. Grant. When appointed General of the Army, Grant wore the rank insignia of four stars and coat buttons arranged in three groups of four.
After Grant became President, he tapped William T. Sherman to fill the post of General of the Army, effective March 4, 1869. In 1872, Sherman ordered the insignia changed to two stars with the arms of the United States in between.
By an Act of 1 June 1888, the grade of Lieutenant General was discontinued and merged in that of General of the Army, which was then conferred upon Lieutenant General Philip H Sheridan. The rank of General of the Army ceased to exist upon the death of Sheridan on 5 August 1888 and the highest rank of the United States Army was again the two star Major General rank.
Unlike the 1944 rank with a similar title, General of the Army in the 1866-1888 period was equivalent to a modern-day four star general. The unique title reflected the fact that only one officer could hold the rank at any time.
Second version
The insignia for General of the Army, as created in 1944, consisted of five stars in a pentagonal pattern, with points touching. The five officers who have held the 1944 version of General of the Army were:
| • | George C. Marshall | 16 December 1944 |
| • | Douglas MacArthur | 18 December 1944 |
| • | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 20 December 1944 |
| • | Henry H. Arnold | 21 December 1944 |
| • | Omar Bradley | 20 September 1950 |
The timing of the first four appointments was to correspond to the appointment of the U.S. Navy's five-star admirals to establish both a clear order of seniority and a near-equivalence between the services.
A historical rumor states that the reason the rank of General of the Army was so named, instead of the United States military creating a rank of Field Marshal, is so that George Marshall would not be known as "Marshal Marshall". Most military sources agree that this had little to do with the naming of General of the Army, and more likely the rank was named after its 19th century counterpart and also since the rank of Field Marshal was considered by the U.S. military to be a strictly European rank.
Following the establishment of the United States Air Force in 1947, the equivalent rank of General of the Air Force was established. The only person to hold the rank of General of the Air Force was Henry H. Arnold.
Modern usage
There have been no officers appointed to the rank of General of the Army since Omar Bradley and, in the 21st century U.S. military, further appointments are highly unlikely, unless the United States were to become involved in a major war on the scale of World War II.
In the 1990s, the Defense Department gave some indication that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would possibly one day be a position worthy of the rank General of the Army. This was more of a rumor, however, with Congressional sources indicating there were no plans to promote even the most successful of modern day Generals to the rank of General of the Army.
In 1994 and 1995 there was some consideration by President Bill Clinton and his senior staff of nominating Colin Powell for the rank of General of the Army, but they decided against it because they could not guarantee it would pass Congress and also because General Powell was then viewed as a possible Republican presidential candidate in the 1996 election.
The rank of General of the Army is still maintained as a rank of the U.S. military and could again be bestowed pending approval of the United States Congress. If appointed, the rank of General of the Army would carry a pay grade of O-11. Currently, official U.S. military policy is that General of the Army, General of the Air Force, and Fleet Admiral are only to be used in time of war where the commanding officer must be equal to or of higher rank than those commanding armies from another nation.
Regulations concerning the rank of General of the Army state that any officer holding the position will remain on active duty for life. It was for this reason that Dwight Eisenhower resigned his commission to serve as President of the United States, since the office of president can not legally be filled by an active duty U.S. military officer. Eisenhower's rank was later commemorated on the signs denoting Interstate Highways as part of the Eisenhower Interstate System, which display 5 silver stars on a light blue background.
General of the Armies
An even higher rank, that being General of the Armies of the United States, has only been conferred twice in the history of the United States armed forces. The title of General of the Armies of the United States was created when General John J. Pershing accepted the commission on 8 September 1919, was retired with that rank on 13 September 1924. He held the rank until his death on 15 July 1948.
Joint Resolution of Congress, Public Law 94-479, dated 11 October 1976 provided for the posthumous appointment of George Washington to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States. The appointment was backdated to July 4, 1776 so that Washington would be considered the most senior General of the United States for all time. As such, the resolution stated that "it is considered fitting and proper that no officer of the United States Army should outrank Lieutenant General George Washington".
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) |
See also
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