Flying Officer

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A Flying Officer's sleeve/shoulder insignia

Flying Officer (Fg Off in the RAF; FLGOFF in the RAAF; FGOFF in the RNZAF; F/O in the former RCAF and frequently in the RAF) is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above Pilot Officer and immediately below Flight Lieutenant.

It has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the British Army or the Royal Marines. However, it is considered superior to the nearest equivalent rank of Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

1 Origins
2 Usage
3 Insignia
4 Other air forces
5 See also

[edit] Origins

On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with Royal Naval Air Service Sub-Lieutenants (titled Flight Sub-Lieutenants) and Royal Flying Corps Lieutenants becoming Lieutenants in the RAF. However, with the creation of the RAF's own rank structure on 1 August 1919, RAF Lieutenants were re-titled as Flying Officers, a rank which has been in continuous use ever since.

Common Military Ranks
Naval Forces	Land/Air Forces	Commonwealth Air Forces
Admiral	General	Air Marshal
Commodore	Brigadier	Air Commodore
Captain	Colonel	Group Captain
Commander	Lieutenant Colonel	Wing Commander
Lieutenant Commander	Major	Squadron Leader
Lieutenant	Captain	Flight Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Flying Officer
Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer
Petty Officer	Sergeant	Sergeant
Leading Rate	Corporal	Corporal
Seaman	Private	Aircraftman

[edit] Usage

The rank title does not imply that an officer in the rank of Flying Officer flies an aircraft. Some Flying Officers are aircrew, but many are ground branch officers. Amongst the ground branchs some flying officers have command of flights.

[edit] Insignia

The rank insignia consists of one narrow blue band on slightly wider black band. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. The rank insignia on the mess uniform is similar to the naval pattern, being one band of gold running around each cuff but without the Royal Navy's loop.

[edit] Other air forces

The rank of Flying Officer is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth, including the Bangladesh Air Force, Indian Air Force (IAF), Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) used the rank until unification of the three armed services into the Canadian Forces in 1968 and army-type ranks were adopted. RCAF personnel holding this rank then switched to the rank of Lieutenant.

The rank of Warrant Flying Officer was also used by the air service of the Imperial Japanese military.

[edit] See also

	Officer ranks of the British Armed Forces
	Student Officer	OF(D)	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
Royal Navy:		Mid	SLt		Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines:			2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen
Army:	OCdt		2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM
Royal Air Force:	OC / SO		APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl	MRAF