Major General
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A major general is a high-ranking officer normally subordinate to a Lieutenant General and senior to a Brigadier General. In countries that do not maintain the rank of Brigadier General, including much of Eastern Europe, Major General normally serves as the lowest General Officer rank.
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[edit] Canada
In the Canadian Forces, the rank of Major-General (MGen) (Major-général or Mgén in French) is an Army or Air Force rank equal to a Rear-Admiral of the Navy. A Major-General is a General Officer, the equivalent of a Naval Flag Officer. A Major-General is senior to a Brigadier-General or Commodore, and junior to a Lieutenant-General or Vice-Admiral.
The rank insignia for a Major-General is two gold maple leaves beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St. Edward's Crown, worn on the shoulder straps of the Service Dress tunic, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The Service Dress tunic also features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves.
Major-Generals are initially addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am", as applicable. Major-Generals are normally entitled to staff cars.
[edit] France
In the French military, Major général is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of Général de corps d'armée rank, acting as head of staff of a branch of service. This should not be confused with the chief of staff, who is usually a Général d'armée, and the true commander of each service. There are five Major Generals: the Major General of the Armies, head of the General Staff, the Major General of the Army, the Major General of the Navy, the Major General of the Gendarmerie and the Major General of the Air Force.
One well-known French Major général was Marshal Berthier, Major General of Napoléon's Grande armée.
The French equivalent to the rank of Major General is Général de division.
[edit] Germany
The German Army and Luftwaffe refer to the rank as Generalmajor. It was the lowest general officer rank until 1950, when the rank of Brigadegeneral was introduced below it. Before that time, it was often equated with Brigadier General, and Generalleutnant was considered to be equivalent to Major General..
[edit] Iran
In Iranian army and air force, a Major General is called a Sar-Lashkar. He is outranked by a Sapah-Bod (Lieutenant General) or an Artesh-Bod (General or General of the Army).
[edit] Israel
In the Israel Defence Forces, a Major General is called an Aluf and is the second highest rank, only outranked by Rav Aluf (Lieutenant General or General), who is also the Chief of Staff.
[edit] Korea
The rank of Major General is known as Sojang (Hangul: 소장, Hanja: 少將) in South Korea.
The rank of Sojang is also used in North Korea, where it is the lowest general officer and flag officer rank, equivalent to both Brigadier General and Rear Admiral. The actual equivalent to Major General is Jungjang, which roughly translates as Lieutenant General.
[edit] New Zealand
In the New Zealand Army, Major-General is the rank held by the Chief of General Staff. The more senior rank of Lieutenant-General is reserved for the Chief of Defence Staff, who commands all New Zealand's armed forces. This position is subject to rotation between the heads of the Air Force, Army, and Navy.
[edit] Pakistan
The Pakistan Army has followed the British Army rank system since its independence from British Empire in 1947. However, the crown in the rank insignia has been replaced with a star and crescent, which symbolizes the sovereignty of the Government of Pakistan.
| Equivalency | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Major General (2-Star) | ||||||||||
| NATO Equivalent | OF-7 | ||||||||||
| Uniform Insignia |  |
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Major General in the Pakistan Army is equivalent to Rear Admiral in the Pakistan Navy and Air Vice Marshal in the Pakistan Air Force. Major General is also called two star General. It is the lowest rank in the general officer ranks. Like in other armies, this rank is higher than Brigadier and lower than Lieutenant General. Pakistan Army has two Female Major Generals, and it is the only country in the world that has promoted women to such a high post.
| Pakistani Officer Ranks | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Field Marshal (6-Star) | General (4-Star) | Lieutenant General (3-Star) | Major General (2-Star) | Brigadier (1-Star) | Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel | Major | Captain | Lieutenant | 2nd Lieutenant |
| NATO Equivalent | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF-1 |
| Uniform Insignia |  |
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[edit] United Kingdom
In the British Army and Royal Marines, Major-General ranks below Lieutenant-General and above Brigadier, and is thus the lowest of the general officer ranks, although always considered equivalent to Major General in other countries. Divisions are usually commanded by Major-Generals and they also hold a variety of staff positions. The professional head of the Royal Marines currently holds the rank of Major-General
Major-General is equivalent to Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy and Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air Force.
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Officer ranks of the  British Armed Forces |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
[edit] United States
In the United States Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, a Major General ranks immediately below a Lieutenant General and above a Brigadier General. An American Major General is also called a two-star general because of the insignia. A Major General is equivalent to a Rear Admiral (Upper Half) in the Navy. In the Army and Marine Corps, division-sized combat units are commanded by Major Generals, while in the Air Force, Major Generals are vice commanders of Numbered Air Forces or serve as staff officers. Two-star generals of all services also serve as high level staff officers at major commands and the Pentagon.
In the Civil Air Patrol (the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary), the National Commander holds the rank of Major General. He or she has the distinction of holding the highest rank in the organization of nearly 60,000 members.
Until Ulysses S. Grant was appointed Lieutenant General in 1864 when he took command of the Union forces during the American Civil War, Major General was the highest rank that could be attained by an officer in the U.S. army, though Winfield Scott had been given the brevet (honorary) rank of Lieutenant General in 1855. This was a consequence of the fact that at his death George Washington was officially listed as holding the rank of Lieutenant General, rather than full general, and it was regarded as improper for an officer to hold a rank equal to or superior to Washington's. To address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General of the Armies ("six star general") in 1976.
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| 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 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navy: | MIDN/OC | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | FADM | Admiral of the Navy |
| Marine Corps: | Midn | 2ndLt | 1stLt | Capt | Maj | LtCol | Col | BGen | MajGen | LtGen | Gen | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
| Army: | CDT/OC | 2LT | 1LT | CPT | MAJ | LTC | COL | BG | MG | LTG | GEN | General of the Army |
General of the Armies |
| 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) |
| Coast Guard: | CDT | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
[edit] Fictional references
- Major-General Stanley is the "modern major general" from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic operetta, The Pirates of Penzance. Stanley is a satire of the aristocratic, learned officers in the British Army of the day. He sings the immortal Major-General's Song.
- In the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, the commanding officer of Stargate Command from seasons 1 to 7 is Major General George Hammond (played by Don S. Davis). From season 9, the position is taken up by Major General Hank Landry.
- Bartholomew Bandy, the air ace from Donald Jack's Bandy Papers series, ends the First World War as a Major General at the age of only 26.
- In the anime movie Robotech II: The Sentinels, the lead character, Rick Hunter, holds the rank of Major General.
- Con artist Private Harry Frigg, played by Academy Award-winning actor Paul Newman, is promoted overnight to Major General in the 1968 war comedy, The Secret War of Harry Frigg.
- The second commandant of the show JAG (1995-2005) is a Major General: Major General Gordon "Biff" Cresswell portrayed by David Andrews.
[edit] See also
- Comparative military ranks
- Rule of the Major-Generals (1655-1657) a period of direct military government during Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate
