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General of the Army is historically the second most senior rank in the United States Army, equivalent to the rank of Field Marshal in other militaries. Its equivalent ranks in the other U.S. Armed Forces are Fleet Admiral and General of the Air Force. Unlike the lower ranks of General, an appointment to the rank of General of the Army is for life. The rank became represented by its 5-star insignia during the Second World War when four generals of the United States Army were promoted to the rank General of the Army to match the ranks of their European counterparts.

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 officer rank was not bestowed, however (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) that the senior-most general officer 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 retired to private life, he was succeeded as General of the Army by William T. Sherman, 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 June 1 1888, the grade of lieutenant general was discontinued and merged in that of General of the Army, which was then conferred upon Philip H. Sheridan. (The cover of Sheridan's autobiography was decorated with four stars within a rectangle evocative of the four-star shoulder strap worn by Grant.) The rank of general of the Army ceased to exist upon the death of Sheridan on August 5 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 second version of General of the Army, colloquially known as a "Five Star General" was created by Public Law 482 of the 78th Congress passed on 14 December 1944, first as a temporary rank, then made permanent 23 March 1946 by an act of the 79th Congress. It was created to give the most senior American commanders parity of rank with their British counterparts. The acts also created a comparable rank of Fleet Admiral for the Navy. This second General of the Army rank is not considered comparable to the 19th-century 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:

The timing of the first four appointments was to correspond to the appointment of the U.S. Navy's five-star Fleet Admirals to establish both a clear order of seniority and a near-equivalence between the services.

A historical rumor suggests that the title 'General of the Army' was used instead of the 'Field Marshal' so that George Marshall would not be known as "Marshal Marshall". Most military sources agree that it is more likely that the rank was named after its 19th century counterpart and was so named because the rank of Field Marshal was considered by the U.S. military to be a 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, who was promoted to five-star rank in 1944 when the Army Air Force (AAF) was a component of the U.S. Army.

Modern usage

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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, Fleet Admiral, or General of the Air Force as appropriate. This would be problematic in that with the appointment of United States Marine Corps Generals as Chairman, there is no current five-star USMC rank. Congressional sources indicated that there were no plans to promote any modern-day general officers to the rank of General of the Army.

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. The rank would carry a special pay grade just as the current ranks of officers do. Currently U.S. military policy is that General of the Army, General of the Air Force, and Fleet Admiral are ranks only to be used in time of war when 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 president cannot legally serve as an active duty U.S. military officer. Eisenhower's rank was restored by Congress after he left the White House, and is today commemorated on the signs denoting Interstate Highways as part of the Eisenhower Interstate System, which display five silver stars on a light blue background.

General of the Armies

An even higher rank, General of the Armies of the United States, has only been conferred twice in the history of the United States armed forces. This title 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, Pub.L. 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. Department of the Army Order 31-3, issued on March 13, 1978, with an effective promotion date of July 4, 1976, "such grade to have rank and precedence over all other grades of the Army, past or present."

References

External link

• General of the Armies of the United States and General of the Army of the United States

See also

• List of United States military leaders by rank

v t e United States uniformed services commissioned officer and officer candidate ranks

Pay grade / branch of service Officer candidate O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6 O-7 O-8 O-9 O-10 Wartime grade Special grade Insignia Army CDT / OC 2LT 1LT CPT MAJ LTC COL BG MG LTG GEN GA GAS Marine Corps Midn / Cand 2ndLt 1stLt Capt Maj LtCol Col BGen MajGen LtGen Gen Navy MIDN / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM FADM Air Force Cdt / OT 2d Lt 1st Lt Capt Maj Lt Col Col Brig Gen Maj Gen Lt Gen Gen GAF Space Force Cdt / OT 2d Lt 1st Lt Capt Maj Lt Col Col Brig Gen Maj Gen Lt Gen Gen Coast Guard CDT / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM PHS Corps OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM NOAA Corps OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM No universal insignia for officer candidate rank No official insignia and not currently listed by the Army as an obtainable rank. John J. Pershing's GAS insignia: (collar) (epaulettes) These ranks are reserved for wartime use only, and are still listed as ranks within their respective services Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created Grade has never been created or authorized

• Military ranks of the United States Army