General of the Army (USA)

From Freepedia

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.

Contents 1 Origins of the rank 2 First version 3 Second version 4 Modern usage 5 General of the Armies 6 See also

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 grade of "General of the Army of the United States" for Ulysses S. Grant, and later appointed William T. Sherman (on 4 March 1869).

The first rank of General of the Army was considered more of a title rather than a rank. Those holding the position maintained a regular rank on the U.S. Army rolls, typically that of Major General as this was the highest authorized permanent rank of the United States Regular Army. Ulysses S. Grant was a Lieutenant General and, when appointed General of the Army, was authorized the special insignia of four stars (although still technically a Lieutenant General). Sherman wore two stars with the arms of the United States in between.

By the 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.

Second version

The second version of General of the Army, also 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. This was done 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). The second General of the Army rank is considered separate from the 19th century version and the two are not considered comparable.

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 surpassing the scope 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.

The rank of General of the Army still is maintained as a rank of the U.S. miltiary and could again be bestowed upon approval of the United States Congress. If appointed, the rank of General of the Army would carry a pay grade of O-11.

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.

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 senior most 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".

Image:Us flag large.png 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	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)

</center>

See also

• List of U.S. military leaders by rank