US Five-star Ranks
- Fleet admiral (held by 4 officers)
- General of the army (held by 5 officers)
- General of the Air Force (held by one officer)
Five-star ranks were created in the U.S. military during World War II because of the awkward situation created when some American senior commanders were placed in positions commanding allied officers of higher rank. U.S. officers holding five-star rank never retire; they draw full active duty pay for life. The five-star ranks were retired in 1981 on the death of General Omar Bradley.
Nine Americans have been promoted to five-star rank, one of them in two services. As part of the bicentennial celebration, George Washington was, 179 years after his death, permanently made superior to any other five-star general/admiral with the title general of the armies effective on July 4, 1976.
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Fleet admiral collar device, shoulder board and sleeve
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General of the army shoulder board
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General of the air force shoulder board
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Famous quotes containing the word ranks:
“A sleeping man holds in a circle around him the thread of the hours, the order of years and of worlds. He consults them instinctively upon awaking and in one second reads in them the point of the earth that he occupies, the time past until his arousal; but their ranks can be mingled or broken.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)