General of The Army (United States) - Modern Use

Modern Use

There have been no officers appointed to the rank of General of the Army since Omar Bradley. The rank of General of the Army is still maintained as a rank of the U.S. military, and could again be bestowed, most likely during a time of major war, pending approval of the United States Congress. United States military policy since the creation of a fifth star in World War II has been to award it only when a commander of U.S. forces must be equal to or of higher rank than commanders of armies from another nation under his control. However, Congress and the President may award a fifth star at any time they see fit.

Although the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Omar Bradley, was eventually awarded a fifth star, such a promotion does not come with the office; Bradley's elevation was a political move to remedy the fact that his subordinate, Douglas MacArthur, would outrank him.

In the 1990s, there were proposals in U.S. Department of Defense academic circles to bestow on the office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff a five-star rank.

At one time, after the conclusion of the Gulf War but before his tenure as Secretary of State, there had been some talk of awarding General Colin Powell, who had served as CJCS during the conflict, a fifth star. But even in the wake of public and Congressional pressure to do so, Clinton-Gore presidential transition team staffers decided against it.

As recently as the late 2000s, some commentators had proposed that the military leader in the War on Terror be promoted to a five-star rank. In January 2011, the founders of the Vets for Freedom political advocacy group published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for David Petraeus to be awarded a fifth star in recognition of his work and the importance of his mission. Earlier, in July of 2010, D.B. Grady wrote an article in The Atlantic supporting the same promotion.