Marshal of The Air Force - Seniority

Seniority

Marshals of the air force can be properly considered marshals and such ranks are equivalent to the army rank of field marshal and the navy rank of admiral of the fleet. Marshal of the air force is a five-star rank and in NATO countries it is described by the ranking code of OF-10. As such a senior rank, it is very seldom held. It is awarded either in a ceremonial capacity to heads of state or members of royal families, or to the most senior officers in large air forces.

In the air forces of Australia, India, Thailand and the United Kingdom, marshals of the air force are immediately senior to air chief marshals. In the case of New Zealand, although the rank of marshal of the Royal New Zealand Air Force has been bestowed, no Royal New Zealand Air Force officer has attained higher rank than air marshal and the New Zealand rank of air chief marshal only exists on paper. A similar situation to the one in New Zealand also existed in Malaysia until the 1970s when the Royal Malaysian Air Force replaced its air-officer ranks with general-officer ranks, although it retained the rank of marshal of the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The rank of marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force was never granted.

During Germany's Nazi period, the Luftwaffe (air force), in common with the Heer (army), used the rank of generalfeldmarschall (field marshal), which was equivalent to großadmiral (grand admiral) in the navy. Generalfeldmarschall was immediately senior to generaloberst (colonel general) and it was the most senior German air force and army rank until the promotion of Hermann Göring, the commander of the Luftwaffe, to the even higher rank of reichsmarschall (imperial marshal or marshal of the realm) in July 1940. The German ranks of reichsmarschall and generalfeldmarschall ceased to exist with the fall of the Third Reich.

The Soviet rank of chief marshal of a troop arm was established in 1943 as an analogue to the British rank of marshal of the Royal Air Force and as an equivalent rank to the Soviet rank of general of the army. As there was no direct correspondence between Soviet and British ranks, chief marshal was only approximately equivalent to marshal of the Royal Air Force and it might also be considered equivalent to air chief marshal. Officers were promoted to the rank of chief marshal of air forces (or chief marshal of aviation, depending on translation). In addition officers were promoted in other troop arms such as artillery and armoured troops which are not covered in this article.

The rank of chief marshal of aviation was subordinate to the rank of marshal of the Soviet Union and superior to marshal of a troop arm (which was also established in 1943 as an analogue to the rank of air marshal). Marshals of a troop arm were immediately senior to Soviet colonel generals. The first man to hold the rank of chief marshal of aviation was Alexander Novikov who led the Soviet Air Force from 1942 to the end of World War II. He was promoted February 1944. Since that time at least seven other Soviet officers have held the rank. The Russian Federation has replaced the rank with general of the army for both army and air force officers.