Military Rank - Types of Rank

Types of Rank

There are a number of different forms of rank:

  • Substantive or permanent rank is the fully paid and confirmed rank. A war substantive rank is a confirmed rank but only held for the duration of that war.
  • Acting rank is where the holder assumes the pay and allowances appropriate to the acting rank, but a higher commanding officer may revert the holder to previous rank held. This is normally for a short period of time while the permanent occupant of the office is absent.
  • Temporary rank usually granted for a specific task or mission. The holder holds the rank while occupying that position. Despite the name, temporary rank may be held for a considerable period of time, perhaps even years. In wartime, temporary ranks are often common.
  • Local rank is a form of temporary rank restricted to a specific location instead of a specific duty.
  • Brevet rank is a temporary rank, often honorary, without the pay and allowances appropriate to the rank. It was sometimes used by penurious governments to reduce costs.

Read more about this topic:  Military Rank

Famous quotes containing the words types and/or rank:

    “Science is intimately integrated with the whole social structure and cultural tradition. They mutually support one other—only in certain types of society can science flourish, and conversely without a continuous and healthy development and application of science such a society cannot function properly.”
    —Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)

    “‘Tis very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)