Wing Commander (rank)
Wing Commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly W/C in the RCAF) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above squadron leader and immediately below group captain.
It has a NATO ranking code of OF-4, and is equivalent to a Commander in the Royal Navy or a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army or the Royal Marines.
The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) (until 1980) was wing officer. The equivalent rank in the Royal Observer Corps (until 1995) was observer commander which had a similar rank insignia.
Read more about Wing Commander (rank): Origins, Usage, Insignia and Command Flag, Other Air Forces, Notable Wing Commanders
Famous quotes containing the words wing and/or commander:
“No Raven’s wing can stretch the flight so far
As the torn bandrols of Napoleon’s war.
Choose then your climate, fix your best abode,
He’ll make you deserts and he’ll bring you blood.
How could you fear a dearth? have not mankind,
Tho slain by millions, millions left behind?
Has not conscription still the power to weild
Her annual faulchion o’er the human field?
A faithful harvester!”
—Joel Barlow (1754–1812)
“Every commander is alone.”
—Michael Powell. Captain Lansdorff (Peter Finch)