Editing Military rank (section)

=== Commissioned officers ===
{{main|Officer (armed forces)}}
[[Officer (armed forces)|Officers]] are distinguished from other military members (or an ''officer in training'') by holding a [[Commission (document)|commission]]; they are trained or training as leaders and hold command positions.

Officers are further generally separated into four levels:
* General, flag, or air officers
* Field or senior officers
* [[Company-grade officer|Company grade]] or junior officers
* Subordinate officer ([[naval cadet]] or [[officer cadet]] in the Canadian forces, for example)

==== General, flag, and air officers {{anchor|General, Flag, or Air Officers}}====
{{main|General officer}}
Officers who typically command units or [[formation (military)|formation]]s that are expected to operate independently for extended periods of time (i.e., [[brigade]]s and larger, or [[flotilla]]s or [[Squadron (naval)|squadrons]] of ships), are referred to variously as [[general officer]]s (in armies, marines, and some air forces), [[flag officer]]s (in navies and coast guards), or [[air officer]]s (in some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] air forces).

General-officer ranks typically include (from the most senior) [[general]], [[lieutenant general]], [[major general]], and [[brigadier general]], although there are many variations like division general or (air-, ground-) force general.

Flag-officer ranks, named after the traditional practice of showing the presence of such an officer with a flag on a ship and often land, typically include (from the most senior) [[admiral]], [[vice admiral]] and [[rear admiral]]. In some navies, such as [[Canadian Forces Maritime Command|Canada's]], the rank of [[Commodore (rank)|commodore]] is a [[flag rank]].

In the [[Royal Air Force|United Kingdom]] and most other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] air forces, [[air officer|air-officer]] ranks usually include [[air chief marshal]], [[air marshal]], [[air vice-marshal]] and [[air commodore]]. For some air forces, however, such as those of [[RCAF|Canada]], [[United States Air Force|United States]] and many other air forces, general officer rank titles are used. In the case of the [[United States Air Force]], that service was once part of the U.S. Army and evolved as a separate service in 1947, carrying over its extant officer rank structure. Brazil and Argentina use a [[Brigadier#Officer rank in Latin America|system of general officer ranks based on the term brigadier]].

In some forces, there may be one or more superior ranks to the common examples, above, that are given distinguishing titles, such as [[field marshal]] (most armies of the world, notably excluding the United States) or general of the army (mainly the United States because "marshal" is used as a peace officer's designation), [[fleet admiral]] ([[U.S. Navy]]), [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]], or other national air force. These ranks have often been discontinued, such as in Germany and Canada, or limited to wartime or honorific promotion, such as in the United Kingdom and the United States.

In various countries, particularly the United States, these may be referred to as "star ranks" for the number of stars worn on some rank insignia: typically one-star for brigadier general or equivalent with the addition of a star for each subsequent rank. In the United States, five stars has been the highest rank regularly attainable (excluding the [[United States Marine Corps rank insignia|marines]] and [[U.S. Coast Guard|coast guard]], which have traditionally served as branches of the navy in times of war and thus under the command of a fleet admiral). There also exists the specialty ranks of [[General of the Armies of the United States]] and [[Admiral of the Navy]] which at their inception were considered senior four star officers but came to be considered [[six-star rank]] after the creation of five star officers. To date only one officer has held a six star rank in his lifetime, [[John J. Pershing]]. [[George Washington]] was posthumously promoted to the post in 1976. Additionally, [[George Dewey|Admiral George Dewey]] was promoted to admiral of the navy but died well before statute made it senior to an admiral of the fleet upon the latter's inception.

Some titles are not genuine ranks, but either functions assumed by generals or honorific titles. For instance, in the [[French Army]] ''[[général de corps d'armée]]'' is a function assumed by some ''[[Major General|généraux de division]]'', and ''[[Marshal of France|maréchal de France]]'', which is a distinction denoting the most superior military office, but one that has often neutered the practical command powers of those on whom it is conferred. In the [[United States Navy]], a [[Commodore (USN)|commodore]] currently is a senior [[Captain (naval)|captain]] commanding a [[Squadron (naval)|squadron]], air group, or air wing that is too small for a [[rear admiral]] to command, although that name has historically been used as a rank. The title (not rank) of commodore can also indicate an officer who is senior to a ship's captain (since only the ship's commanding officer is addressed as captain while under way). Marine captains are sometimes referred to as major to distinguish themselves while shipboard, although this reference is not employed in the U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps.

==== Field or senior officers ====
{{main|Field officer}}
[[Field officer]]s, also called "field-grade officers" or "senior officers", are officers who typically command units that can be expected to operate independently for short periods of time (i.e., infantry battalions, cavalry or artillery regiments, warships, [[Squadron (aviation)|air squadrons]]). Field officers also commonly fill staff positions of superior commands.

The term ''field(-grade) officer'' is primarily used by armies and marines; air forces, navies and coast guards generally prefer the term "senior officer." The two terms are not necessarily synonymous because the former is frequently used to describe any officer who holds a command position from a platoon to a [[theater (warfare)|theater]].

Typical army and marine field officer ranks include [[colonel]], [[lieutenant colonel]], [[Major (rank)|major]] and, in the British army, captains holding an [[adjutant]]'s or operations officer appointment. In many Commonwealth countries the field rank of [[brigadier]] is used, although it fills the position held by brigadier general in other countries. In the United States Army, warrant officers who hold the rank of CW3–CW4 are field grade officers; CW5s are senior field grade officers.

Naval and coast guard senior officer ranks include [[Captain (Navy)|captain]] and [[Commander#Commander as a naval and air force rank|commander]]. In some countries, the more senior rank of [[Commodore (rank)|commodore]] is also included. In others [[lieutenant commander]]s, as equivalents to army and marine majors, are considered senior officers.

Commonwealth air force senior officer ranks include [[group captain]], [[wing commander]], and [[squadron leader]], where such ranks are still used.

==== Company grade or junior officers ====
{{Main|Junior officer}}
The ranks of junior officers are the three or four lowest ranks of officers. Units under their command are generally not expected to operate independently for any significant length of time. Company grade officers also fill staff roles in some units. In some militaries, however, a captain may act as the permanent commanding officer of an independent company-sized army unit, for example a signal or field engineer [[Squadron (cavalry)|squadron]], or a field artillery battery.

Typical army company officer ranks include [[Captain (land)|captain]] and various grades of [[lieutenant]]. Typical naval and coast guard junior officer ranks include grades of [[lieutenant commander]], [[Lieutenant (Navy)|lieutenant]], [[lieutenant junior grade]], [[Sub-lieutenant#Naval rank)|sub-lieutenant]] and [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]]. Commonwealth (excluding Canada) air force junior officer ranks usually include [[flight lieutenant]], [[flying officer]], and [[pilot officer]].

==== Subordinate or student officer ====
Officers in training in the Canadian Armed Forces are either [[naval cadet]] for naval training or [[officer cadet]] for army or air force training.

In the US and several other western forces, officers in training are referred to as student officers, and carry the rank of [[cadet]] (army and air force) or [[midshipman]] (navy, and in some countries, marines). These officers may be serving at a [[military academy]], or, as common in the United States, as members of a military training unit attached to a civilian college or university, such as an [[ROTC]] unit. This is due to a requirement that commissioned officers have at least a four-year collegiate undergraduate degree.

The British Army refers to its trainee officers as officer cadets, who rank as private soldiers at the start of their training, with no authority over other ranks (except when appointed to carry out a role as part of training). Officer cadets are addressed to as "Mister" or "Miss" until the completion of the early stages of their training at the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst]] (at which point cadets "pass out" and formally gain their commissions), thereafter other ranks (non-officers) will address them as "Sir" or "Ma'am".

While cadet has always been a rank of limited authority and prestige (cadets and US Navy midshipmen have no authority over commissioned personnel, warrants, or officers, only subordinate cadets), midshipman has historically been a rank with limited leadership responsibility, particularly in the Royal Navy (where cadets are commissioned at the start of their training, unlike their army counterparts). This tradition was continued by the US Navy after its original adoption of the rank, but now US Navy midshipmen are limited in the same manner as cadets in the other US services. Additionally, US Marine officers in training are also midshipmen, trained and educated alongside their naval counterparts, and wear distinctive insignia to indicate their branch of service.

[[US Coast Guard Academy]] students are referred to as "cadets", while those attending the military branch's [[officer candidate school]] are "officer candidates".

In the US an alternative to spending four years as a cadet or midshipmen is for college graduates with a four-year degree to attend officer candidate school, an intensive twelve-week training course designed to convert college graduates into military officers. Each service has at least one, and usually several, officer candidate school facilities. Students at these programs are called [[officer candidate]]s.