Editing Lieutenant (section)

====United States rank====
In March 1813, the US Army created the rank of third lieutenant. The rank was used as the entry level officer rank for the Ordnance Department and the Corps of Artillery until March 1821.<ref>p.970 Tucker, Spencer C. ''The Encyclopedia Of the War Of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military History'' [3 volumes] ABC-CLIO, 25 Apr 2012</ref> Throughout the 19th century and until as late as World War II<ref>{{cite web |title=Full Text Citations For Award of The Distinguished Service Cross |url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/02_DSC/citatons/03_wwii-dsc/army_a.html |quote=The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Baltazar Adona, Third Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against a hostile force in the Philippine Islands. Third Lieutenant Adona distinguished himself by intrepid actions from 10 to 16 December 1941 while serving with the Philippine Scouts |access-date=27 July 2009 |archive-date=30 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530083825/http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/02_DSC/citatons/03_wwii-dsc/army_a.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> the [[United States Army]] sometimes referred to [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[second lieutenant]]s as "third lieutenants". These were typically newly commissioned officers for which no authorized second lieutenant position existed. Additionally, the [[Confederate States Army]] also used "third lieutenant", typically as the lowest ranking commissioned officer in an infantry company.

Notably, the [[United States Revenue Cutter Service]] used a simple officer rank structure with Captain, First, Second and Third Lieutenants, each of whom had distinct insignia. The title of Third Lieutenant, essentially equal to the rank of [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]], existed until 1915 when the Service became the nucleus of the new [[United States Coast Guard]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/usrcsuniforms1908.pdf|title=United States Revenue Marine Uniforms & Devices to 1908}}</ref> Because of the time required to fully establish this organization the rank continued for some time afterwards; the first Coast Guard aviator, [[Elmer F. Stone]], was a third lieutenant until 1918.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060909020021/http://uscgaviationhistory.aoptero.org/images/Elmer%20Stone%20Book_1.pdf Commander Elmer F. "Archie" Stone, USCG Coast Guard Aviator #1]</ref>