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Colonel is a rank of the United States Armed Forces , designated as an "O-6", or as the sixth in a series of one through eleven. It is rated above a Lieutenant Colonel and below a Brigadier General . The insignia for a Colonel is a silver Eagle , leading to the informal term "full bird colonel". The rank is used by the Army , Marines , and the Air Force , but not the Navy or Coast Guard —the equivalent rank in those two branches is Captain . ORIGINS in the uniform of a Continental Army Colonel]] The United States rank of Colonel is a direct successor to the Same Rank in the British Army . The first Colonels in America were appointed from Colonial Militia s maintained as reserves to the British Army in the American colonies. Upon the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War , the rank of Colonel could be appointed by a Colonial legislature, where a person would be given a commission to raise a Regiment and serve as its Colonel. Thus, the first American Colonels were usually respected men with ties in local communities and active in politics. Such was the origin of the term "soldier and statesman". The first insignia for the rank of Colonel consisted of gold shoulder boards worn on the blue uniform of the Continental Army . The first recorded use of the eagle insignia was in 1805 as this insignia was made official in uniform regulations by 1810 . 19TH CENTURY COLONELS The rank of Colonel was relatively rare in the early 19th Century , due in part that the United States Army was very small in size and the rank of Colonel was usually obtained only after long years of service. During the War Of 1812 , many temporary Colonels were appointed but these commissions were either considered Brevet ranks or the commissions were canceled at the war’s conclusion. wearing the three star insignia]] The American Civil War saw a large influx of Colonels as the rank was commonly held in both the Confederate Army and Union Army by those who commanded a regiment. Since most regiments were state formations and were quickly raised, the Colonels in command were known by the title “Colonel of Volunteers”, in contrast to Regular Army Colonels who held ranks from the “old school” of the professional army before the Civil War. During the Civil War, the Confederate Army maintained a unique insignia for Colonel being that of three stars worn on the collar of a uniform. Robert E. Lee wore this insignia in respect to his former rank in the United States Army. Lee refused to wear the insignia of a Confederate General , stating that he would only accept permanent promotion when the South had achieved independence. After the Civil War, the rank of Colonel again became rare as the forces of the United States Army became extremely small in number. Many Brevet Colonels appeared during the Spanish American War , chief among them Theodore Roosevelt . 20TH CENTURY COLONELS of the United States Air Force , circa 1975 ]] The First and Second World War s saw the largest numbers of Colonels ever appointed in the United States Armed Forces . This was mostly due to the temporary ranks of the National Army and the Army Of The United States , where those who would normally hold the rank of Captain in the peacetime Regular Army were thrust into the rank of Colonel during these two wars. It was also during the First World War that a tradition developed in that Colonels would wear the eagle insignia with the head pointing outwards from the neck as if to “face the enemy”. This was in contrast to the Army uniform regulations of the time, which stated that the eagle would be worn on the left collar, with the beak of the eagle facing inwards towards the wearer’s neck. Photographic evidence and service records from the Military Personnel Records Center indicate that this tradition lasted into the Second World War, after which time more strict uniform regulations prevented Colonels from reversing the insignia in this fashion. The United States Navy , however, also picked up on this tradition and Midshipman today are taught that during times of war Navy Captains will reverse their collar insignia (which is the same eagle insignia as that of Colonel) in order to have the eagle facing the enemies of the United States . By the end of the Korean War , appointments to the rank of Colonel were standardized to be granted after roughly 16-18 years of service in the military, however temporary Colonel appointments continued well into the Vietnam War . The last temporary appointments to the rank of Colonel occurred in the late 1970s; since then all Colonels have received permanent appointments upon promotion. MODERN RANK Modern American colonels usually command infantry Brigade s, USAF Groups or Wing s, and USMC Regiment s. An Army colonel typically commands Brigade -sized units (3,000 to 5,000 Soldiers), with a Command Sergeant Major as principal Non-Commissioned Officer assistant, and is also found as the chief of divisional-level staff agencies. In the modern United States Armed Forces , the Colonel's eagle is worn facing inwards with head and beak pointing towards the wearer's neck. Of all US Military officer rank, only the Colonel's eagle has a distinct right and left insignia. All other officer rank insignia can be worn on either the right or left side. FAMOUS AMERICAN COLONELS
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