Information AboutMajor General |
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Major General or '''Major-General''' is a Military Rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General . A Major General is a high-ranking officer normally subordinate to a Lieutenant General and senior to a Brigadier General . In countries that do not maintain the rank of Brigadier General, including much of Eastern Europe , Major General normally serves as the lowest General Officer rank. CANADA In the Canadian Forces , the rank of Major-General (MGen) (''Major-général'' or ''Mgén'' in French ) is an Army or Air Force rank equal to a Rear-Admiral of the Navy . A Major-General is a General Officer , the equivalent of a Naval Flag Officer . A Major-General is senior to a Brigadier-General or Commodore , and junior to a Lieutenant-General or Vice-Admiral . The rank insignia for a Major-General is two gold maple leaves beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St. Edward's Crown. It is worn on the shoulder straps of the Service Dress tunic, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The Service Dress tunic also features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. Major-Generals are initially addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am", as applicable. Major-Generals are normally entitled to Staff Car s. FRANCE In the French military, ''Major général'' is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of '', the Major General of the Navy , the Major General of the Gendarmerie and the Major General of the Air Force . Historically, the french army had some '' Sergent-majors Généraux '', also called ''sergents de bataille'', whose task was to prepare the disposition of the army on the field before a battle. These ''sergents-majors généraux'' became a new rank, the ''maréchal de camp'' (Field Marshal, where field means "battlefield"), which was the equivalent of the rank of major general. However the term of ''major général'' was not forgotten and used to describe the appointment of armies chiefs of staff. One well-known French ''Major général'' was Marshal Berthier , Major General of Napoléon 's ''Grande armée''. The French equivalent to the rank of Major General is ''Général de division''. GERMANY The German Army and Luftwaffe refer to the rank as ''Generalmajor''. It was the lowest general officer rank until 1950, when the rank of '' Brigadegeneral '' was introduced below it. Before that time, it was often equated with Brigadier General, and ''''' Generalleutnant ''''' was considered to be equivalent to Major General. IRAN In Iranian army and air force, a Major General is called a Sar-Lashkar. He is outranked by a '''Sapah-Bod''' ( Lieutenant General ) or an '''Artesh-Bod''' ( General or General Of The Army ). ISRAEL In the Israel Defence Forces , a Major General is called an Aluf and is the second highest rank, only outranked by '' Rav Aluf '' ( Lieutenant General or General ), who is also the Chief of Staff. KOREA The . The rank of ''Sojang'' is also used in North Korea , where it is the lowest general officer and flag officer rank, equivalent to both Brigadier General and Rear Admiral . The actual equivalent to Major General is ''Jungjang'', which roughly translates as Lieutenant General. NEW ZEALAND In the New Zealand Army , Major-General is the rank held by the Chief of Army (formerly the Chief of General Staff). The more senior rank of Lieutenant-General is reserved for when an Army officer holds the position of Chief of Defence Force, who commands all New Zealand's armed forces. This position is subject to rotation between the heads of the Air Force, Army, and Navy. PAKISTAN Major General in the Pakistan Army is equivalent to Rear Admiral in the Pakistan Navy and Air Vice Marshal in the Pakistan Air Force and is the lowest of the general officer ranks, ranking between Brigadier and Lieutenant General . The Pakistan Army has two female Major Generals, and is one of the few countries in the world that has promoted women to such a high post. TURKEY The Turkish Army and Turkish Air Force refer to the rank as Tümgeneral. The Turkish Navy equivalent is Tümamiral. The name is derived from ''tümen'', the Turkish word for a military Division (''tümen'' itself is an older Turkish word meaning "10,000"). Thus, linguistically, it is similar to the French equivalent for a Major General, ''Général de division''. ........................... UNITED KINGDOM In the British Army and Royal Marines , Major General ranks below Lieutenant General and above Brigadier , and is thus the lowest of the general officer ranks, although always considered equivalent to Major General in other countries. Divisions are usually commanded by Major Generals and they also hold a variety of staff positions. The professional head of the Royal Marines currently holds the rank of Major General. From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919 , the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of Major-General. It was superseded by the rank of Air Vice-Marshal on the following day. Major General is equivalent to Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy and Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air Force . UNITED STATES In the United States Army , Marine Corps and Air Force , a Major General ranks immediately below a Lieutenant General and above a Brigadier General . An American Major General is also called a '''two-star general''' because of the insignia. A Major General is equivalent to a Rear Admiral (Upper Half) in the Navy . In the Army and Marine Corps, Division -sized combat units are commanded by Major Generals, while in the Air Force , Major Generals are vice commanders of Numbered Air Force s or serve as staff officers. Two-star generals of all services also serve as high level staff officers at major commands and The Pentagon . In the Civil Air Patrol (the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary), the National Commander holds the rank of Major General. He or she has the distinction of holding the highest rank in the organization of nearly 60,000 members. Until Ulysses S. Grant was appointed Lieutenant General in 1864 when he took command of the Union forces during the American Civil War , Major General was the highest rank that could be attained by an officer in the U.S. army, though Winfield Scott had been given the Brevet (honorary) rank of Lieutenant General in 1855. This was a consequence of the fact that at his death George Washington was officially listed as holding the rank of Lieutenant General, rather than Full General , and it was regarded as improper for an officer to hold a rank equal to or superior to Washington's. To address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General Of The Armies ("six star general") in 1976. FICTIONAL REFERENCES
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