A lieutenant general ranks above a major general[Note 1] and below a general. The pay grade of lieutenant general is O-9. It is equivalent to the rank of vice admiral in the other United States uniformed services which use naval ranks. It is abbreviated as LTG in the Army, LtGen in the Marine Corps, and Lt Gen in the Air Force and Space Force.
Statutory limits
U.S. lieutenant general flags
Rank flag of a lieutenant general in the United States Army. The flag of a lieutenant general of the Army Medical Department has a maroon background; the flag of a chaplain (lieutenant general) has a purple background.
Flag of a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general.
Flag of a United States Air Force lieutenant general.
Flag of a United States Space Force lieutenant general.[1]
The United States Code explicitly limits the total number of generals that may be concurrently active to 231 for the Army, 62 for the Marine Corps, and 198 for the Air Force.[2] For the Army and Air Force, no more than about 25% of the service's active duty general officers may have more than two stars.[3] Some of these slots can be reserved by statute. Officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit, including the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency.[4] The president may also add three-star slots to one service if they are offset by removing an equivalent number from other services.[3] All statutory limits may be waived at the president's discretion during time of war or national emergency.[5]
Appointment and tour length
The three-star grade goes hand-in-hand with the position of office to which it is linked, so the rank is temporary. Officers may only achieve three-star grade if they are appointed to positions that require the officer to hold such a rank.[6] Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, which is usually set by statute.[6] Lieutenant generals are nominated for appointment by the president from any eligible officers holding the rank of brigadier general or above, who also meet the requirements for the position, with the advice of the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[6] The nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank.[6] The standard tour length for most lieutenant general positions is three years but some are set four or more years by statute.
Extensions of the standard tour length can be approved, within statutory limits, by their respective service secretaries, the Secretary of Defense, the president, or Congress but these are rare, as they block other officers from being promoted. Some statutory limits under the U.S. Code can be waived in times of national emergency or war. Three-star ranks may also be given by an act of Congress but this is extremely rare.
Retirement
Other than voluntary retirement, the statute sets a number of mandates for retirement. Lieutenant generals must retire after 38 years of service unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer.[7] Otherwise, all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday.[8] However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a three-star officer's retirement until the officer's 66th birthday and the president can defer it until the officer's 68th birthday.
General officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors. Since there is a finite number of three-star slots available to each service, typically one officer must leave office before another can be promoted.[9] Maintaining a three-star rank is a game of musical chairs; once an officer vacates a position bearing that rank, they have 60 days to be appointed or reappointed to a position of equal or higher importance or involuntarily retire.[6] Historically, officers leaving three-star positions were allowed to revert to their permanent two-star ranks to mark time in lesser jobs until statutory retirement, but now such officers are expected to retire immediately to avoid obstructing the promotion flow.
History
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During the Quasi War with France, President John Adams promoted George Washington to lieutenant general to celebrate his service in the American Revolution. The rank of lieutenant general would not be awarded to an active American military commander until Ulysses S. Grant was promoted sixty years later, shortly before the end of the American Civil War, to recognize his position as overall commander of Union forces in the East.[10]
An Army or Marine Corps lieutenant general typically commands a corps-sized unit (20,000 to 45,000 soldiers for an Army Corps and a similar number of Marines for a Marine Expeditionary Force), while an Air Force lieutenant general commands a large Numbered Air Force consisting of several wings or a smaller USAF Major Command (MAJCOM) such as the Air Force Special Operations Command or the Air Force Reserve Command. Additionally, lieutenant generals of all services serve as high-level staff officers at various major command headquarters and The Pentagon, often as the heads of their departments. In 2014 five women were serving as lieutenant generals in the US Army.[14]
After the close of the Second World War, generals were normally promoted permanently to brigadier general and major general, with temporary promotions to lieutenant general and general to fill senior positions as needed. In theory, a general vacates their three or four-star rank at the termination of their assignment unless placed in an equal ranking billet. Douglas MacArthur, who served as a four-star general and Army Chief of Staff, reverted to two stars after his CoS tour ended but chose to stay on active duty in the United States Army.
The practice of using lieutenant general and general grades as a temporary rank continues, with the President and the Department of Defense creating temporary or indefinite three- and four-star assignments, with a fixed term of office, with the approval of the Senate. Even with the temporary status, such officers are also almost always granted permanent retirement in the last grade they held with the satisfactory completion of at least two or three years in grade.
In the United States military, a general is the most senior general-grade officer; it is the highest achievable commissioned officer rank that may be attained in the United States Armed Forces, with exception of the Navy and Coast Guard, which have the equivalent rank of admiral instead. The official and formal insignia of "general" is defined by its four stars.
In the United States Armed Forces, a brigadier general is a one-star general officer in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.
In the United States Armed Forces, a major general is a two-star general officer in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force.
A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only to an officer of two-star rank.
1 2 10 USC 525. Distribution of commissioned officers on active duty in general officer and flag officer grades.
↑ 10 USC 528. Officers serving in certain intelligence positions: military status; exclusion from distribution and strength limitations; pay and allowances.
↑ 10 USC 527. Authority to suspend sections 523, 525, and 526.
1 2 3 4 5 10 USC 601. Positions of importance and responsibility: generals and lieutenant generals; admirals and vice admirals.
↑ Patricia Tracey, VADM, USN (Ret), was the first woman to be promoted to three-star rank (vice admiral, the Navy rank equivalent to lieutenant general, both being the military grade of O-9), on 13 May 1996.
Notes
↑ The rank of major general originally began as sergeant major general, in the British Army, and was junior to the rank of lieutenant general. Over time, "sergeant" was dropped and by the late 17th/early 18th century it had been shortened to major general. It was first used in the newly formed Continental Army of the United Colonies (soon to be United States) on 17 June 1775, assigned to Artemas Ward and Charles Lee–second and third in command to Lt. General (rank at that time, as commander of the Continental Army) George Washington. As a result, the rank of lieutenant general continues to be senior to major general, even though the rank of major has always been senior to the rank of lieutenant.
[1] No universal insignia for officer candidate rank [2] No official insignia and not currently listed by the Army as an obtainable rank. John J. Pershing's GAS insignia: (collar) (epaulettes) [3] These ranks are reserved for wartime use only, and are still listed as ranks within their respective services [4] Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created [5] Grade has never been created or authorized
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