Understanding military ranks

In Russia, the military profession has always been considered prestigious and popular. Any young man wanted to serve in the army or enter a military school, because this gave a lot of advantages in the future:

• good education;
• early retirement after length of service;
• decent salary;
• various social benefits.

Literally ten to fifteen years ago, being a military man became no longer so attractive, but in recent years this profession is becoming in demand again. The most cherished desire of everyone who dreams of the army is to rise to the rank of general, one of the highest military ranks. But to do this, you need to go through all the stages of military service, in particular, to be a lieutenant, receive an appropriate education and a good service record. At the beginning of his service after graduating from military school, the graduate receives the rank of junior lieutenant or lieutenant. Then many years of service and perhaps receiving the coveted title.

People not connected with the service often have an interest in the history of the rank of lieutenant and the differences: who is senior in rank - major general or lieutenant general?

Why is a lieutenant general older than a major general?

Lieutenant General is a rank belonging to the highest officer ranks in the current Russian Federation, which is more significant in status than Major General. When we talk about the military personnel of the Navy, here a lieutenant general is equated to a vice admiral.

According to the report card, majors are ahead of lieutenants, but lieutenant generals have greater status than major generals. This happened due to the fact that in some of the armies of Europe at the beginning of the functioning of the rank system, “lieutenant” was not used at all, but only “lieutenants” existed. Although it was in France that a high-level deputy leader was called a lieutenant. In addition, in the hierarchy there was a “full general” or “general”; he was considered a step lower than a field marshal.

Accordingly, at first the “lieutenant general” was regarded as simply a deputy position for the “full general”. A major general is the general whom the commander-in-chief appointed senior over a certain direction of the battlefield (assistant to the full general). It follows: a deputy general is considered higher in rank than an assistant general.

If you take a short historical excursion, Russian Empire The rank of lieutenant general was introduced by Peter I. At the early stage of the First World War, as a rule, corps and divisions were led by a person in this rank, and by the end of it, lieutenant generals had entire armies subordinate to them. In addition, lieutenant generals were generals on duty at the imperial courts, field marshals, and generalissimos.

In the Soviet Union, this army rank was restored in 1940, when the ranks of general were introduced for senior command personnel. When World War II began, lieutenant generals were allowed to hold the following positions:

• front commander at the beginning of the war;
• deputy front commander, front chief of staff, army commander;
• Deputy Army Commander, Chief of Army Staff.

In the RF Armed Forces, a lieutenant general is often entrusted with managing an army that is part of a military district, or is entrusted with high positions at headquarters.

I’ll tell you a little about military ranks, and to whom and why they are given. This should be quite interesting for many, since few people know the army hierarchy and chain of command.
It all starts with the military registration and enlistment office. When a military ID is issued, a rank is automatically assigned "Private". This means that the person has entered the lower rung of his military career. With this rank, the unit is assigned any position, it can be a shooter, machine gunner, driver, gunner, and so on. There are more privates in a regular military unit. This is not the case with us recently. In connection with the transfer to a contract basis, people began to be recruited for contract positions, and almost all of them were no lower than a sergeant.
The next step on the army career ladder is "Corporal". This title can be given either in connection with the position held, which implies this title, or for excellence in studies, combat and special training. Often, corporals become henchmen of officers, who thereby slightly elevate their charges above the rest. There is even a saying about this: “It is better to have a prostitute’s daughter than a corporal’s son.” Senior drivers in squads, gunners of armored personnel carriers, clerks and some others almost automatically become corporals.” officials" The corporal wears one corner of his shoulder straps.
The next step is "Junior Sergeant". To earn this rank in the internal troops, you must undergo sergeant training. This is 4 months of full regulations and hazing combined, but, however, they don’t say that everywhere. After completing this training, you are awarded the rank of ml. s-t (this is how it looks in abbreviation and is pronounced). The rank of junior sergeant can also be received by the most experienced soldier or corporal. Junior sergeants are needed to command squads. After some time, they can become deputy platoon commanders, with a corresponding increase in rank. Junior sergeants wear two corners on each shoulder.
The junior sergeant is followed by "Sergeant". A sergeant is a full-fledged squad commander, and the most close to the soldiers commander and chief. Sergeants lead the formation, supervise the work, and conduct classes. The rank of sergeant is awarded to the most capable junior sergeants, those whom the soldiers listen to, those who truly enjoy authority. Sergeants wear three corners on their shoulder straps
"Senior Sergeant" This rank is awarded to the deputy platoon commander. There are as many such people in a company as there are platoons. This is the most responsible position among soldiers. Senior sergeants are the first assistants to officers and warrant officers; they must know their subordinate soldiers well and always be able to manage them. Senior sergeants wear one, but wide, corner on their shoulders.
"Sergeant major." This is the maximum rank a soldier can receive. Please do not confuse this with your position. Sometimes it happens that a sergeant major by rank becomes a sergeant major by position, but more often a warrant officer is appointed to the position of company sergeant major. Petty officers wear one wide and one narrow corner on their shoulder straps, one under the other.
"Ensign". To become a warrant officer, you need to sign a contract and go to warrant officer school. The school for warrant officers lasts, like sergeant training, about four months, where future warrant officers are taught to drink vodka correctly and get paid without doing anything. Ensigns are the most disadvantaged class of military personnel. Often these are people without higher education who occupy low-level positions. Warrant officers are either foremen, or heads of warehouses and workshops, or contract soldiers. An ensign is a person who has left the status of a soldier, but has never reached the status of an officer. Ensigns wear two small stars arranged in a vertical row on their shoulder straps.
"Senior Warrant Officer", this is like a drain on the soul for an ordinary warrant officer. Their positions are almost the same, but the salary is slightly higher and their self-esteem is slightly higher. The senior warrant officer wears three small stars vertically. This is the “ceiling” for a contract soldier without a higher education.
"Junior Lieutenant". Junior lieutenants automatically become people who have completed military department civil university (now there are almost none left). In most cases, junior lieutenants serve a mandatory officer service of two years, the same as soldiers, only in the role of commanders. The maximum position for a junior lieutenant is platoon commander. This is a person, an officer, who has approximately 30 people under his command. Among soldiers, a junior lieutenant is called a “mamla.” A junior lieutenant can be assigned to a warrant officer who has graduated from a university in absentia. People having higher education, but who have not graduated from the military department serve as soldiers for one year. Junior lieutenants wear one small star on their shoulder straps.
"Lieutenant". Lieutenants are people who have graduated from a higher military educational institution or warrant officers who have managed to obtain a higher education. The lieutenant is the full-fledged platoon commander. Young lieutenants who graduate from a military university are placed in the positions of service chiefs; these positions imply a much higher rank, and if the lieutenants cope with their duties, then every two to three years they are promoted to the corresponding rank. In the army there is a concept of service correspondence, this is when a person’s rank corresponds to the regular rank of the position held. Lieutenants wear two small stars lined up horizontally on their shoulder straps.
“Senior Lieutenant” - deputy company commanders become senior lieutenants. Deputy for personnel affairs, deputy for technology, and so on. Often, a senior lieutenant is made a company commander in order to later raise his rank to service level. First lieutenants wear three small stars, two horizontally and one between them at the top, forming a triangle.
"Captain"- full-fledged company commander, deputy battalion commander, and a few other positions give the right to this title. Captain, this is the last rank of junior officers. Captains wear 4 small stars, two horizontally, and two, slightly higher, vertically.
"Major"- This is the first rank of senior officers. Chiefs of services, chiefs of staff of battalions, commandants of military commandant's offices, and so on become majors. Often this next title turns the head of the recipient too much, and lust for power and ambition begin to pour out of him. The major wears one large star on his shoulder straps.
"Lieutenant colonel"- this title is given to deputy regiment commanders, regiment chief of staff, and battalion commanders. Lieutenant colonels are people who are tired from service and a little arrogant. Lieutenant colonels are the penultimate rank that can be occupied in a regiment, and they have enough power to be spoiled by it. Lieutenant colonels wear two large stars horizontally on their shoulder straps, like lieutenants.
"Colonel"- fairly calm people, since for many this is an impenetrable ceiling, and there is nowhere else to “pull your ass.” This could be the unit commander, the chief of staff of the regiment. At the division headquarters, colonels occupy positions similar to those in which lieutenant colonels are supposed to be in the regiment, and at the district headquarters, the same positions are occupied by generals. Colonels wear three large stars in a triangle. Like senior lieutenants.
"Major General"- This is the lowest general rank. The position of major general is either division commander or deputy district commander. Major generals wear one very large star on their shoulder straps. Like majors, hence the name of the rank.
"Lieutenant General"- this rank can be worn by the commander of a military district. They wear two very large stars vertically. Like warrant officers.
"Colonel General"- this title is held by the commander of the explosives and commanders of other branches of the military. People with this title wear three very large stars vertically. As senior warrant officers.
"General of the Army"- Well, what can we say here - the highest rank of general. On his shoulder straps, there are four very large stars lined up in a vertical row.
"Marshal"- an honorary military rank that is not possible to “earn” in peacetime.
So ours completes this chain "Supreme Commander"– President Russian Federation. This is most likely not a rank, but a position, but since all military personnel report to the Supreme Commander, we consider it the peak of the army pyramid.

In the modern Russian (and Soviet too, since 1940) army there are four general ranks - major general, lieutenant general, colonel general and army general. Currently, the insignia for these ranks is from one to four stars in a row on “unbreakable” general’s shoulder straps. I remember how, as a child, I was amazed by the order of ranks: it would seem that the first three general ranks are compiled according to a single model - general + other military rank. But why such illogicality, why major general, lieutenant general, colonel general if for officers the order of ranks is as follows: lieutenant, senior lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, Colonel . The order is mixed up (a lieutenant general is older than a major general, and the rank of major is much higher than the rank of lieutenant), and even such wild omissions? Finally, I came up with this explanation for myself: it’s all about the stars! A major general has one star like a major, a lieutenant general has two like a lieutenant, a colonel general has three like a colonel. But not so long ago the thought struck me - what if this is not the case? What if the titles are... in order. It sounds stupid, but if we assume that we have a chain of major - lieutenant colonel - colonel - major general - lieutenant colonel general - colonel general, then everything turns out very beautifully and logically - two triads, senior officers and generals, the ranks in the second triad will be repeated the same as the first, but only with the addition of “general”. However, the lieutenant colonel general stands out from the general series... Now I think that this happened because of the English “lieutenant colonel” = lieutenant colonel, that is, “junior colonel”, where the second part “fell off” for brevity (lieutenant colonel general -> Lieutenant General). Is this true? Sounds more logical than my childhood version, but not entirely. Here it should be taken into account that in English, Major General = Major General, and Lieutenant General = Lieutenant General. It's funny that the subordination structure here is the same as ours - Major General reports to Lieutenant General, i.e. as if the “senior general” is subordinate to the “junior general”, but here everything is just clear - after all, Major General actually came from Sergeant Major General i.e. as if from a “senior sergeant general,” and a sergeant, even a senior one, is much lower in rank than a lieutenant. Thus, the third, most uninteresting version arises, that these are simply tracings/translations from English (or, given the traditions of our army, German languages) - however, neither in the US Army, nor in the British Army, nor in the German Army there is the rank of “Colonel General” (in the first - simply General, in the third - Generaloberst). The question remains open for me.

Russian Army: major general, lieutenant general, colonel general, army general
US Army: Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General (formerly also Captain General)
German Army: Brigadegeneral, Generalmajor, Generalleutnant, General (and previously Generaloberst = Armeegeneral in the GDR army, and Generalfeldmarschall)

Military rank 3rd class, second general. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. LIEUTENANT GENERAL lat. French; etymology see general and lieutenant. Military rank 3rd class. Explanation of 25,000 foreign... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

lieutenant general- a, m. lieutenant général German. Generalleutnant. Military rank (in the Russian army from the time of Peter the Great; according to the table of ranks it belonged to the 3rd class. Sl. 18. And if there are not enough generals, then instead of them there is a brigadier or a senior colonel under ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

Exist., number of synonyms: 2 Gruppenführer (2) rank (113) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Dictionary of synonyms

Lieutenant General- the military rank following the rank of major general corresponded to 3rd class in the Table of Ranks. IN Soviet Army introduced in 1940... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary

M. 1. The second highest rank of general. 2. A person holding such a title. Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary Russian language Efremova

Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General, Lieutenant General... ... Forms of words

lieutenant general- General Lieutenant, and... Russian spelling dictionary

lieutenant general- (2 m), R. general/l lieuten/nt… Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

lieutenant general- general/l lieuten/nt, general/l lieuten/nt... Together. Separately. Hyphenated.

lieutenant general- ah, h. Another person behind the rank of general, and also a person with this rank... Ukrainian Tlumach Dictionary

Books

• Lieutenant General Mannerheim Born for the Tsarist Service, Shkvarov A.. “I was born for the Tsar’s service...” - these words of the legendary hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 D. Davydov, according to the author of the book, perfectly characterize the attitude towards military duty and...
• Lieutenant General Mannerheim. Born to serve the Tsar..., Alexey Shkvarov. “I was born for the tsarist service...” - these words of the legendary hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 D. Davydov, according to the author of the book, perfectly characterize the attitude towards military duty and...
• Lieutenant General Mannerheim. Born for the tsarist service... Chronicle of cavalry regiments from the service record of Baron Mannerheim, Alexey Shkvarov. I was born to serve the tsar... - these words of the legendary hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 D. Davydov, according to the author of the book, perfectly characterize the attitude towards military duty and...

The word general comes from the Latin gener?lis - “chief”. Generals are the highest level of military rank. Generals are also called heads of monastic and knightly orders.

For the first time, the rank of general appeared in France as a prefix to other ranks (capitaine-generale, colonel-general). Since the 16th century it has been used in France as a special rank.

This title was later adopted by the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. During the Thirteen Years' War with the Turks, the general acted as commander-in-chief of the army (Generalfeldoberst). The lieutenant general and field marshal were subordinate to him. At the beginning of the 17th century, when the emperors themselves acted as commander-in-chief, the highest military rank in the Empire became the rank of lieutenant general (generalissimo). Thus, the rank of full general was no longer used in Germany.

The rank of general exists in armed forces ah most countries of the world.

Major General

Major General- rank, as well as the primary military rank or special rank (with the addition of a department) of the highest officer (commanding) personnel, located between colonel or brigadier general and lieutenant general. A major general usually commands a division (about 15,000 personnel).

Initially, major general (major-general) was called sergeant-major-general, that is, chief sergeant major. In the old days, sergeants were company commanders, from whom the current sergeants, sergeants and non-commissioned officers descended, as well as regimental sergeants (sergeant majors), who were assistants to the regiment commander - majors descend from them. Thus, the sergeant-major general was an assistant to the general (commander-in-chief). Echoes of this system persist in the US Army, where the rank of Sergeant Major of the Army exists. The rank of lieutenant general originally designated the deputy general (commander-in-chief) - just as the lieutenant commander was originally the deputy captain (battalion commander); later this rank was transformed into lieutenant.

In the Navy (Navy), the military rank of major general corresponds to the naval rank of rear admiral.

Major General is a military rank and rank in the Russian Empire in 1698-1917. The first general rank in the Russian armed forces (Russian Imperial Army and Navy). Initially appeared in the regiments of the “foreign system” under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The rank of general was first awarded to a Russian in 1667 - it was the commander of the Moscow elective regiment A. A. Shepelev.

The rank of major general for all branches of the military was legalized by the Military Regulations of A. A. Weide in 1698 and Peter I on March 30, 1716.

Due to the special situation of the artillery and engineering troops, where literate and mathematically literate officers were required, in the 1st third of the 18th century there was the rank of major general from fortification with the same rights and responsibilities as an army major general. After 1730, the qualification “from fortification” was not used.

In the Russian Imperial Army, a major general usually commanded a brigade or division, but almost never an army corps or army; he could also be the commander of a guards regiment (at the same time, in guards regiments, above the position of regiment commander, there was the position of chief of the regiment, which were usually members of the Imperial House Romanov, and in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Horse Regiments - the reigning emperor.

The rank of major general corresponded to class IV of the “Table of Ranks” of 1722 with the address “Your Excellency.”

After the October Revolution, the rank was abolished on December 16 (29), 1917 by the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR “On the equal rights of all military personnel.”

The rank was restored to the Red Army in 1940. Typical positions for military personnel of a given military rank during the Great Patriotic War Patriotic War:

- commander of army troops (1941-1942)

- Deputy Commander of the Army/Chief of Army Staff/Corps Commander

- division commander (1944-1945)

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General- rank, military rank of senior officers in the armed forces of a number of states.

In the military hierarchy, a major is higher than a lieutenant, but a lieutenant general is higher in rank than a major general. This is explained by the fact that the chief officer ranks have their origins in the French and English armies:

Lieutenant or captain-lieutenant - an officer who is a deputy, assistant officer with the rank of captain (battalion commander); hence also lieutenant colonel (lieutenant colonel), deputy commander of a regiment (column).

Major - descended from the regimental sergeant (sergeant major), who was the assistant commander of the regiment; In the old English army, sergeants were company commanders.

In France, from the 15th to the 18th centuries, the lieutenant general was initially called the king's governor in the provinces; in the 17th-18th centuries, the position became honorary - a hereditary privilege of individual aristocratic families.

In the middle of the 17th century, the military rank of lieutenant general of the army appeared - deputy commander of the army (marshal of France).

After the February Revolution of 1848, the rank of lieutenant general in France was finally replaced by the rank of division general.

In the modern French army, a lieutenant general corresponds to the rank of corps general.

In the second half of the 16th century, in the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, the deputy general-commander-in-chief (Generalfeldoberst) was called a lieutenant general. During the Long War with the Ottoman Empire (1593-1605), starting in 1595, the emperor had two armies (in Lower and Upper Hungary), each with its own general-in-chief, its own lieutenant-general and its own field marshal, with the field marshal standing on the below the rank of lieutenant general.

After the Emperor acted as commander-in-chief of his own army during the Thirty Years' War, the rank of lieutenant general became the highest military rank of the Empire.

During the First and Second World Wars in the German army (Reichsheer, Reichswehr and Wehrmacht), the lieutenant general stood above the major general and below the general of the branch of service (infantry general, cavalry general, artillery general), colonel general and field marshal general.

In Russia, the rank of lieutenant general was introduced by Peter I; at the same time, the rank of lieutenant general was used practically as a synonym, which was used in the Russian “regiments of foreign order” in the 17th century (due to the equivalence of the terms lieutenant and lieutenant).

In the second half of the Northern War, the rank of lieutenant general replaced the rank of lieutenant general from use. In 1741, Elizaveta Petrovna returned the rank of lieutenant general instead of lieutenant general. In 1798, the rank of lieutenant general was again replaced by the rank of lieutenant general, except for artillery, where the rank of lieutenant general remained.

Before the revolution of 1917, a commander with the rank of lieutenant general usually commanded a division and an army corps (usually, after several years as a corps commander, he was promoted to full general).

In the Red Army, military rank was restored in 1940 with the introduction of general ranks for senior command personnel. During the Great Patriotic War, the following positions could correspond to the title:

- front commander/army commander/corps commander (only in 1941-1942),

- Front Commander/Deputy Front Commander/Chief of Front Staff/Army Commander (1941-1943),

- Deputy Front Commander/Army Commander/Deputy Army Commander/Chief of Army Staff/Corps Commander (in the final period).

In the Russian Armed Forces, he usually commands a corps within a military district or holds one of a number of staff positions.

In the USA, it is an official rank, that is, this rank is assigned to a general only for the duration of his tenure in a position corresponding to the rank of lieutenant general (usually a corps commander and equivalent to this position).

In the Armed Forces of Latvia and Lithuania, the rank of lieutenant general is the highest military rank that can be awarded to the highest officers of these countries.

Colonel General

Colonel General- rank, military rank of the highest officers of the armed forces, in a number of countries around the world.

In the Russian Navy, the rank of admiral corresponds.

Focusing on Prussia, where this rank was introduced in 1852 and stood above the rank of general of the branch of arms, but below the rank of field marshal general, we can say that in the Russian Empire a similar rank did not exist, since in the Russian army the general of the branch of arms was preceded by the general Field Marshal directly.

The personal military rank of Colonel General was introduced in the Red Army in 1940, most likely based on the German model. However, unlike the German Generaloberst, the Soviet (and after it the Russian) rank of colonel general is not rare or exceptional. It is higher than the rank of lieutenant general, but lower than the rank of army general.

During the Great Patriotic War, this title was awarded to approximately 150 generals of the Red Army, Navy and NKVD.

During the Great Patriotic War, the military rank of colonel general had the following positions:

- commander of front troops, a separate army (1941-1944)

- Deputy Chief of the General Staff

- Deputy Front Commander, Front Chief of Staff, Army Commander (1944-1945)

- commander of the army, commander of the troops of the military district, air defense district, group of forces, heads of the main and central departments of the Ministry of Defense (MoD), head. Main Directorates of the General Staff (GS), head. General Staff management, head services of the Ministry of Defense, commanders and chiefs of troops, deputy. Minister of Defense, head heads of ministries, which provide military service(1946-1992).

The rank of colonel general is retained in most post-Soviet armies. In some, for example, in Belarus, it is the highest (since there are no ranks of army general or marshal).

The title “Colonel General”, or more precisely “General Oberst” (German: Generaloberst) is of German origin; it appeared in Prussian royal army in the 50s of the 19th century and was later preserved in the army of Imperial Germany (Erich Ludendorff had it), the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the National People's Army of the GDR.

Until 1945, this was the second most senior rank after Field Marshal, (which in the Soviet military hierarchy corresponds to the rank of Army General; those holding the rank of Generaloberst tended to hold positions similar to those held by army generals in the Soviet Army) above the rank of full general ( “general of infantry, artillery”, etc.). Accordingly, when translated, it is more correct to call the rank “general-in-chief” or “general-oberst” (the semantic translation is the most senior, chief general).

In Hitler's Germany, the rank of Oberst General corresponded to the rank of Admiral General (German Generaladmiral) in the navy and Oberstgruppenführer (German Oberstgruppenf?hrer) in the SS troops. In total, during the Second World War, about 50 people held this title (not counting those who later became field marshals).

In the Bundeswehr of the Federal Republic of Germany, since its creation in 1949, this rank does not exist.