Major General
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.
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, 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 cars.
In the French military,
Major général is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of
Général de corps d'armée rank, acting as head of staff of a branch of service. This sould not be confused with the chief of staff, who is usually a
Général d'armée, and the true commander of each service. There are five Major Generals: the Major General of the Armies, head of the General Staff, the Major General of the Army, the Major General of the Navy, the Major General of the
Gendarmerie and the Major General of the Air Force.
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.
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German Generalmajor Insignia |
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..
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.
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South Korean Sojang insignia |
The
rank of Major General is known as
Sojang in
South Korea.
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.
In the
New Zealand Army,
Major-General is the rank held by the Chief of General Staff. The more senior rank of
Lieutenant-General is reserved for the Chief of Defence Staff, who commands all New Zealand's armed forces. This position is subject to rotation between the heads of the Air Force, Army, and Navy.
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.
Major-General is equivalent to
Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy and
Air Vice-Marshal in the
Royal Air Force.
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US Major General insignia |
In the
United States Army,
United States Marine Corps and
United States 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
United States Navy. In the Army and Marine Corps,
division-sized combat units are commanded by Major Generals.
In the
Civil Air Patrol (which is not a military service), 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. A CAP Major General is demoted to Brigadier General when they vacate the position of National Commander.
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.
*Major-General Stanley is the "modern major general" from
Gilbert and Sullivan's
1879 comic
operetta,
The Pirates of Penzance. Stanley is a
satire of the aristocratic, learned officers in the British army of the day. He sings the immortal
Major General's Song.
*In the science-fiction television series
Stargate SG-1, the commanding officer of
Stargate Command from seasons 1 to 7 is Major General
George Hammond (played by
Don S. Davis).
*
Bartholomew Bandy, the air ace from
Donald Jack's Bandy Papers series, ends the First World War as a Major General at the age of only 26.
*In the anime movie
Robotech II: The Sentinels, the lead character, Rick Hunter, holds the rank of Major General.
*Con-artist Private Harry Frigg, played by
Academy Award-winning actor
Paul Newman, is promoted overnight to Major General in the 1968 war comedy,
The Secret War of Harry Frigg.* The second commandant of the show "JAG" (1995-2005) is a Major General: Major General Gordon "Biff" Cresswell portrayed by David Andrews.
*
Comparative military ranks
