Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
From: howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Rank of military officers
Message-ID: <1991Feb8.015839.19743@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 8 Feb 91 01:58:39 GMT
References: <1991Feb4.063141.20048@cbnews.att.com> <1991Feb5.043249.6192@cbnews.att.com> <1991Feb6.032439.22085@cbnews.att.com>
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Corporation for Open Systems, McLean, VA
Lines: 36
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: howard@cos.com (Howard C. Berkowitz)

[mod.note: I think we've hammered this one about enough, haven't we ?
  No more rank amateurs, please !  8-)  - Bill ]

In article <1991Feb6.032439.22085@cbnews.att.com> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
>
>Dept. of trivia:  there are actually theoretically two higher Army ranks
>(don't know about USAF and USMC), although neither has been used lately.
>There is a five-star general, "General Of The Army"; insignia is five
>stars in a circle.  And there is "General Of The Armies" -- note plural --


To trivialize even further, Fleet Admiral was the Navy's WWII five-star
rank.  Army Air Force officers did (at least Arnold -- did Spaatz?) 
but I don't know if they carried this into General of the Air Force;
I think I've seen the latter in USAF charts.

From memory, the five-stars were (not positive about Spaatz):

     ARMY:  Marshall (Army CoS), Arnold (USAAF), Spaatz (?-SAC equivalent)
            MacArthur (SWPAC Theater), Eisenhower (European Theater),
            Bradley (senior Army Group commander)

     NAVY:  Leahy (FDR's chief of staff), Nimitz (CINCPAC), 
            Halsey (3rd Fleet CO)
              BOOO HISS!  Spruance, 5th fleet CO, had exactly
              the same ships as Halsey; different staff.
              He had to settle for four stars.
-- 
howard@cos.com OR  {uunet,  decuac, sun!sundc, hadron, hqda-ai}!cos!howard
(703) 883-2812 [W] (703) 998-5017 [H]
DISCLAIMER:  Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Corporation
for Open Systems, its members, or any standards body.