Air Chief Marshal

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Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns in RAF No 1 Dress uniform

Air Chief Marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a rank in the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom as well as in air forces of many Commonwealth nations. It is the rank held by the current Chief of the Air Staff and it is immediately senior to the rank of Air Marshal. Marshal of the Royal Air Force is higher, but no one has been promoted to that rank since the defence cuts of the 1990s. Air Chief Marshals may be addressed as "Air Marshal".

Air Chief Marshal is a 4 star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-9. An Air Chief Marshal is equivalent to an Admiral in the Royal Navy and a General in the British Army or Royal Marines.

1 Origins
2 Insignia, command flag and star plate
3 Other air forces
4 See also

[edit] Origins

Prior to the adoption of RAF-specific rank titles in 1919, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "Air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became Air Chief Marshal would have been Air Admiral. The Admiralty objected to any use of their rank titles, including this modified form, and so an alternative proposal was put forward: Air Officer ranks would be based on the term "Ardian", which was derived from a combination of the Gaelic words for "chief" (ard) and "bird" (eun), with the unmodified word "Ardian" being used specifically for the equivalent to full Admiral and General. However, Air Chief Marshal was preferred and was adopted on 1 August 1919. The rank was first used on 1 April 1922.

[edit] Insignia, command flag and star plate

The rank insignia consists of three narrow light blue bands (each on a slightly wider black band) over a light blue band on a broad black band. This is worn on the both the lower sleeves of the No1 tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform.

The command flag for an RAF Air Chief Marshal is defined by the two broad red bands running through the centre of the flag.

The vehicle star plate for an RAF Air Chief Marshal depicts four white stars (Air Chief Marshal is a four star rank) on an air force blue background.

An Air Chief Marshal's sleeve/shoulder insignia

An RAF Air Chief Marshal's command flag

An RAF Air Chief Marshal's star plate

[edit] Other air forces

The rank of Air Chief Marshal is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth, including the Indian Air Force (IAF), Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). It is also used in the Egyptian Air Force, Indonesian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force and the Royal Thai Air Force.

In Australia, this rank is only used when the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) is an Air Force Officer. When this is not the case, the senior ranking Air Force officer is the Chief of Air Force, an Air Marshal.

The Royal Canadian Air Force used this rank until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, when Army-type rank titles after the American pattern were adopted and an Air Chief Marshal became a General.

[edit] See also

	Officer ranks of the British Armed Forces
	Student Officer	OF(D)	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
Royal Navy:		Mid	SLt		Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines:			2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen
Army:	OCdt		2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM
Royal Air Force:	OC / SO		APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl	MRAF