Flight Lieutenant

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This article is about the air force rank. For the film, see Flight Lieutenant (film).

A Flight Lieutenant's sleeve/shoulder insignia

Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt in the RAF; FLTLT in the RAAF and RNZAF, F/L in the RCAF prior to the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces) is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above Flying Officer and immediately below Squadron Leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "Lieutenant". In informal usage, a flight lieutenant is sometimes referred to as a "flight lieuy".

It has a NATO ranking code of OF-2, and is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy or a Captain in the British Army or the Royal Marines.

1 Origins
2 Usage
3 Insignia
4 Other air forces
5 Notable flight lieutenants
6 See also

[edit] Origins

The rank insignia of a Royal Naval Air Service Flight Lieutenant

On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with Royal Naval Air Service Lieutenants (titled Flight Lieutenants and Flight Commanders) and Royal Flying Corps Captains becoming Captains in the RAF. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, 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 current rank of Flight Lieutenant would have been Air Lieutenant. Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on Navy officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that RAF Captains might be titled as Flight-Leaders. However, the rank title Flight Lieutenant was chosen as Flights were typically commanded by RAF Captains and the term Flight Lieutenant had been used in the Royal Naval Air Service. The rank of Flight Lieutenant has been used continuously since 1 August 1919.

Common Military Ranks
Naval Forces	Land/Air Forces	Commonwealth Air Forces
Admiral	General	Air Marshal
Commodore	Brigadier	Air Commodore
Captain	Colonel	Group Captain
Commander	Lieutenant Colonel	Wing Commander
Lieutenant Commander	Major	Squadron Leader
Lieutenant	Captain	Flight Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Flying Officer
Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer
Petty Officer	Sergeant	Sergeant
Leading Rate	Corporal	Corporal
Seaman	Private	Aircraftman

[edit] Usage

Although in the early years of the RAF, a Flight Lieutenant commanded a flight of aircraft, in the modern air force, it is rare that a Flight Lieutenant is in command of a flying unit. However, ground flights which are administrative sub-divisions of squadrons are ordinarily commanded by Flight Lieutenants. In the Air Training Corps, a Flight Lieutenant is the Officer Commanding (OC) of a squadron.

[edit] Insignia

The rank insignia consists of two narrow blue bands on slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flight suit or the casual uniform. The rank insignia on the mess uniform is similar to the naval pattern, being two band of gold running around each cuff but without the Royal Navy's loop.

[edit] Other air forces

The rank of Flight Lieutenant is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth, including the Bangladesh Air Force, Ghana Air Force, Indian Air Force, Pakistan Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Royal Canadian Air Force used the rank until 1968, when the three armed services were unified and Army-type ranks were adopted; Flight Lieutenants became Captains.

[edit] Notable flight lieutenants

Jerry Rawlings, Ghanaian politician who twice served as that country's president.
Malcolm Kendall-Smith, British officer convicted of criminal charges relating to his refusal to deploy to Iraq.
Sir Patrick Moore, British astronomer.
Arthur C. Clarke, British author and inventor
Christopher Lee, British actor, served in RAF Intelligence during World War II
Roald Dahl, British Author

[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