Captain (OF-2)

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This article is about rank of captain in armies, air forces and marine forces. For information about other uses of the word "captain", see captain (disambiguation).
Common military ranks
Navies1 Armies2 Air Forces3
Admiral of
the Fleet		 Field Marshal Marshal of
the Air Force
Admiral General Air Chief Marshal
Vice Admiral Lt. General Air Marshal
Rear Admiral Major General Air Vice-Marshal
Commodore Brigadier Air Commodore
Captain Colonel Group Captain
Commander Lt. Colonel Wing Commander
Lt. Commander Major Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Captain Flight Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant Lieutenant Flying Officer
Warrant Officer Sergeant Major Warrant Officer
Petty Officer Sergeant Sergeant
Leading Rate Corporal Corporal
Seaman Private Aircraftman
1 in the English-speaking world          2 also some Air Forces
3 In many Commonwealth countries

A Captain in armies, air forces and marine forces, is a rank with a NATO rank code of OF-2. It means a commissioned officer one rank above a lieutenant and one below a major. It should not be confused with a naval captain or an air force Group Captain, which have a NATO rank code of OF-5.

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[edit] History

Prior to the professionalization of the armed services of European nations subsequent to the French revolution, a captain was a nobleman who purchased the right to head a company from the previous holder of that right. He would in turn receive money from another nobleman to serve as his lieutenant. The funding to provide for the troops came from the monarch or his government; the captain had to be responsible for it. If he was not, or was otherwise court-martialed, he would be dismissed ("cashiered"), and the monarch would receive money from another nobleman to command the company. Otherwise, the only pension for the captain was selling the right to another nobleman when he was ready to retire.

[edit] Air forces

In most countries the air force is the junior service and so air force ranks have been adopted or modified from one of the other services. Many, such as the United States Air Force, use a rank structure and insignia similar to those of the army.

However, the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries use a rank structure in which Flight Lieutenant is OF-2. A Group Captain is OF-5 and was derived from the naval rank of captain.

In the unified system of the Canadian Forces, however, the air force rank titles are identical to that of the Army, while the rank insignia is common to Army, Navy, and Air Force; thus, an air force or army captain wears two gold stripes on sleeve or epaulet (the same as a naval lieutenant), while the modern equivalent of the British group captain bears the rank and insignia of colonel, i.e. four gold stripes on sleeve or epaulet (same as a naval captain).

[edit] Equivalent Captain ranks

[edit] Insignia

A variety of images illustrative of different forces' insignia for captain (or captain-equivalents) are shown below:

Hauptmann insignia of German Army

Captain (Captaen) insignia of the Irish Army

Captain insignia of the British Army[1]

Captain insignia of US Army and US Air Force.[2]

Căpitan insignia of the Romanian Armed Forces

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ The Royal Marines insignia is similar, but not identical, to the British Army insignia.
  2. ^ The US Marine Corps insignia for Captain is slightly altered from the USA / USAF insignia depicted above in that it lacks beveled edges and the cross-bars are further towards the ends. See collar insignia for US Navy Lieutenant.

[edit] See also

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