Brigadier general
Brigadier General is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually just above Colonel and just below Major General.
Brigadier General can trace its origins to the militaries of Europe where a Brigadier General, or simply a Brigadier, would command a brigade in the field. The rank spread throughout the world after being adopted in the 18th century by the United States with simultaneous spreading of the rank by the British Empire.
In the Commonwealth the equivalent rank is normally Brigadier, while many other countries use the rank of Brigade General. A few countries use Major General as the equivalent of Brigadier General (rather than as the rank above) - These are countries which then generally use a rank of Colonel General to make four general officer ranks.
The naval equivalent is often Commodore or Rear Admiral, but this depends on the rank system of the navy in question.
Brigadier General ranks by country
Argentina
The rank of Brigadier General (with some local variations) is used in the Argentine Air Force. The use of the rank is different from that of other military forces of the world. Unlike other armed forces, the rank of Brigadier General is actually the highest rank in the Argentine Air Force. This is due to the use of the rank of Brigadier and its derivatives to designate all general officers in the Air Force: Brigadier (lowest general officer) Brigadier-Major (middle) and Brigadier-General (highest). The rank of Brigadier General is reserved for the Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force, as well as the Chief of the Joint General Staff if he should be an Air Force officer.
The Argentine Army does not use the rank of brigadier-general, instead using the equivalent rank of Brigade General (in Spanish General de Brigada).
Australia
In the Australian Imperial Force during World War I, the rank of Brigadier-General was always temporary and held only while the officer was posted to a particular task, typically the command of a brigade. When posted elsewhere, the rank would be relinquished and the former rank resumed. This policy prevented an accumulation of high-ranking general officers brought about by the relatively high turnover of brigade commanders.
As in the United Kingdom, the rank was later replaced by Brigadier.
Belgium
The Belgian Army uses the rank of Général de brigade (French) and Brigadegeneraal (Dutch). However, in this small military there are no permanent promotions to this rank, and it is only awarded as a temporary promotion to a full Colonel who assumes a post requiring the rank, notably in an international context (e.g. as Military Attaché in a major embassy such as Washington, D.C.).
Canada
In the Canadian Forces, the rank of Brigadier-General (BGen) (Brigadier-général or Bgén in French) is an Army or Air Force rank equal to a Commodore of the Navy. A Brigadier-General is the lowest rank of General Officer, the Army and Air Force equivalent of a Naval Flag Officer. A Brigadier-General is senior to a Colonel or Naval Captain, and junior to a Major-General or Rear-Admiral.
The rank title "brigadier-general" is still used notwithstanding that brigades in the army are now commanded by Colonels. Until the late 1990s brigades were commanded by brigadier-generals. In the air force context, brigadier-generals used to command air force "Groups" until these bodies were abolished in the late 1990s.
The rank insignia for a brigadier-general is a single gold maple leaf beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St. Edward's Crown, worn on the shoulder straps of the Service Dress jacket, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The Service Dress jacket 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; the air force wedge cap features gold braid on the edges of the ear flaps. The cap insignia for a general officer is a modified version of the Canadian Forces insignia; the collar insignia (Army generals only) is two crossed sabres. Some brigadier-generals, by nature of holding a branch-specific appointment, may continue to wear the insignia of their personnel branch; for example, the Chaplain-General [1] wears the General Officer's cap insignia with the collar insignia of the Chaplain Branch, while the Surgeon-General [2] continues to wear the cap and collar insignia of the Canadian Forces Medical Service.
Brigadier-Generals are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Brigadier-Generals are normally entitled to staff cars.
Note: Before unification in 1968 of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Army, and the Royal Canadian Navy, rank structure and insignia followed the British pattern. In army usage, the term "Brigadier" was used to denote what is now known as a Brigadier-General while the air force used the term "Air Commodore".
China
Chinese rank of Da-Xiao (大校) is a direct equivalent of a brigadier. It ranks just above Colonel (上校) and just below Major General (少将). A brigadier is commonly in command of a division(师) or a brigade(旅团). Divisional commanders are seldom general officer.
Germany
The equivalent modern German rank is Brigadegeneral. The concept of a Brigadier General rank is relatively new, as prior to 1950 the lowest German General Officer rank was Generalmajor, which was often considered equivalent to Brigadier General in other armies.
Greece
- Main article: Taxiarkhos
Iran
The equivalent rank for Brigadier General in Iranian army and air force is called Sar-Tip. It is above the rank of Sar-Hang (Colonel) and below the rank of Sar-Lashkar (Major General).
Notice that Iranian Revolutionary Guards also use this rank. The difference is in salutation. One refers an army or air force Brigadier General as "Timsar Sar-Tip", while a revolutionary guard general is referred to as "Sardar Sar-Tip".
Israel
In the Israel Defense Forces, the rank of Brigadier General is called Tat Aluf and is the third highest rank, below Aluf (Major General) and Rav Aluf (Lieutenant General or General), and above Aluf Mishne (Colonel).
Korea
The rank of Brigadier General is known in South Korea as Junjang and is a direct equivalent to the United States one star rank, with very similar insignia. The military of North Korea does not technically maintain a Brigadier General rank, but the first rank of Major General (Sojang) displays one star as its insignia and is the effective equivalent.
Myanmar (Burma)
The rank of Brigadier General is known in Myanmar as Bo Mhu Gyoke and is often the duputy commander of one of Myanmar's Regional Military Commands (RMC), commander of the light infantry division (LID) or Military Operation Commands (MOC). In civil service, Brigadier General often hold the office of deputy minister or director general of certain ministries.
Pakistan
Pakistan Army has followed British Army rank system since its independence from British Empire in 1947. However, crown in the ranks has been replaced with a star and crescent, which symbolizes the sovereignty of Government of Pakistan.
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Brigadier General is equivalent to Brigadier in the Pakistan army, Commodore in Pakistan Navy and Air Commodore in Pakistan Air Force. Brigadier is also called a one star General. Like other armies, this rank is higher than Colonel and lower than Major General.
Poland
Prior to 2002, the Polish rank of Generał brygady was equivalent to both the ranks of Major General and Brigadier General.
Portugal
In the Portuguese Army and Air Force, Brigadier-General (Brigadeiro-General) is a temporary general rank for the Colonels that have to exerce a special command. It's the equivalent of the Commodore rank in the Portuguese Navy.
United Kingdom
The rank of Brigadier-General was abolished in the British Army and Royal Marines in 1922. It was replaced initially by the appointment of Colonel-Commandant, but this was seen as unsatisfactory and in 1928 was replaced by the appointment of Brigadier (which became a conventional rank after World War II). The old rank of Brigadier General has since been reintroduced in Canada and some other Commonwealth countries.
From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of brigadier general. It was superceded by the rank of air commodore on the following day.
The insignia for the rank was a crossed sword and baton on its own; higher grades of general at the time and still consit of this device with the addition of a star, crown or both for a full general.
Brigadier is the highest field officer rank (hence absence of the word "general"), whereas Brigadier-General was the lowest general officer rank. However, the two ranks are considered equal.
The equivalent naval rank is Commodore and the equivalent Air Force rank is Air Commodore.
United States
The rank of Brigadier General has existed in the United States armed forces since the American Revolutionary War. A Brigadier General was at first strictly an infantry officer who commanded a brigade, but the responsibilities of the rank drastically expanded throughout the 19th and 20th century.
The rank is the equivalent to the United States Navy rank of Rear Admiral (Lower Half). The insignia for a Brigadier General is one silver star worn on the shoulder or collar, with the insignia unchanged dating back to the creation of the rank some two centuries ago.
Since the Mexican-American War, however, the lower rank of Colonel has been the normal rank appointed to command a brigade.
Today, an Army or Marine Corps Brigadier General typically serves as Deputy Commander to the Commanding General of a division or division-sized units and assists in overseeing the planning and coordination of a mission. An Air Force Brigadier General typically commands a large wing. Additionally, one-star generals of all services may serve as high-level staff officers in large military organizations.
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List of notable Brigadier Generals
- Benedict Arnold (Continental Army/British Army)
- Kit Carson (US Army)
- Wiiliam Lee Davidson North Carolina militia general during the United States War of Independence killed in action at the Battle of Cowan's Ford
- Martin Dempsey (US Army)
- Reginald Dyer (Indian Army)
- David Fraser (Canadian Forces)
- Charles de Gaulle (President of France)¹
- Sheila A. Hellstrom (Canadian Forces; first female Brigadier-General)
- Susan Helms (NASA)
- Patrick D Hogan (Irish Army, also Chief Scout of the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland)
- Avigdor Kahalani (Israeli Defence Force)
- Janis Karpinski (US Army)
- Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (Continental Army)
- Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore Army)
- Jonathan Moulton (New Hampshire Militia)
- Franklin Pierce (US Army)
- Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (US Army)
- Angela Salinas (US Marine Corps)
- William Seawell (US Army)
- William Henry Seward, Jr. (Union Army)
- John Stark (Continental Army)
- James Stewart (U.S. Air Force (Reserve))
- Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (Cuban Air Force)
- Paul Tibbets (US Air Force)
- Chuck Yeager (US Air Force)²
- Richard Dean Anderson (US Air Force, honorary)³
- John Sheppard (SGC)
¹The actual rank of Ch. de Gaulle was général de brigade à titre temporaire (acting brigadier general), but as there is no single star general in the french army, this rank is effectively equivalent to Major General. He was so commissionned by Président du Conseil Raynaud so he could enter the government in 1940, and refused to be confirmed or promoted after the war. He always appended "temporary" to his rank in his signature.[citation needed]
²Yeager was promoted to Major General on the retired list in 2005.
³He was granted the honorary rank in a military dinner with the Air Force Chief-of-Staff, General John P. Jumper.