Major General (United States)

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In the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-8. Major General ranks above Brigadier General and below Lieutenant General. Major General is equivalent to a Rear Admiral (upper half) in the other uniformed services.

Statutory limits

U.S. Code of law explicitly limits the total number of general officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 302 for the Army, 279 for the Air Force, 80 for the Marine Corps. Some of these slots are reserved or finitely set by statute. For example the Judge Advocates General of the Army is a major general in the army; also the Judge Advocates General of the Air Force is a major general in the air force; the army's Chief of Engineers is also a major general; in the Civil Air Patrol, an air force auxiliary, the National Commander is a major general.

Promotion / appointment and tour length

To be promoted to the permanent grade of major general, officers who are eligible for promotion to this rank are screened by an in-service promotion board comprising other general officers from their branch of service. This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank. This list is then sent to the service secretary and the joint chiefs for review before it can be sent to the President, through the defense secretary for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the service secretary , and if applicable, the service's chief of staff or commandant. The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, but this is extremely rare. The Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once a nominee is confirmed he or she will be promoted to that rank once he or she assumes a position of office that requires an officer to hold the rank. For positions of office that are reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position. For all three uniformed services, because the one-star and two-star grades are permanent ranks, the nominee must still be screened by an in-service promotion board before the nominee can be sent to the Senate for approval.

Retirement

All major generals must retire after five years in grade or 35 years of service, whichever is later, and all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a general officer's retirement until the officer's 66th birthday and the President can defer it until the officer's 68th birthday. General officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors.

History

The rank of Major General was abolished as a rank of the U.S. Army by the Act of March 16, 1802 and restored by the Act of January 11, 1812 as preparations were being made for the War of 1812. Major General has been a rank in the U.S. Army ever since.

Until the American Civil War, Major General was the highest rank that could be attained by an officer in the U.S. Army, though Winfield Scott had been given the brevet (honorary) rank of Lieutenant General in 1855. This was a consequence of the fact that at his death George Washington was officially listed as holding the rank of Major general, rather than full general, and it was regarded as improper for an officer to hold a rank equal to or superior to Washington's. To address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General of the Armies ("six star general") in 1976.

The position of Major General Commanding the Army was entitled to wear three stars according to General Order No. 6 of March 13, 1861. When Ulysses S. Grant was appointed Lieutenant General on March 9, 1864 and took command of the Union forces, he used the three star insignia formerly assigned to that position.

There was no Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps until Commandant Charles Heywood was specially promoted by Act of Congress in July 1902. From his retirement on October 3, 1903, Brigadier General was again the highest rank in the Marine Corps until May 21, 1908 when the office of Commandant was raised to the rank of Major General. It remained the highest rank in the Marine Corps until January 20, 1942 when the office of Commandant was raised to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Major General (United States)

Statutory limits

Promotion / appointment and tour length

Retirement

History

Notes

See also