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Captain (armed forces)

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This article is about the army and air force rank. For the naval rank, see Captain (naval).
Comparative military ranks
Armies,
air forces
(non-Commonwealth)		 Navies,
coast guards		 Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Flag commissioned officers
Field marshal or Marshal or Captain general Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force
General or
colonel general or
army general		 Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general or
army corps general		 Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general or
divisional general		 Rear admiral or
Counter admiral		 Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore or
flotilla admiral		 Air commodore
Senior commissioned officers
Colonel (Ship-of-the-line)
Captain		 Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Frigate captain or
Commander		 Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Corvette captain or Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Junior commissioned officers
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
First lieutenant or
lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant or
junior lieutenant		 Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Non-commissioned officers
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Enlisted ranks
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Lance corporal or
Lance bombardier or
Specialist		 Able seaman Leading aircraftman or
Air specialist
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
sapper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator

The army rank of captain (from the French capitaine) is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery (or United States Army cavalry troop or Commonwealth squadron). In the Chinese People's Liberation Army, a captain may also command a company, or be the second-in-command of a battalion.

In NATO countries, the rank of captain is described by the code OF-2 and is one rank above an OF-1 (lieutenant or first lieutenant) and one below an OF-3 (major or commandant). The rank of captain is generally considered to be the highest rank a soldier can achieve while remaining in the field.

In some militaries, such as United States Army and Air Force and the British Army, captain is the entry-level rank for officer candidates possessing a professional degree, namely, most medical professionals (doctors, pharmacists, dentists) and lawyers. In the U.S.. Army, lawyers who are not already officers at captain rank or above enter as lieutenants during training, and are promoted to the rank of captain after completion of their training if they are in the active component, or after a certain amount of time, usually one year from their date of commission as a lieutenant, for the reserve components.

The rank of captain should not be confused with the naval rank of captain or with the UK-influenced air force rank of group captain, both of which are equivalent to the army rank of colonel.

History

The term ultimately goes back to Late Latin capitaneus meaning "chief, prominent"; in Middle English adopted as capitayn in the 14th century, from Old French capitaine.

The military rank of captain was in use from the 1560s, referring to an officer who commands a company. The naval sense, an officer who commands a man-of-war, is somewhat earlier, from the 1550s, later extended in meaning to "master or commander of any kind of vessel". A captain in the period prior to the professionalization of the armed services of European nations subsequent to the French Revolution, during the early modern period, 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.

Air forces

Many air forces, 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, many other Commonwealth air forces and a few non-Commonwealth air forces[1] use an air force-specific 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, the air force rank titles are pearl grey and increase from OF-1 to OF-5 in half strip increments.[2]

Equivalent captain ranks

Rank name Country name
Kapitani Georgia
Akhmad Mongolia
Capitaine Belgium (Fr.)
Capitaine France
Capitano Italy
Capitán Spain
Capitão Brazil
Capitão Portugal
Căpitan Romania
Hauptmann Austria
Germany
Switzerland
Hauptsturmführer Waffen-SS
Jeg-tooran (جګتورن) Afghanistan
"Kapitán", Capitán, Captain Philippines
Kapetan (Капетан) Bosnia, Serbia
Kapitan Russia
Kapitan Ukraine
Kapitan Poland
Kapitan Azerbaijan
Kapitan (Капитан) Bulgaria
Kapitan (Капитан) Russia
Kapitan (Капітан) Ukraine
Kapitein Netherlands
Kapitein Belgium (NL.)
Kapteinis Latvia
Kapitonas Lithuania
Kapitán Czech Rep.
Kapitán Slovakia
Kaptajn Denmark
Kaptan (کپتان) Pakistan
Kapteeni Finland
Kaptein Norway
Kapten Indonesia
Kapten Sweden
Lochagos (Λοχαγός) Greece
Bo Gyi (ဗိုလ်ကြီး) Myanmar
Phu Kong (ผู้กอง) Thailand
Roi Ek (ร้อยเอก) Thailand
Satnik Croatia
Stotnik Slovenia
Seren (סרן) Israel
Shangwei (上尉), China
Shangwei (上尉), Taiwan
Százados Hungary
Taewi (대위) South Korea
Taii (大尉), Ichii (一尉) Japan
Yüzbaşı Turkey
Đại Úy Vietnam
Капетан (Kapetan) Macedonia

Insignia

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

Historical

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The U.S. Marine Corps insignia for captain is slightly different 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 U.S. Navy lieutenant.

References

  1. ^ Non-Commonwealth air forces using an air force-specific rank structure include the Egyptian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force, Royal Air Force of Oman, Royal Thai Air Force and the Air Force of Zimbabwe.
  2. ^ Force, Government of Canada, National Defence, Royal Canadian Air. "Article - Royal Canadian Air Force - Backgrounder - New insignia for the Royal Canadian Air Force". www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Defense Logistics Agency (27 May 2016). "Insignia, Rank, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy and Captain, U.S. Marine Corps". Quick Search Assist. Building 4/D, 700 Robbins Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094: DLA Document Services. Retrieved 13 November 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ^ Jahner, Kyle (1 October 2015). "The end of the Green Service Uniform: 1954-2015". Army Times. Military Times.
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