United States military seniority

Modern-day seniority

The modern-day seniority system of the United States commissioned officer corps operates on two different levels. For officers of different ranks, seniority is simply determined by who holds the highest rank. For instance, Army colonel is senior to captain and captain senior to lieutenant. Seniority extends across services as for instance major in the Army is senior to captain in the Air Force while commander in the United States Navy is senior to both. For officers in the same rank or pay-grade, seniority is determined by "lineal number", which is based on the date an officer was first commissioned. One of the few non-punitive disciplinary actions, which may be taken against an officer involves the loss of lineal number standing, effectively meaning they will not be promoted within the same year group, in which they were commissioned.

A type of "positional seniority" exists for military officers who hold top leadership positions of the armed forces. For instance, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is considered the senior most officer of the entire United States military, even though it is possible that contemporaries of the same rank may have earlier commissioned dates and therefore are technically more senior. Likewise, heads of various armed service branches are considered senior most within their service; unified commanders are also considered senior most in their respective regions yet not necessarily to each other.

The regular United States military hierarchy is as follows:

When compared to each other, seniority is determined among the service heads by lineal number and commissioning date. Externally, the standing of each service head is determined by the date of the creation of the service as follows.

The officers in charge of the Unified Combatant Commands are considered "operational officers" while the standard military hierarchy is administrative. For instance, the Chief of Naval Operations, who would most likely be senior to a naval admiral in command of the United States Pacific Command, would not be able to issue direct orders to said commander (except for certain extreme emergencies) since operational chain of command is separate from regular administrative military hierarchy. Military seniority, within itself, would not be affected.

Tactical and Operational seniority

Tactical seniority, also known as "battlefield seniority", is the manner in which a senior officer in command of a given tactical situation is determined. For instance, within the United States Navy, groups of ships performing exercises together will have one ship designated as the tactical senior unit. The commander of said ship is the senior tactical officer and may in fact be junior in rank to the other officers of the tactical group. For multi-national exercises, such as the Sharem event in South Korea, ships of foreign nations are sometimes given tactical seniority and thus may issue routine movement orders to United States vessels. Actual combat would fall under the Task Force system, in which a United States admiral, with clear seniority, would take command over all vessels.

Groups of Army units, especially in active combat, may be placed under tactical command of any officer, regardless of rank seniority, for completion of a single mission. During World War II, the term "mixed unit" was commonly used to denote military formations created from several other smaller units, most often "on the spot", due to operational confusion and the need for a single battlefield commander to take authority over all units physically present. Army Air Force bomber groups operated on a similar principal, in that tactical command could pass to officers who were not necessarily the senior most present, given the specific needs of the mission or casualties during the mission itself.

Operational seniority refers to the ability to issue long range orders to U.S. forces, such as deployments, general orders, and other administrative matters. Operational seniority is never granted to non-U.S. officers and usually stems from such major offices as the Bureau of Naval Personnel or the Army Personnel Branch.

Historical seniority

Historical seniority is a loosely defined term to indicate the general significance of various generals and flag officers within the scope of the history of the United States. Historical seniority is typically only bestowed to those officers who were the inaugural holders of ranks or for those who served as the senior most military officer during a major armed conflict.

The only case where historical seniority has been legally established by the United States Congress are for the two "super ranks" of the armed forces of the United States, these being the ranks General of the Armies and Admiral of the Navy. By clear precedent, the holders of these two ranks (three persons in all) are senior to all other officers of the United States military, past and present. By special Congressional edict, George Washington is considered the senior most officer of all time meaning he may never be lesser in seniority to any other military officer, although Washington technically shares the same rank with John Pershing.

The office of general was discontinued after the Civil War, but revived in 1919 by the title of "General of the Armies of the United States" when General John J. Pershing was appointed to that office on 3 September 1919; accepted the appointment on 8 September 1919, was retired with that rank on 13 September 1924, and held it until his death on 15 July 1948. No other officer has occupied this office on active duty. General Pershing held the grade of General of the Armies of the United States under the provisions of the Act of U.S. Congress of 3 September 1919 (Public Law 45). Washington was posthumously appointed General of the Armies of the United States under s:Public Law 94-479. Under s:Order 31-3, the effective promotion date was on 4 July 1976. Congress specified that no officer of the United States Army should outrank Lieutenant General George Washington on the Army list. While promoted to a lieutenant general only a year before his death, he was the most senior officer and the only lieutenant general in the army. The same is true of Ulysses S. Grant, who was the second person to permanently hold this rank. (Winfield Scott was a brevet lieutenant general for his service in the Mexican–American War.) Washington was referred to as "commander in chief" of the Continental Army, a title that since the adoption of the Constitution has been reserved for the (civilian) President.

The five star officers of World War II are technically considered the most senior officers in U.S. history (with the exception of the two "super ranks" previously mentioned), yet are often considered historically junior to the military leaders of the 19th century, especially the inaugural holders of senior military ranks. Most historical seniority lists also omit three star officers, with some rare exceptions (such as Winfield Scott), and typically avoid comparing two star ranks and below, which are permanent ranks held by hundreds of officers over the past two centuries. In these cases, standard methods of seniority are utilized. Since 1981, the highest rank held by any officer in the U.S. armed forces is four stars, or a pay grade of "O-10". Modern-day admirals and generals are typically not considered in lists of historical seniority, except for extreme cases such as leaders of wars or other wide scale armed conflicts.

Historical seniority list

The officers listed below are generally accepted in military history circles as the top twenty five officers of all time in United States military history

Alexander Vandegrift is also frequently included in historical seniority lists due to his status as the first Commandant of the Marine Corps, as is Anna Mae Hays who was the first woman to be promoted to brigadier general in the history of the United States. Historical seniority is rarely referred to after the Korean War since modern military seniority systems had been well-established after the mid 20th century. Expanded seniority lists such as the one listed below do exist mostly in recognition of major military leaders of modern wars and conflicts.