General of the Air Force
General of the Air Force , or informally five-star general , is the highest rank in the US Air Force and is only given to one person in this form. He corresponds to the rank of field marshal of the Wehrmacht and has the NATO rank code OF-10. Comparable ranks also exist in the armies of Russia (and the Soviet Union ), France and some other countries - see: Marshal . The equivalent of the US Navy is the Fleet Admiral , in the US Army the General of the Army .
United States
The only holder of the rank - for which it was also created - was Henry H. Arnold . Arnold was under Chief of Staff of the Army George C. Marshall since 1940 the commander of the US Army Air Forces , the then air forces of the US armed forces , which only became an independent armed forces in 1947 . On December 14, 1944, the US Congress created the rank of General of the Army through Public Law 482 , which was finally enshrined in law on March 23, 1946. This five-star rank was necessary in order to be able to compare the British Field Marshals and the Marshal of the Royal Air Force with equivalents in the transatlantic cooperation . Arnold was named General of the Army on December 21, 1944 , and retired in 1946. After the US Air Force had formed an independent military force in the form of the US Air Force since 1947 , the US Congress approved the rank of General of the Air Force , which was awarded to the retired Henry Arnold on May 7, 1949. Arnold has been the only holder of this rank since then. He died on January 15, 1950.
The five-star general's insignia are five stars arranged in a pentagonal pattern, the corners of which are touching. Above is the Great Seal of the United States.
NATO countries
In France , a Général d'armée Airienne carries five stars, but is on an equal footing with a general in other armies.
In Great Britain there is the Marshal of the Royal Air Force , in Italy the Generale d'Armata Aerea, which corresponds to the General of the Air Force . These are only awarded in the event of war.
In Spain there is the Capitán General and in Turkey there is the Mareal who also belong to the NATO rank code OF-10.
See also
Web links
- AFJROTC FL-042 (English)