Are there examples of generals and admirals in the military who, while already holding such a high rank, change the branch of the military they serve in? For instance, have there been admirals in the Navy who switched over to the Army or Air Force or vice versa?
Background for this question: I found one such case in the past → Helmut Mahlke: Mahlke joined the German Navy in 1932, trained as a naval officer on surface vessels, joined the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) in 1935 (when the German Air Force was created as an independent branch of the military), served as an Air Force officer until the end of WWII. In 1956, joined Germany’s post war Air Force and rose to the rank of brigadier general. In 1962, left the Air Force and switched to the Navy where he was a rear admiral (he was was put in charge of German naval aviation). In 1966, switched back again to the Air Force where he finally retired as a lieutenant general in 1970 (Mahlkes’s nickname was “Generaladmiral”).
Note: I’m interested in cases which occurred after the Air Force(s) was/were already established as an independent branch of the military.
Modern day branches of the Armed forces are pretty specialised thats its difficult to become a senior officer in both. Hell, various arms of the Branches are specialised enough, that members have difficulties in transferring.
The example you have is fairly special… when Air Forces were created, they usually entailed the transfer of existing personnel in Military and Naval Aviation. In the same way, when modern Armies and Navies have created Aviation Corps, then often times its Air Force people who start it up.
Yes, this would indeed be unusual. Maybe specialties that are not really typical for the Army, Air Force, Navy or the Marine Corps. For instance, I would assume that the highest ranking dentist in the US Army could put on a Navy uniform or an Air Force uniform without missing a beat.
I phrased my original question poorly, sorry. I only wanted to specifically exclude those military men who switched from the Army to the Air Force when the Air Force was established (for instance Carl Spaatz). Transfers from the Army to the Navy and vice versa from earlier ages are ok.
If you are talking about modern US forces, the limit is (or used to be O-3). I’ve met a couple of men who transferred from one force to another. My memory is dim now, but they seemed to have special skills that justified it. These were line officers. Medical officers could probably transfer from once service to another. But I don’t know of any.
There was a program a few years ago that was actively trying to get U. S. Air Force officers to transfer to the US Army. I think the program went up to O-4 (Maj) but maybe only O-3. I think there was a point where some officers were given the choice of transfer or leave.
I don’t see it happening in this day and age, unless the officer in question goes purple. He or she would be taking a spot, thats otherwise going to a promotable.
That’s remarkable. I might add that Helmut Mahlke (whom I mentioned in my first post) originally even entered the German Army in 1932, serving there for about 4 months until being transferred to the Navy (for the first time).
And in this day and age the model at the High Command level is commonly one of Joint Commands, where the senior officers do not change services but just hold the relevant billet where it fits.
The Israeli military is a unified service, with no separate army, navy and air force, and in theory, an officer can be reassigned freely between them. In practice, however, this rarely happens, at least in command tracks,for the reasons stated above. hat said, the current commander of the Naval Corps started out as a Naval Commando, and his career, which naturally featured multiple ship commands, also included a stint leading an elite army counter-terror unit. So while he may not have gone from General to Admiral, he did go from army Major or Lt. Colonel to navy Admiral (although to be precise, due to the IDF’s uniform rank structure, he’s technically a navy General).
Yes, sometimes. In the US military, there are 3 levels of staffs. S, G, and J. And 4 standard “divisions” of staff. 1 is Administrative, 2 is Intelligence, 3 is Plans & Training and/or Operations, and 4 is Supply. In certain circumstances, there might be a 5, what 5 is can vary. During the tail end of WWII in Germany and during the Occupation, 5 was Military Government.
S level is company, battalion, regimental. G level is for units commanded by a General (General staff, you know?). J is for a Joint Staff, that is, if a combination of Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines are involved in a campaign or theatre of operations. And if an officer wants to be on the track for a senior rank, a tour as a J-staffer or liaison for a different service is a good box on one’s service record to be checked off.
That’s what I was going to say; basically above a certain level, the commands are non-service-specific. The commander of the large Unified Combatant Commands, e.g. CENTCOM can and for the most part, have been be a General/Admiral (O-10) from any of the services, although certain commands traditionally go to one service or another (e.g. US Northern Command is typically USAF, US Pacific Command is typically USN, US European command is typically US Army, etc…)
But if you mean some generic O-8(Maj. Gen./Rear Admiral) might switch between services, I don’t think that would work well. At that rank, there’s still quite a bit of very service-specific operational know-how that’s involved. For example, knowing how to command a division in the Army/Marines doesn’t translate into knowing how to run and fight a Carrier Strike Group in the Navy, or running a Numbered Air Force.
This always struck me as kind of odd: There is a decent chance that the CENTCOM commander will be charged with fighting a major land war (like Norman Schwarzkopf was in 1990/91). I find it hard to imagine that a typical naval career would be a good preparation for such a position. A four-star admiral surely has accumulated a lot of knowledge about all branches of the military and he must be a formidable strategic thinker, but that is just not the same as being a dyed-in-the-wool infantry or armoured soldier.
I give you Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold, who rose to be a five-star General of the Army during World War II as the head of the Army Air Corps. When the US Air Force was created, Arnold was made a General of the Air Force, to this day remaining the only five-star Air Force General. (This was somewhat ceremonial, as Hap had already been placed on very light duty following the fourth heart attack in as many years.)
There’s a display for Hap Arnold’ career and singular accomplishment in the E-Ring of the Pentagon, near the Secretary, Air Force’s office. (Or at least there was back in the 1990s).
Well, at the Unified Combatant Command level, they’re all joint commands anyway (by definition) and it’s more a grand-strategy type position. Schwarzkopf himself had a pretty formidable set of naval and air forces under his command, even if he was himself an infantry officer.
I think the idea is to tailor the commanding officer to the war being fought; that’s why the Pacific command is typically an admiral, and the US Strategic Command is typically a USAF general, and US Central Command is typically an Army or Marine general. There’s nothing that says it has to be that way though.
My recollection from my time with the organization is that there’s a handshake agreement between the Department of the Air Force and the Department of the Navy to alternate the command of USSTRATCOM between them, reflecting the shared responsibility of the Navy and Air Force in strategic warfare (including the nuclear triad).