I remember seeing a film last night and there was this ace
fighter pilot who scored major numbers of kills but always got into trouble . His CO said son why can’t you stay out of trouble for once , and he replied “sir if i go up in rank too high i can’t fly” . I’ve had a look around and can only really find ranks in the various branches of the armed forces . My question is in the three armed forces , Navy , Airforce and Army , what is the highest rank you can be and still have to fight (optional and ordered) , rather than be in some command position that is.
I can’t specifically answer your question, but during the Falklands War, Lieutenant-Colonel ‘H’ Jones was killed on the battlefield leading his troops (he was awarded a posthumous VC), although I’m pretty sure that this is not the recommended protocol.
While I’m sure as soon as I post this a bunch of people are going to come in with exceptions, but in general:
In enlisted ranks people tend to stop getting their hands greasy when they hit E-6 or E-7, and officers once they hit the O-6 level. (In Navy ranks that’s Petty Officer 1st Class, Chief Petty Officer, and Captain, respectively.) I was a tech when I was active and knew of at least half a dozen people who went out of their way to avoid passing the chief’s exam cos they liked their job and didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk in what is essentially a middle management position.
Officer
Company Grade (01-03) (2nd Lieutenant-Captain)
Field Grade (04-06) (Major-Colonel)
General Grade (07-010) (Brigadier General-General)
There are some variations e.g. in the Navy a Chief Petty Officer is an E7 while a Staff Sergeant in The Marines is an E6, but they are both considered Staff NCO’s or Chief NCO’s however you like to phrase it. Navy Captain=Marine or Army Colonel.
In short, there are career paths. Once one becomes a Staff NCO or a field grade officer, it is apparent that the individual is probably making the military their career. Therefore, they will have to learn more and more administrative tasks. The military, like any bureaucracy, runs on a mountain of paper. However, Commanding Officers don’t necessarily insulate themselves from the action. My Commanding Officers (O5 Lt. Col.) in my Marine Squadron were pilots and most definitely flew all the time. It depends on what the officer’s job is. As chique points out, in general the higher you go the less of a chance you will be in the field. That’s why Division Commands are so coveted by officers–they want to be where the action is.
As previously stated, it’s more a question of what actual billet you get. In the OP example there’s another element involved: generally speaking, air branches prefer to have a high-ranking ace back home training others, than risking all that acquired skill and knowledge on one lucky shot from the other fellow. Air battle is also more one-on-one, even if you are a squadron commander, if an enemy shows up on your six, you have to dogfight him yourself – unlike the more collective experience of battle for a batallion commander or a ship’s captain.
In full-throttle wartime, anyway, no officer within range of any enemy action is really safe however many stars they got, usually because they got the stars by staying in the thick of things to begin with. Admirals sail on sinkable warships. George S. Patton types ride right along with the tank columns, 4 stars be damned. People can be assasinated in their beds. etc. Heck, in WWII we sent out a whole squadron of fighters specifically to hunt and shoot down Admiral Yamamoto’s personal plane while he was on it.
[quote]
Officer
Company Grade (01-03) (2nd Lieutenant-Captain)
Field Grade (04-06) (Major-Colonel)
General Grade (07-010) (Brigadier General-General)
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Or in the Navy:
O1-O3: Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade (“J.G.”), Lieutenant
O4-O6: Liieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain
O7-O10: Rear Admiral Lower Half, Rear Admiral Upper Half, Vice Admiral, Admiral. (A fifth star comes with Fleet Admiral, a rank used only during wartime.)
Or in the Navy:
O1-O3: Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade (“J.G.”), Lieutenant
O4-O6: Liieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain
O7-O10: Rear Admiral Lower Half, Rear Admiral Upper Half, Vice Admiral, Admiral. (A fifth star comes with Fleet Admiral, a rank used only during wartime.)
The highest ranking Naval Aviator who would conceivably be involved in air combat would be the Carrier Air Group commander (CAG) who would be a Navy Captain (O-6). I believe James Stockdale was a CAG when he was shot down and imprisoned in Vietnam, as was as such the highest ranking U.S. aviator captured during that war (I’m not 100% on that). (off topic, his autobiography “In Love and War” is a great read.)
Sqadron COs (who work for the CAG) are Navy Commanders (O-5), and they would also be involved in operational flying.
However, not that many people get to be sqadron COs and fewer still get to be CAGs, so by the time you hit O-5, your flying days are over. It is a lot easier to find non-combat flying jobs the more junior you are (e.g. instructor pilot, test pilot, station search-and-rescue pilot). There are some flying jobs other than CAG for senior aviators, but they are very rare. A few admirals manage to get some time in the cockpit, but that’s more likely because they are admirials than they have any need or purpose to get in the air.
In a related note, I’ve always heard (someone else here can confirm; I’ve never been much for military history even when I was a naval officer) that the admiral who was embarked on USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 was the only U.S. officer of flag rank (admiral or general) killed as a result of enemy action.
Assuming that’s correct, I wonder if the statistic will be modified in light of the general who was killed in last month’s attack on the Pentagon.