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Major General
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Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer normally subordinate to a Lieutenant General and senior to a Brigadier General. In countries that do not maintain the rank of Brigadier General, including much of Eastern Europe, Major General normally serves as the lowest General Officer rank.
Gallery
Image:Australian-Army-MAJGEN.gif|Australian Army Major General insignia
Image:GM.jpg|Austro-Hungarian Army Generalmajor Insignia
Image:GermanMajGen.gif|German Generalmajor Insignia
Image:Major General Pak Army.jpg|Pakistan Army Major General insignia
Image:SWE-Army-OF7.png|Dress uniform and Service uniform of the Swedish Army.
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Encyclopedia
Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer normally subordinate to a Lieutenant General and senior to a Brigadier General. In countries that do not maintain the rank of Brigadier General, including much of Eastern Europe, Major General normally serves as the lowest General Officer rank.
Gallery
Image:Australian-Army-MAJGEN.gif|Australian Army Major General insignia
Image:GM.jpg|Austro-Hungarian Army Generalmajor Insignia
Image:GermanMajGen.gif|German Generalmajor Insignia
Image:Major General Pak Army.jpg|Pakistan Army Major General insignia
Image:SWE-Army-OF7.png|Dress uniform and Service uniform of the Swedish Army. Shoulder strap.
Image:UK-Army-OF7.gif|British Army Major-General insignia
Image:US-O8 insignia.svg|United States Major General insignia
Australia
Austria
In the old Austro-Hungarian Army, the major general was called a Generalmajor. Today's Austrian Federal Army still uses the same term. (Collar insignias)
Canada
In the Canadian Forces, the rank of Major-General (MGen) (Major-général or Mgén in French) is an Army or Air Force rank equal to a Rear-Admiral of the Navy. A Major-General is a General Officer, the equivalent of a Naval Flag Officer. A Major-General is senior to a Brigadier-General or Commodore, and junior to a Lieutenant-General or Vice-Admiral.
The rank insignia for a Major-General is two gold maple leaves beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St. Edward's Crown. It is worn on the shoulder straps of the Service Dress tunic, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The Service Dress tunic also features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves.
Image:Army sleeve MGen.png|Dress uniform tunic
Image:Army slip-on MGen.png|Uniform shirts
Image:CADPAT temperate MGen.png|CADPAT uniform
Image:CADPAT arid MGen .png|arid-region CADPAT uniform
Image:Air Force sleeve MGen.png|Dress uniform tunic
Image:Air Force slip-on MGen.png|Uniform shirts
Image:Air Force olive MGen.png|CADPAT uniform
Major-Generals are initially addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am", as applicable. Major-Generals are normally entitled to staff cars.
Links
Canadian Forces ranks and insignia
EstoniaIn the Estonian military, the major general is called Kindralmajor.
France In the French military, Major général is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of Général de corps d'armée rank, acting as head of staff of a branch of service. This should not be confused with the chief of staff, who is usually a Général d'armée, and the true commander of each service. The position of major général can be considered the equivalent of a deputy chief of Staff. There are five Major Generals: the Major General of the Armies, head of the General Staff, the Major General of the Army, the Major General of the Navy, the Major General of the Gendarmerie and the Major General of the Air Force.
Historically, the French army had some sergent-majors généraux, also called sergents de bataille, whose task was to prepare the disposition of the army on the field before a battle. These sergents-majors généraux became a new rank, the maréchal de camp (not the same as a Field Marshal, in the French Army from antiquity called a Maréchal de France), which was the equivalent of the rank of major general. However the term of major général was not forgotten and used to describe the appointment of armies chiefs of staff. One well-known French Major général was Marshal Berthier, Major General of Napoléon's Grande armée.
The French equivalent to the rank of Major General is Général de division.
Germany
The German Army and Luftwaffe refer to the rank as Generalmajor. It was the lowest general officer rank used in German armies until the remilitarization of Germany in 1955 with West Germany's admission to NATO, when the rank of Brigadegeneral was introduced as the lowest rank for the Bundeswehr of West Germany and the former highest rank of Generaloberst was not used. The change was likely made to avoid confusion over relative rank in NATO forces. The Nationale Volksarmee of East Germany continued the use Generalmajor as the lowest general officer rank until reunification.
Iran In Iranian army and air force, a Major General is called a Sar-Lashkar. He is outranked by a Sepah-Bod or an Artesh-Bod. It is practically the highest rank in Iran at the moment. All senior officers of Iranian armed forces are Major Generals.
IrelandIn the Irish Defence Forces there are 4 Major Generals, each Commanding a Brigade. These are the 1st southern brigade, 2nd Eastern brigade, the 4th southern Brigade and the Defence Forces Training Centre (DFTC)
Israel In the Israel Defence Forces, a Major General is called an Aluf and is the second highest rank, only outranked by Rav Aluf, who is also the Chief of Staff.
Italy
In Italy exists the Army rank of Generale di Divisione. In the army the Generale di Divisione is the commander of a division or as other duties in the various national or international staff, in the Carabinieri or Guardia di Finanaza. He/she is usually the commander of the units in a zone of the country.
Korea The rank of Major General is known as Sojang in South Korea.
The rank of Sojang is also used in North Korea, where it is the lowest general officer and flag officer rank, equivalent to a one star General and Admiral. The North Korean equivalent to a two star General is Jungjang, which roughly translates as Lieutenant General.
New Zealand In the New Zealand Army, Major-General is the rank held by the Chief of Army (formerly the Chief of General Staff). The more senior rank of Lieutenant-General is reserved for when an Army officer holds the position of Chief of Defence Force, who commands all New Zealand's armed forces. This position is subject to rotation between the heads of the Air Force, Army, and Navy.
Pakistan
Major General in the Pakistan Army is equivalent to Rear Admiral in the Pakistan Navy and Air Vice Marshal in the Pakistan Air Force and is the lowest of the general officer ranks, ranking between Brigadier and Lieutenant General. The Pakistan Army has two female Major Generals, and is one of the few countries in the world that has promoted women to such a high post.
Sweden
In Sweden the rank of Generalmajor (Genmj) is used in the Army, the Amphibious Corps and the Airforce. It is the equivalent to Konteramiral in the navy. It is typically held by the Inspector Generals of the three service branches and the head of the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service.
Turkey The Turkish Army and Turkish Air Force refer to the rank as Tümgeneral. The Turkish Navy equivalent is Tümamiral. The name is derived from tümen, the Turkish word for a military division (tümen itself is an older Turkish word meaning "10,000"). Thus, linguistically, it is similar to the French equivalent for a Major General, Général de division.
United Kingdom
In the British Army and Royal Marines, Major-General ranks below Lieutenant-General and above Brigadier, and is thus the lowest of the general officer ranks, although always considered equivalent to Major-General in other countries. Divisions are usually commanded by Major-Generals and they also hold a variety of staff positions. The professional head of the Royal Marines currently holds the rank of Major-General.
From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of Major-General. It was superseded by the rank of Air Vice-Marshal on the following day.
Major-General is equivalent to Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy and Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air Force.
United States
In the United States army, a Major General commands a division. A division comprises 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers and is capable of fully independent field operation.
See also
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