Group captain

Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in many air forces. Group captain has a NATO rank code of OF-5, meaning that it ranks above wing commander, immediately below air commodore and is the equivalent of the naval rank of captain and the rank of colonel in other services.

Group captain
An RAF group captain's command flag
A group captain's sleeve/shoulder insignia from the Royal Air Force
Service branchAir forces
AbbreviationGp Capt / GPCAPT
NATO rankOF-5
Non-NATO rankO-6
Formation1 April 1918 (1918-04-01) (RAF)
Next higher rankAir commodore
Next lower rankWing commander
Equivalent ranks
Comparative military ranks in English
Armies Navies Air forces
Commissioned officers
Field marshal or
General of the army		 Admiral of
the fleet		 Marshal of
the air force
General Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general Rear admiral Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore Air commodore
Colonel Captain Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Commander Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
Lieutenant or
first lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Enlisted grades
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Private or
gunner or
trooper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman

While the rank originated in the British Royal Air Force (RAF),[1] group captain is a rank used by the air forces of many Commonwealth and other countries that have been influenced by British military culture. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure.

It is usually abbreviated Gp Capt. In some air forces (such as the RAF, IAF and PAF), GPCAPT is used while in others (such as the RAAF and RNZAF) and sometimes, especially in historical contexts, as G/C. The rank of group captain is not correctly abbreviated as "captain".

RAF usage
History

On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with Royal Naval Air Service captains and Royal Flying Corps colonels becoming colonels in the RAF. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became group captain would have been "air captain". Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on naval officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that RAF colonels might be entitled "bannerets" or "leaders". However, the rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and as RAF colonels typically commanded groups the rank title group captain was chosen. The rank of group captain has been used continuously since 1 August 1919.

Although in the early years of the RAF groups were normally commanded by group captains, by the mid-1920s they were usually commanded by an air officer.

In the post-World War II period the commander of an RAF flying station or a major ground training station has typically been a group captain. More recently, expeditionary air wings have also been commanded by group captains.

Insignia and command pennant

The rank insignia is based on the four gold bands of captains in the Royal Navy, comprising four narrow light blue bands over slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. Group captains are the first rank in the RAF hierarchy to wear gold braid on the peak of their cap, informally known as 'scrambled egg'; however, they still wear the standard RAF officer's cap badge.

The command pennant for a group captain is similar to the one for a wing commander except that there is one broad red band in the centre. Only the wing commander and group captain command pennants are triangular in shape.

  • An RAF group captain's sleeve/shoulder insignia
  • An RAF group captain's sleeve mess insignia
  • An RAF group captain's sleeve as it appears on the No. 1 dress

Other air forces

The rank of group captain is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth, including the Bangladesh Air Force, Ghana Air Force, Indian Air Force (IAF), Namibian Air Force, Nigerian Air Force, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), Sri Lankan Air Force and the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard.[2] It is also used in the Egyptian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force, Royal Air Force of Oman and the Royal Thai Air Force.

The Royal Canadian Air Force used the rank until the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, when army-type rank titles were adopted. A Canadian group captain then became a colonel. In official French Canadian usage, a group captain's rank title was colonel d'aviation. In the Argentine Air Force comodoro (commodore) is the rank in Argentine Spanish while in the Chilean Air Force, the rank in Chilean Spanish is coronel de aviacion or "colonel of aviation". Until 1973 it was used by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), today the sleeve insignia is that of a full colonel.

  • An RAAF group captain's sleeve/shoulder insignia
  • A RNZAF group captain's sleeve/shoulder insignia
  • A HAF sminarchos (group captain's) rank insignia
  • A PAF group-captain's rank insignia.
  • An IAF group captain's rank insignia
  • A Namibian Air Force group captain's rank insignia
  • A RTAF group captain's rank insignia

Equivalent ranks in other services

In addition to the equivalents used in most air forces, such as colonel, other air services, especially non-combat auxiliaries in Commonwealth countries, have used a variety of alternative names for equivalent ranks.

The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was "group officer".

The equivalent rank in the Royal Observer Corps (until 1995) was "observer captain", which had a similar rank insignia.

Notable group captains

Fictional characters
gollark: ++radio connect
gollark: Worrying.
gollark: That is not what singleplayer means.
gollark: Aren't most of the .ios singleplayer?
gollark: I am at least now bottlenecked by that and not WiFi.

See also

References
  1. "Ranks and Badges of the Royal Air Force". Royal Air Force. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  2. http://www.news.gov.tt/archive//E-Gazette/Gazette%202014/Gazette/Gazette%20No.%20140%20of%202014.pdf
  3. "Iron Maiden Lead Singer Bruce Dickinson Made Honorary Group Captain In RAF".
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