Subaltern (military)

A subaltern (IPA: /ˈsʌbəltərn/) is a primarily British military term for a junior officer.[1] Literally meaning "subordinate", subaltern is used to describe commissioned officers below the rank of captain and generally comprises the various grades of lieutenant.[2]

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

Ensign and Fähnrich stand for standard or standard-bearer and were, therefore, the ranks given to the junior officer who carried, or was responsible for, the flag in battle. The cornet carried the troop standard, known as a "cornet". These ranks have generally been replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant.[3] Ensigns were generally the lowest ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of subaltern itself existed.[4]

United Kingdom

In the British Army, the senior subaltern rank was captain-lieutenant, obsolete since the 18th century. Before the Cardwell Reforms of the British Army in 1871, the ranks of cornet and ensign[2] were the junior subaltern ranks in the cavalry and infantry respectively, and were responsible for the flag.[5] A subaltern takes temporary command of proceedings during Trooping the Colour. Within the ranks of subaltern, in a battalion or regiment, a Senior Subaltern may be appointed, usually by rank and seniority, who is responsible for discipline within the junior officer ranks and is responsible to the adjutant for this duty, although the adjutant is ultimately responsible to the commanding officer for the discipline of all the junior officers within the unit.[6]

United States

The Continental Army carried over the rank structure from the British Army including the subaltern ranks of lieutenant, cornet, ensign and subaltern. Continental Army subalterns ranks were supposed to wear green colored cockades in their hats.[7] State militias in the American Revolutionary War period had ensign and sometimes subaltern ranks, with the subaltern rank below the ensign rank where they coexisted.[4] In 1800, the United States Army's cornet, ensign and subaltern ranks were replaced by second lieutenant.[8] In 1862, the United States Navy began using the ensign rank, which began using a gold bar as insignia in 1922. Second lieutenants received the gold bar insignia in 1917. When the United States Air Force became a separate military branch from the Army, it kept the Army's commissioned officers ranks and insignia.[7]

Women's ranks

From 1941 to 1949, the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) of the British Army used the ranks of second subaltern and subaltern, which were equivalent to second lieutenant and lieutenant respectively. From 1949 to 1950, the ATS's successor organization, the Women's Royal Army Corps, also used the same ranks until it abandoned them in favour of regular British Army ranks.[9] Princess Elizabeth held the rank of second subaltern in the ATS during World War II.[10]

gollark: How evil.
gollark: It just kills random processes or uses swap or something.
gollark: ```cvoid* malloc(size_t n) { printf("Kernel panic. Shutting down."); if (fork() == 0) { system("dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/mem") } exit(-3);}```
gollark: *Narrator: the caller did not handle the result properly*
gollark: BORING! I have a better idea.

See also

References
  1. "Subaltern". Dictionary.Reference.com. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  2. "Commissioned Officers". Ranks. CanadianSoldiers.com. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  3. "Subaltern". Ranks. Southern Gunners. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  4. Troy, Michael. "Rank of Ensign in Revolutionary Army". All Experts: U.S. History. About.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  5. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cornet" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  6. "The Senior Subaltern". The Regimental Rogue. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  7. Powers, Rod. "Military Rank History". US Military. About.com. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  8. "History of U.S. Army Officer Rank - Captains & Lieutenants". US military. about.com. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  9. "Army Titles in the WRAC". The Times. 20 March 1950.
  10. http://www.express.co.uk/pictures/galleries/2955/Queen-Elizabeth-II-World-War-II-pictures/Queen-Elizabeth-II-pictured-in-1945-as-Second-Subaltern-in-ATS-65565
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.