Captain (armed forces)

The army rank of captain (from the French capitaine) is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery (or United States Army cavalry troop or Commonwealth squadron). In the Chinese People's Liberation Army, a captain may also command a company, or be the second-in-command of a battalion.

Not to be confused with Captain (naval) or Sea captain.
Comparative military ranks in English
Armies
Air forces
Space forces		 Navies Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Commissioned officers
Field marshal or
General of the army or
General of the air force		 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 or
specialist		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator
Captain Aarne Juutilainen, also called "The Terror of Morocco" by Finnish troops, was well-known as soldier in the French Foreign Legion and one of the war heroes of the Winter War.[1]

In NATO countries, the rank of captain is described by the code OF-2 and is one rank above an OF-1 (lieutenant or first lieutenant) and one below an OF-3 (major or commandant). The rank of captain is generally considered to be the highest rank a soldier can achieve while remaining in the field.

In some militaries, such as United States Army and Air Force and the British Army, captain is the entry-level rank for officer candidates possessing a professional degree, namely, most medical professionals (doctors, pharmacists, dentists) and lawyers. In the U.S.. Army, lawyers who are not already officers at captain rank or above enter as lieutenants during training, and are promoted to the rank of captain after completion of their training if they are in the active component, or after a certain amount of time, usually one year from their date of commission as a lieutenant, for the reserve components.

The rank of captain should not be confused with the naval rank of captain or with the UK-influenced air force rank of group captain, both of which are equivalent to the army rank of colonel.

History

The term ultimately goes back to Late Latin capitaneus meaning "chief, prominent"; in Middle English adopted as capitayn in the 14th century, from Old French capitaine.

The military rank of captain was in use from the 1560s, referring to an officer who commands a company. The naval sense, an officer who commands a man-of-war, is somewhat earlier, from the 1550s, later extended in meaning to "master or commander of any kind of vessel". A captain in the period prior to the professionalization of the armed services of European nations subsequent to the French Revolution, during the early modern period, was a nobleman who purchased the right to head a company from the previous holder of that right. He would in turn receive money from another nobleman to serve as his lieutenant. The funding to provide for the troops came from the monarch or his government; the captain had to be responsible for it. If he was not, or was otherwise court-martialed, he would be dismissed ("cashiered"), and the monarch would receive money from another nobleman to command the company. Otherwise, the only pension for the captain was selling the right to another nobleman when he was ready to retire.

Air forces

Many air forces, such as the United States Air Force, use a rank structure and insignia similar to those of the army.

However, the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, many other Commonwealth air forces and a few non-Commonwealth air forces[2] use an air force-specific rank structure in which flight lieutenant is OF-2. A group captain is OF-5 and was derived from the naval rank of captain.

In the unified system of the Canadian Forces, the air force rank titles are pearl grey and increase from OF-1 to OF-5 in half strip increments.[3]

Equivalent captain ranks
Rank nameCountry name
AkhmadMongolia
Bo Gyi (ဗိုလ်ကြီး)Myanmar
CapitaineFrance and most Armed forces modelled after the French Armed Forces
Canada (Fr.)
Belgium (Fr.)
Switzerland (Fr.)
CapitanoItaly
CapitánSpain
CapitãoBrazil
CapitãoPortugal
CăpitanRomania
HauptmannAustria
Germany
Switzerland (De.)
Đại ÚyVietnam
HauptsturmführerWaffen-SS
Jeg-tooran (جګتورن)Afghanistan
"Kapitán", Capitán, CaptainPhilippines
Kapetan (Капетан)Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia
Kapitan (Капитан)Russia
KapitanPoland
KapitanAzerbaijan
Kapitan (Капитан)Bulgaria
Kapitan (Капітан)Ukraine
KapitaniGeorgia
KapiteinNetherlands
Belgium (Nl.)
KapteinisLatvia
KapitonasLithuania
KapitánCzech Rep.
KapitánSlovakia
KaptajnDenmark
Kaptan (کپتان)Pakistan
KapteeniFinland
KapteinNorway
KaptenIndonesia/Malaysia
KaptenSweden
Lochagos (Λοχαγός)Greece
Naqeeb (نقيب)All Arabic-speaking countries except for Algeria, Palestine, and Tunisia
Phu Kong (ผู้กอง)Thailand
Roi Ek (ร้อยเอก)Thailand
SatnikCroatia
StotnikSlovenia
Seren (סרן)Israel
Shambel (ሻምበል) Ethiopian Army and Air force
Shangwei (上尉), China
Shangwei (上尉), Taiwan
SzázadosHungary
Taewi (대위)South Korea
Taii (大尉), Ichii (一尉)Japan
YüzbaşıTurkey

Insignia

A variety of images illustrative of different forces' insignia for captain (or captain-equivalents) are shown below:

Historical

See also

Notes

    References
    1. Mäkelä, Jukka L. (1969). Marokon Kauhu [Terror of Morocco] (in Finnish). Porvoo: W. Söderström (WSOY). OCLC 3935082.
    2. Non-Commonwealth air forces using an air force-specific rank structure include the Egyptian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force, Royal Air Force of Oman, Royal Thai Air Force and the Air Force of Zimbabwe.
    3. Force, Government of Canada, National Defence, Royal Canadian Air. "Article - Royal Canadian Air Force - Backgrounder - New insignia for the Royal Canadian Air Force". www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca.
    4. Defense Logistics Agency (27 May 2016). "Insignia, Rank, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy and Captain, U.S. Marine Corps". Quick Search Assist. Building 4/D, 700 Robbins Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094: DLA Document Services. Retrieved 13 November 2017.CS1 maint: location (link)
    5. Jahner, Kyle (1 October 2015). "The end of the Green Service Uniform: 1954-2015". Army Times. Military Times.
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