Rear admiral (United States)

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The uniformed services of the United States have two grades of rear admirals.

[edit] Rear Admiral (lower half)

In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, rear admiral (lower half) (RDML) is a one-star flag officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Rear Admiral (lower half) ranks above captain and below rear admiral (upper half). Rear Admiral (lower half) is equivalent to a brigadier general in the other uniformed services.

The star and shoulder boards of a one-star Navy rear admiral

The star and shoulder boards of a one-star Coast Guard rear admiral

[edit] Rear Admiral (upper half)

In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, rear admiral (upper half) (RADM) is a two-star flag officer, with the pay grade of O-8. Rear Admiral (upper half) ranks above rear admiral (lower half) and below vice admiral. Rear Admiral (upper half) is equivalent to a major general in the other uniformed services.

The stars and shoulder boards of a two-star Navy rear admiral

The stars and shoulder boards of a two-star Coast Guard rear admiral

[edit] History

When the United States Navy and Coast Guard abolished the rank of commodore (which was also briefly known as "commodore admiral"), Rear Admirals on the lower half of the promotion list assumed duties of one star admirals, although until the 1980s all rear admirals still wore two stars as their badge of rank. Since then, Rear Admiral (lower half) wear one-star while Rear Admiral (upper half) wear two; verbal address remains "rear admiral" for both ranks. On correspondence, where the rear admiral's rank is spelled out, an (LH) and (UH) follows the rear admiral's rank title to distinguish between one and two stars. The military abbreviations for the ranks are RDML (one-star) and RADM (two-stars). Upper half is also occasionally abbreviated as RAUH. The flags flown for rear admirals have one and two white, single point up stars on blue fields for the lower half and upper half.

[edit] Statutory limits

U.S. Code of law explicitly limits the total number of flag officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty flag officers is capped at 216 for the Navy.[1] Some of these slots are reserved or finitely set by statute. For example the Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy [2][3][4] is a rear admiral (upper half) in the navy; in the coast guard, the Chief Medical Officer [5] is also rear admiral (upper half); in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, at least half of the Assistant Surgeons General [6] are rear admiral (lower half) and no more than half are rear admiral (upper half).[6] Officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against statutory limit.[7]

[edit] Promotion / appointment and tour length

To be promoted to the permanent grade of rear admiral (lower half) or rear admiral (upper half), officers who are eligible for promotion to these ranks are screened by an in-service promotion board comprising other flag officers from their branch of service.[8] This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to flag rank.[9] This list is then sent to the service secretary and the joint chiefs for review before it can be sent to the President, through the defense secretary for consideration.[10] The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the service secretary , and if applicable, the service's chief of staff or commandant.[11] The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, but this is extremely rare. The Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once a nominee is confirmed he or she will be promoted to that rank once he or she assumes a position of office that requires an officer to hold that rank. For positions of office that are reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position. For the navy and the coast guard, because the one-star and two-star grades are permanent ranks, the nominee must still be screened by an in-service promotion board before the nominee can be sent to the Senate for approval; for the two commissioned corps, they normally go directly to the Senate. The standard tour length for most rear admiral positions are three years but some are set four or more years by statute.

[edit] Retirement

All rear admirals must retire after five years in grade or 35 years of service, whichever is later,[12] and all flag officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday.[13] However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a flag officer's retirement until the officer's 66th birthday and the President can defer it until the officer's 68th birthday. Flag officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ [1] 10 USC 526. Authorized strength: general and flag officers on active duty.
  2. ^ [2] 10 USC 5149. Office of the Judge Advocate General: Deputy Judge Advocate General; Assistant Judge Advocates General.
  3. ^ [3] H.R. 4986: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
  4. ^ [4] H.R. 4986: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 full text
  5. ^ [5] 42 USC 207. Grades, ranks, and titles of commissioned corps.
  6. ^ a b [6] 42 USC 207. Grades, ranks, and titles of commissioned corps.
  7. ^ [7] 10 USC 528. Officers serving in certain intelligence positions: military status; exclusion from distribution and strength limitations; pay and allowances.
  8. ^ [8] 10 USC 611. Convening of selection boards
  9. ^ [9] 10 USC 616. Recommendations for promotion by selection boards
  10. ^ [10] 10 USC 618. Action on reports of selection boards
  11. ^ [11] 10 USC 624. Promotions: how made.
  12. ^ [12] 10 USC 636. Retirement for years of service: regular officers in grades above brigadier general and rear admiral (lower half).
  13. ^ [13] 10 USC 1253. Age 64: regular commissioned officers in general and flag officer grades; exception.
v • d • e
U.S. commissioned officer ranks Flag of the United States
  Officer
Candidate		 O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6 O-7 O-8 O-9 O-10 Special (wartime only)
Inactive grade		 Special
(post war honor only)
Second Lieutenant / Ensign First Lieutenant / Lieutenant, Junior Grade Captain / Lieutenant Major / Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant Colonel / Commander Colonel / Captain Brigadier General / Rear Admiral (lower half) Major General / Rear Admiral (upper half) Lieutenant General / Vice Admiral General / Admiral General of the Army / General of the Air Force / Fleet Admiral (no authorized insignia)
Air Force: Cadet (CDT)/OT 2nd Lt 1st Lt Capt Maj Lt Col Col Brig Gen Maj Gen Lt Gen Gen Gen of the Air Force (no equivalent)
Army: CDT/OC 2LT 1LT CPT MAJ LTC COL BG MG LTG GEN GA General of
the Armies
Marine Corps: Midn/Cand 2ndLt 1stLt Capt Maj LtCol Col BGen MajGen LtGen Gen (no equivalent) (no equivalent)
Navy: MIDN/OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM FADM Admiral of
the Navy
Coast Guard: CDT ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM (no equivalent) (no equivalent)
PHSCC: (no equivalent) ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM (no equivalent) (no equivalent)
NOAA Corps: (no equivalent) ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM (no equivalent) (no equivalent) (no equivalent)