Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: hlbly on September 13, 2009, 07:08:46 AM
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I was watching a show called 1st commands with my dad the other day . Pershing was one of the individuals spot lighted . It was said he was the only 6 star general in US history . This isn't right is it ? My understanding was he was made the 1st U.S 5 star to be equal in rank to allied field marshals . Am I wrong ?
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First 5 star maybe, never even heard of a 6 star.
Come to think of it, yes he was the first 5 star. If he was a 6 star, he's the only one. Ever.
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I was watching a show called 1st commands with my dad the other day . Pershing was one of the individuals spot lighted . It was said he was the only 6 star general in US history . This isn't right is it ? My understanding was he was made the 1st U.S 5 star to be equal in rank to allied field marshals . Am I wrong ?
I don't know for the British but Field Marshall in France is 7 stars and Army General is 5 .. 6 is not used :)
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Seems there were two.
George Washington and John Pershing held the rank of General of the Armies (5 star rank is General of the Army). There doesn't seem to be an actual 6 star general rank (on your collar or shoulder boards) but they held a rank above 5 star rank.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States) (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States))
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Seems there were two.
George Washington and John Pershing held the rank of General of the Armies (5 star rank is General of the Army). There doesn't seem to be an actual 6 star general rank (on your collar or shoulder boards) but they held a rank above 5 star rank.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States) (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States))
Yea, he held it until 1976 as the only one. (Googled it)
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Seems there were two.
George Washington and John Pershing held the rank of General of the Armies (5 star rank is General of the Army). There doesn't seem to be an actual 6 star general rank (on your collar or shoulder boards) but they held a rank above 5 star rank.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States) (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States))
Washington was only a Lieutenant General (3 stars). And he was the only one in the US Army until 1864 when Grant was put in charge.
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great link....but why does an astronomy site have so much information on this topic?
:confused:
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US Army five star Generals
Henry H. Arnold
George C. Marshall
Douglas MacArthur
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Omar N. Bradley
I love these forums ... While looking up the answer on 5 star generals I discover that there is a difference in General of the Army and General of the Armies and General of the Armies of the United States and four star generals are only temporary appointments ... The lone exception being John J. Pershing
Sheese ... who knew ...
Ulysses S. Grant
William T. Sherman
Philip H. Sheridan
Were all lieutenant generals (3 stars) who each in turn held the title of General of the army.
General of the Armies of the United States was created for Pershing who was the only man to permanently hold the 4 star rank. President Ford posthumously appointed George Washington General of the Armies of the United States and specified that he would rank first among all officers of the Army, past and present.
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How many 4 star generals are serving in the army now?
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How many 4 star generals are serving in the army now?
I'm aware of eleven (10 men and 1 woman) who currently are listed as 4-star Generals in the US Army, though how many of those are on full active duty or how many are staff/administrative officers who'll never hold a field command again, I couldn't tell you.
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great link....but why does an astronomy site have so much information on this topic?
:confused:
Because it's all about stars :D
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Here is the only info on this topic:
In 1945 as part of the preparation for Operation Downfall (the planned invasion of Japan) a proposal was discussed in the War Department to appoint Douglas MacArthur to the rank of General of the Armies. Following the use of the atomic bomb in August 1945 and the subsequent Japanese surrender, the proposal was dropped.
The matter was raised again in 1955, when the United States Congress considered a bill authorizing President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote MacArthur to General of the Armies, in recognition of his many years of service. At that time, the Army Judge Advocate General warned that, should MacArthur accept promotion to the new rank, he would lose a large amount of retirement pay and benefits associated with the much more firmly established rank of five-star General of the Army, which he still held. The Army General Staff was also concerned because George C. Marshall was senior to MacArthur and that, should MacArthur be made a General of the Armies, a similar measure would have to be passed promoting Marshall as well. Because of the various complications, MacArthur declined promotion and the bill to promote him was dropped.
But some people continued to push for MacArthur to be promoted. The MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk has numerous letters on file dating from 1962 to 1964 between advocates (former MacArthur aides and others) and government officials attempting to obtain the six-star promotion. In the letters, in a congressional record appendix from February 1962 (pages A864-A865), and in the bill to promote him, this promotion was referred to alternately as "six-star general" and "general of the armies." The proponents even obtained a vote of neutral support from Harry Truman. (He would neither support nor attempt to scuttle the promotion.) The proponents' promotion attempts were ultimately scuttled by the John F. Kennedy assassination and then MacArthur's death in 1964.
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Seems there were two.
George Washington and John Pershing held the rank of General of the Armies (5 star rank is General of the Army). There doesn't seem to be an actual 6 star general rank (on your collar or shoulder boards) but they held a rank above 5 star rank.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States) (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/General_of_the_Army_(United_States))
Pershing used four stars but had them in gold instead of silver but there is really no actual evidence that Pershing wore his stars on his uniform. What is amusing that Congress had to pass an edict in the 70's declaring that Washington has never been nor never will be out ranked because technically before the edict, Pershing was the highest ranked officer ever to serve in the US Army.
ack-ack