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General
Army, Air Force and Marine Corps four-star insignia of the rank of general.
Shoulder four-star rank insignia of general for the above services.
Country	United States
Service branch	United States Army  United States Air Force  United States Marine Corps
Abbreviation	GEN (Army) or Gen (Air Force and Marine Corps)
Rank	Four-star
NATO rank	OF-9
Non-NATO rank	O-10
Next higher rank	General of the Army General of the Air Force
Next lower rank	Lieutenant general
Equivalent ranks	Admiral (United States Navy and United States Coast Guard)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, general (abbreviated as GEN in the Army or Gen in the Air Force and Marine Corps) is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an established grade above general. General is equivalent to the rank of admiral in the other uniformed services. Since the grades of General of the Army and General of the Air Force are reserved for wartime use only, and since the Marine Corps has no five-star equivalent, the grade of general is currently considered to be the highest appointment an officer can achieve in these three services.

Address

Formally, the term “General” is always used when referring to a four-star general. However, a number of different terms may be used to refer to them informally, since lower-ranking generals may also be referred to as simply “General”. These may include “Full General”, “Four-star General” (or simply four-star), or “O-10” (in reference to pay grade).

Statutory limits

U.S. Army insignia of the rank of General. Style and method of wear may vary between the services.

U.S. Marine Corps insignia of the rank of General. Style and method of wear may vary between the services.

U.S. Air Force insignia of the rank of General. Style and method of wear may vary between the services.

U.S. generals' flags

Rank flag of a general in the United States Army. The flag of a general of the Army Medical Department has a maroon background; the flag of a chaplain (general) has a black background. The Marine Corps equivalent has 4 stars in a circular manner; the Air Force equivalent has a blue background rather than red.

Flag of a United States Marine Corps general.

Flag of a United States Air Force general.

The United States Code explicitly limits the total number of general officers (termed flag officers in the Navy and Coast Guard) that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 231 for the Army, 62 for the Marine Corps, 198 for the Air Force, and 162 for the Navy.^[1] No more than about 25% of a service's active duty general or flag officers may have more than two stars,^[2] and statute sets the total number of four-star officers allowed in each service.^[2] This is set at 7 four-star Army generals, 9 four-star Air Force generals, 2 four-star Marine generals, and 6 four-star Navy admirals.^[2]

Several of these slots are reserved by statute. For example, the two highest-ranking members of each service (the service chief and deputy service chief) are designated as four-star generals. For the Army the Chief of Staff and the Vice Chief of Staff are four-star generals; for the Marine Corps, the Commandant and the Assistant Commandant are both four-star generals; and for the Air Force, the Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of Staff are four-star generals. In addition, for the National Guard, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau^[3] is a four-star general under active duty in the Army or Air Force.

There are several exceptions to these limits allowing more than allotted within the statute^{[citation needed]}:

• A four-star officer serving as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;


• an officer serving as Chief of the National Guard Bureau counts only against his service's four-star cap;


• the commander of a Unified Combatant Command;^[4]
  


• the commander of United States Forces Korea;^[4]
  


• the deputy commander of United States European Command if their immediate commander is also the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe;^{[4][not in citation given]}
  


• officers serving in certain intelligence positions i.e. the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency;^[5]
  


• officers serving in four-star slots added by the President to one service which are offset by removing an equivalent number from other services.^[2]
  

Finally, all statutory limits may be waived at the President's discretion during time of war or national emergency.^[6]

Appointment and tour length

Four-star grades go hand-in-hand with the positions of office to which they are linked; the active rank of four-star general can only be held for so long- though upon retirement, if satisfactory service requirements are met, the general or admiral is normally allowed to hold that rank in retirement, rather than reverting to a lower position, as was formerly usually the case.^[7] Their active rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, which is usually set by statute.^[7] Generals are nominated for appointment by the President from any eligible officers holding the rank of brigadier general or above who meet the requirements for the position, with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, service secretary (Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, or Secretary of the Air Force), and if applicable the Joint Chiefs of Staff.^[7] For some positions, statute allows the President to waive those requirements for a nominee deemed to serve national interests.^[8] The nominee must be confirmed by the United States Senate before the appointee can take office and assume the rank.^[7] Four-star ranks may also be given by act of Congress but this is extremely rare. The standard tour for most four-star positions is three years, bundled as a two-year term plus a one-year extension, with the following exceptions:

• Service chiefs serve for four years in one four-year term.


• Service vice chiefs serve for a nominal four years, but are commonly reassigned after one or two years.
  
  • The Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps serves for two years.
  
  


• The Chief of the National Guard Bureau serves a nominal four years.

Extensions of the standard tour length can be approved, within statutory limits, by their respective service secretaries, the Secretary of Defense, the President, or Congress but these are rare, as they block other officers from being promoted. Some statutory limits can be waived in times of national emergency or war.

Retirement

Other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement. A four-star general must retire after 40 years of service unless he or she is reappointed to serve longer.^[9] Otherwise all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday.^[10] However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a four-star officer's retirement until the officer's 66th birthday^[10] and the President can defer it until the officer's 68th birthday.^[10]

General officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the career paths of more junior officers. Since only a limited number of four-star slots are available to each service, typically one officer must leave office before another can be promoted.^[11] Maintaining a four-star rank is a game of musical chairs: once an officer vacates a position bearing that rank, he or she has no more than 60 days to be appointed or reappointed to a position of equal or greater importance before he or she must involuntarily retire.^[7][11] Historically, officers leaving four-star positions were allowed to revert to their permanent two-star ranks to mark time in lesser jobs until statutory retirement, but now such officers are expected to retire immediately to avoid obstructing the promotion flow.

To retire at four-star grade, an officer must accumulate at least three years of satisfactory active duty service in that grade, as certified by the Secretary of Defense.^[12] The Secretary of Defense may reduce this requirement to two years, but only if the officer is not being investigated for misconduct. Officers who do not meet the service-in-grade requirement revert to the next highest grade in which they served satisfactorily for at least six months. It is extraordinarily rare for a four-star officer not to retire in that grade.

Four-star officers typically step down from their posts up to 60 days in advance of their official retirement dates. Officers retire on the first day of the month, so once a retirement month has been selected, the relief and retirement ceremonies are scheduled by counting backwards from that date by the number of days of accumulated leave remaining to the retiring officer. During this period, termed transition leave or terminal leave, the officer is considered to be awaiting retirement but still on active duty.

History and origins

See also

• List of active duty United States four-star officers


• List of United States Army four-star generals


• List of United States Marine Corps four-star generals


• List of United States Air Force four-star generals


• List of United States military leaders by rank


• United States Army officer rank insignia


• United States Marine Corps officer rank insignia


• United States Air Force officer rank insignia


• Staff (military)

References

v t e United States uniformed services commissioned officer and officer candidate ranks
Pay grade / branch of service	Officer candidate	O-1	O-2	O-3	O-4	O-5	O-6	O-7	O-8	O-9	O-10	O-11	Special grade
Insignia	[1]			[6]					[6]	[6]	[6]		[2]
Army	CDT / OC	2LT	1LT	CPT	MAJ	LTC	COL	BG	MG	LTG	GEN	GA[3]	GAS[3]
Marine Corps	Midn / Cand	2ndLt	1stLt	Capt	Maj	LtCol	Col	BGen	MajGen	LtGen	Gen	[5]	[5]
Navy	MIDN / OC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	FADM[3]	AN[3]
Air Force	Cadet / OT / OC	2nd Lt	1st Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig Gen	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	GAF[3]	[5]
Coast Guard	CDT / OC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	[5]	[5]
PHS Corps	[OC]	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RADM	RADM	VADM	ADM	[5]	[5]
NOAA Corps	OC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	[4]	[5]	[5]
[1] No universal insignia for officer candidate rank; Navy candidate insignia shown [2]Official 1945 proposal for General of the Armies insignia; John J. Pershing's GAS insignia: ; George Dewey's Admiral of the Navy insignia: [3] Rank used for specific officers in wartime only, not permanent addition to rank structure [4] Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created [5] Grade has never been created or authorized [6] USAF and U.S. Army insignia shown

v t e United States warrant officer ranks
	W-1	W-2	W-3	W-4	W-5
Army	WO1	CW2	CW3	CW4	CW5
Marine Corps	WO1	CWO2	CWO3	CWO4	CWO5
Navy	WO1[1]	CWO2	CWO3	CWO4	CWO5
Air Force	WO1[1]	CWO2[1]	CWO3[1]	CWO4[1]	CWO5[1]
Coast Guard	WO1[1]	CWO2	CWO3	CWO4	[2]
PHS Corps	[2]	[2]	[2]	[2]	[3]
NOAA Corps	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]
[1]Grade inactive [2]Grade is authorized for use by U.S. Code but has not been created [3]Grade never created or authorized