| Major General | |
|---|---|
 Two-star insignia of the rank of major general. Style and method of wear may vary between different uniforms and different service branches. | |
.svg)    Shoulder boards | |
| Country |  United States |
| Service branch | |
| Abbreviation |
|
| Rank | Two-star |
| NATOrank code | OF-7 |
| Non-NATO rank | O-8 |
| Next higher rank | Lieutenant general |
| Next lower rank | Brigadier general |
| Equivalent ranks |
|
In theUnited States Armed Forces, amajor general is atwo-stargeneral officer in the United StatesArmy,Marine Corps,Air Force, andSpace Force.
A major general ranks above abrigadier general and below alieutenant general.[Note 1] Thepay grade of major general is O-8. It is equivalent to the rank ofrear admiral in the other United Statesuniformed services which usenaval ranks. It is abbreviated asMG in the Army,MajGen in the Marine Corps, andMaj Gen in the Air Force and Space Force.
Major general is the highest permanent peacetime rank that can be conferred upon a commissioned officer in the uniformed services (except whenGeneral of the Army andGeneral of the Air Force have been authorized and granted by Congress) as higher ranks are technically temporary and linked to specific positions, although virtually all officers promoted to those ranks are approved to retire at their highest earned rank. A major general typically commandsdivision-sized units of 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers.
TheCivil Air Patrol also uses the rank of major general, which is its highest rank and is held only by itsnational commander.
TheUnited States Code explicitly limits the total number of general officers that may be on active duty at any given time, capped at 219 for the Army, 64 for the Marine Corps, 171 for the Air Force, and 21 for the Space Force.[1] Some of these slots are reserved or finitely set by statute. For example, theDeputy Judge Advocate General of the Army[2] is a major general in the Army; the same rank is held by the Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Air Force;[3] the Army's Chief of Engineers[4] is also appointed as a major general and thereafter promoted to lieutenant general.
The United States Code also limits the total number of general officers that may be on the Reserve Active Status List (RASL) in the Reserve Component, which is defined in the case of general officers as theArmy National Guard,Army Reserve,Marine Corps Reserve,Air National Guard, andAir Force Reserve.
To be promoted to the permanent grade of major general, officers who are eligible for promotion to this rank are screened by an in-service promotion board composed of other general officers from their branch of service.[5] This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank.[6] This list is then sent to the service secretary and theJoint Chiefs of Staff for review before it can be sent to thepresident, through thesecretary of defense for consideration.[7] 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.[8]
Other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement ofgeneral officers (calledflag officers in theNavy andCoast Guard). All major generals must retire after five years in grade or 35 years of service, whichever is later,unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer.[9] Otherwise, all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday.[10]
TheContinental Army was established on June 15, 1775, when theContinental Congress commissionedGeorge Washington as a general and placed him in command of theArmy of Observation then besiegingBoston. The rank of major general was first established two days later on June 17, 1775, when two major generals were commissioned by Congress. Two more major generals were appointed on June 19.
Following the disbanding of the Continental Army at the end of 1783 only one major general,Henry Knox, remained in service until his resignation in June 1784. The rank was revived on March 4, 1791, whenArthur St. Clair was appointed as major general in command of the U.S. Army. St. Clair was succeeded by Major General Anthony Wayne who commanded the Army (then named theLegion of the United States) until his death on December 15, 1796. The rank was revived on July 19, 1798, whenAlexander Hamilton andCharles C. Pinckney were commissioned as major generals during theQuasi War with France. The expanded Army was demobilized on June 15, 1800, when it was reduced to only four regiments of infantry and two of artillery commanded by a brigadier general.
The rank of major general was abolished in the U.S. Army by the Act of March 16, 1802,[11] and restored by the Act of January 11, 1812,[12] as preparations were being made for theWar of 1812. Major general has been a rank in the U.S. Army ever since.
Until theAmerican Civil War, major general was the highest rank that could be attained by an officer in the U.S. Army, thoughWinfield Scott had been given thebrevet rank oflieutenant general[13] in 1855. This was a consequence of the fact that at his deathGeorge Washington was officially listed as holding the rank of lieutenant general, rather thanfull general, and it was regarded as improper for an officer to hold a rank equal to or superior to Washington's. To address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted byCongress to the rank ofGeneral of the Armies of the United States in 1976.
The position ofMajor GeneralCommanding the Army was entitled to wear three stars according to General Order No. 6 of March 13, 1861.[14] WhenUlysses S. Grant was appointed lieutenant general on March 9, 1864,[15] and took command of theUnion forces, he used the three-star insignia formerly assigned to that position.
There was no major general in theU.S. Marine Corps untilCommandantCharles Heywood was specially promoted by Act of Congress in July 1902. From his retirement on October 3, 1903, brigadier general was again the highest rank in the Marine Corps until May 21, 1908, when the rank held by the commandant was raised to major general. It remained the highest rank in the Marine Corps until January 20, 1942, when the rank held by the commandant was raised to lieutenant general.
Given that theUnited States Air Force evolved from its predecessors, theUnited States Army Air Service, theUnited States Army Air Corps (1926–1941), and theUnited States Army Air Forces (1941–1947), the rank of major general in the Air Force coincides with its establishment as an independent service in 1947.
TheUnited States Space Force became independent of the U.S. Air Force on 20 December 2019 and has a similar rank structure which includes the rank of major general.
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