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Lieutenant colonel
Insignia of the rank of lieutenant colonel. Style and method of wear may vary between the services.
From left to right: shoulder boards of theArmy,Marine Corps,Air Force, andSpace Force
Country	United States
Service branch	United States Army United States Marine Corps United States Air Force United States Space Force
Abbreviation	US Army: LTC USMC: LtCol USAF/USSF: Lt Col
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
NATOrank code	OF-4
Non-NATO rank	O-5
Next higher rank	Colonel
Next lower rank	Major
Equivalent ranks	Commander (US Navy andUS Coast Guard)

In theUnited States Army,Marine Corps,Air Force andSpace Force,lieutenant colonel is asenior officer rank, just above the rank ofmajor and just below the rank ofcolonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank ofcommander in the otheruniformed services.

Thepay grade for the rank of lieutenant colonel is O-5. In the United States armed forces, the insignia for the rank is a silver oak leaf, with slight stylized differences between the version of the Army and the Air Force and that of the Navy and the Marine Corps.

Promotion to lieutenant colonel is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from theDefense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) of 1980, for officers in the Active Component, and its companion Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act (ROPMA), for officers in the Reserve Component (e.g., Reserve andNational Guard). DOPMA guidelines suggest that 70 percent of majors be promoted to lieutenant colonel after serving at least three years at their present rank and after 15–17 years of cumulative commissioned service.

The U.S. Army uses the three letter abbreviation "LTC," while the Marine Corps and Air Force use the abbreviations of "LtCol" and "Lt Col" (note the space), respectively. These abbreviation formats are also outlined inThe Naval Institute Guide to Naval Writing^[1] and in Air Force Handbook 33-337 (AFH 33-337),The Tongue and Quill.^[2]

TheUnited States Government Publishing Office recommends the abbreviation "LTC" for U.S. Army usage, "LtCol" for Marine Corps usage, and "Lt. Col." for the Air Force.^[3] TheAssociated Press Stylebook recommends the abbreviation "Lt. Col." for the Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force.^[4]

There are variousslang terms for the rank historically used in the U.S. military, mostly mocking the lieutenant colonel for not being a"full bird" colonel, include "light colonel",^[5] "short colonel",^[6] "light bird",^[7] "half colonel" (British in origin),^[8] "bottlecap colonel" (referring to the silver oak leaf insignia),^[9] and "telephone colonel" (from self-reference as "Colonel [Surname]" when using a telephone).^[10]

The rank oflieutenant colonel hasexisted in England since the 16th century and was used in themilitias andprovincial forces of theThirteen Colonies.^[11] TheContinental Army used the rank in the same way theBritish Army did: as the highest ranking officer in aline infantry regiment after itscolonel.^[12][13] The lieutenant colonel was sometimes known as "lieutenant to the colonel."^{[citation needed]} In the British army, regiments were commanded by their lieutenant colonels, as thecolonel was a titular position (with the incumbent often being absent from his regiment and serving as a seniorstaff officer orgeneral officer or in a political or courtly role in Britain).^[14] Since British colonels were not "combat" officers, from May 1778 onwards Continental regiments began to eliminate colonels by attrition and replace them with lieutenant colonel commandants to simplifyprisoner exchanges. The conversion was never completely effected and some regiments remained commanded by colonels throughout the war.^[15] From 1784 until 1791, there was only one lieutenant colonel in theUnited States Army:Josiah Harmar, who acted as the army's commanding officer.

In the Continental Armyaides to theCommander in Chief, viz.,Lieutenant GeneralGeorge Washington, were lieutenant colonels. Additionally, certain officers serving under theAdjutant General,Inspector General, andJudge Advocate General, ranked as lieutenant colonels.^[16] During the 19th century, lieutenant colonel was often a terminal rank for many officers, since the full rank "colonel" was considered extremely prestigious and reserved only for the most successful officers. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, the rank of lieutenant colonel became much more common and was used as a "stepping stone" for officers who commanded smallregiments orbattalions and were expected, by default, to be promoted to full colonel once the manpower of a regiment grew in strength. Such was the case ofJoshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who commanded a Maine regiment as both a lieutenant colonel and later as a colonel.

After the Civil War ended, those officers remaining in the military found lieutenant colonel to again be a terminal rank, although many lieutenant colonels were raised to higher positions in abrevet status. Such was the case withGeorge A. Custer, who was a lieutenant colonel in theregular army, but held the brevet rank ofmajor general.^[17][18] The 20th century saw lieutenant colonel in its present-day status although, during the 1930s, many officers again found the rank to be terminal as the rank ofcolonel was reserved for only a select few officers.

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In theUnited States Army and theUnited States Marine Corps (USMC), a lieutenant colonel typically commands abattalion- orsquadron-sized unit (300 to 1,200 Soldiers or Marines), with amajor asexecutive officer (XO) and acommand sergeant major orsergeant major (USMC) as principalnon-commissioned officer (NCO) orsenior enlisted adviser (SEA). A lieutenant colonel may also serve as abrigade/brigade combat team,regiment/regimental combat team,Marine Aviation Group (MAG),Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), or battaliontask forceexecutive officer. Lieutenant colonels routinely serve as principal staff officers, under a colonel as chief of staff, on ageneral staff ("G" staff) of adivision,Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB),Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), orMarine Logistics Group (MLG). These staff positions include G-1 (administration and personnel), G-2 (intelligence), G-3 (operations), G-4 (logistics), G-5 (planning), G-6 (computers and communications), and G-9 (Civil Affairs). "The G-n" may mean either a specific staff section or the staff officer leading a section. Lieutenant colonels may also be junior staff at a variety of higher echelons.

In theUnited States Air Force, a lieutenant colonel is generally a squadron commander in the operations group, mission support group, maintenance group, or squadron commander or division chief in a medical group. The lieutenant colonel also may serve as a Director of Operations (DO) in a squadron in the operations group before assuming command of his or her own squadron (this is common for rated officers in flying units), or as a deputy commander of a squadron in the maintenance, mission-support, or medical group. Lieutenant colonels may serve also on general staff and may be the heads of some wing staff departments. Air Force lieutenant colonels in the acquisition career fields can be selected to serve as "Materiel Leaders" (Program Managers or Branch Chiefs), similar to how other Air Force lieutenant colonels are selected to serve as squadron commanders. Senior lieutenant colonels occasionally serve as group commanders, most commonly in units of theAir Force Reserve Command and theAir National Guard.

In U.S. ArmyROTC detachments, the commander is typically a lieutenant colonel, with several majors, captains, and non-commissioned officers serving as assistants. In the U.S. Air Force,Air Force ROTC detachments may be commanded by full colonels or lieutenant colonels, depending on the size of the detachment and the size of the associated college or university.

• 
  U.S. Army rank insignia of a lieutenant colonel.
• 
  U.S. Marine Corps rank insignia of a lieutenant colonel.
• 
  U.S. Air Force rank insignia of a lieutenant colonel.
• 
  U.S. Space Force rank insignia of a lieutenant colonel.

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• Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)

• Military ranks of the United States Army
• Military ranks of the United States Marine Corps
• Officer ranks of the United States Air Force
• Officer ranks of the United States Space Force
• Lieutenant colonels

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