Captain (armed forces)




This article is about the army and air force rank. For the naval rank, see Captain (naval).





























































































Comparative military ranks in English

Navies Armies Air forces

Commissioned officers
Admiral of
the fleet
Field marshal or
General of the Army
Marshal of
the air force
Admiral General
Air chief marshal
Vice admiral Lieutenant general
Air marshal
Rear admiral Major general
Air vice-marshal
Commodore
Brigadier or
brigadier general
Air commodore
Captain Colonel
Group captain
Commander Lieutenant colonel
Wing commander
Lieutenant
commander
Major or
Commandant
Squadron leader
Lieutenant Captain
Flight lieutenant

Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant
Lieutenant or
first lieutenant
Flying officer

Ensign or
midshipman
 Second lieutenant
Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet
Flight cadet

Enlisted grades

Warrant officer or
chief petty officer
Warrant officer or
sergeant major
Warrant officer
Petty officer Sergeant
Sergeant
Leading seaman
Corporal or
bombardier
Corporal
Seaman
Private or
gunner or
trooper
Aircraftman or
airman

Talk·View

The army rank of captain (from the French capitaine) is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery (or United States Army cavalry troop or Commonwealth squadron). In the Chinese People's Liberation Army, a captain may also command a company, or be the second-in-command of a battalion.


In NATO countries, the rank of captain is described by the code OF-2 and is one rank above an OF-1 (lieutenant or first lieutenant) and one below an OF-3 (major or commandant). The rank of captain is generally considered to be the highest rank a soldier can achieve while remaining in the field.


In some militaries, such as United States Army and Air Force and the British Army, captain is the entry-level rank for officer candidates possessing a professional degree, namely, most medical professionals (doctors, pharmacists, dentists) and lawyers. In the U.S.. Army, lawyers who are not already officers at captain rank or above enter as lieutenants during training, and are promoted to the rank of captain after completion of their training if they are in the active component, or after a certain amount of time, usually one year from their date of commission as a lieutenant, for the reserve components.


The rank of captain should not be confused with the naval rank of captain or with the UK-influenced air force rank of group captain, both of which are equivalent to the army rank of colonel.




Contents






  • 1 History


  • 2 Air forces


  • 3 Equivalent captain ranks


  • 4 Insignia


    • 4.1 Historical




  • 5 See also


  • 6 Notes


  • 7 References





History


The term ultimately goes back to Late Latin capitaneus meaning "chief, prominent"; in Middle English adopted as capitayn in the 14th century, from Old French capitaine.


The military rank of captain was in use from the 1560s, referring to an officer who commands a company. The naval sense, an officer who commands a man-of-war, is somewhat earlier, from the 1550s, later extended in meaning to "master or commander of any kind of vessel".
A captain in the period prior to the professionalization of the armed services of European nations subsequent to the French Revolution, during the early modern period, was a nobleman who purchased the right to head a company from the previous holder of that right. He would in turn receive money from another nobleman to serve as his lieutenant. The funding to provide for the troops came from the monarch or his government; the captain had to be responsible for it. If he was not, or was otherwise court-martialed, he would be dismissed ("cashiered"), and the monarch would receive money from another nobleman to command the company. Otherwise, the only pension for the captain was selling the right to another nobleman when he was ready to retire.



Air forces


Many air forces, such as the United States Air Force, use a rank structure and insignia similar to those of the army.


However, the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, many other Commonwealth air forces and a few non-Commonwealth air forces[1] use an air force-specific rank structure in which flight lieutenant is OF-2. A group captain is OF-5 and was derived from the naval rank of captain.


In the unified system of the Canadian Forces, the air force rank titles are pearl grey and increase from OF-1 to OF-5 in half strip increments.[2]



Equivalent captain ranks









































































































































































































Rank name Country name
Kapitani Georgia
Akhmad Mongolia
Capitaine Belgium (Fr.)
Capitaine France
Capitano Italy
Capitán Spain
Capitão Brazil
Capitão Portugal
Căpitan Romania
Hauptmann Austria
Germany
Switzerland
Hauptsturmführer
Waffen-SS

Jeg-tooran (جګتورن)		 Afghanistan
"Kapitán", Capitán, Captain
 Philippines
Kapetan (Капетан) Bosnia, Serbia
Kapitan Russia
Kapitan Ukraine
Kapitan Poland
Kapitan Azerbaijan
Kapitan (Капитан) Bulgaria
Kapitan (Капитан) Russia
Kapitan (Капітан) Ukraine
Kapitein Netherlands
Kapitein Belgium (NL.)
Kapteinis Latvia
Kapitonas Lithuania
Kapitán Czech Rep.
Kapitán Slovakia
Kaptajn Denmark
Kaptan (کپتان) Pakistan
Kapteeni Finland
Kaptein Norway
Kapten Indonesia
Kapten Sweden

Lochagos (Λοχαγός)		 Greece

Bo Gyi (ဗိုလ်ကြီး)		 Myanmar

Phu Kong (ผู้กอง)		 Thailand

Roi Ek (ร้อยเอก)		 Thailand
Satnik Croatia
Stotnik Slovenia

Seren (סרן)		 Israel

Shangwei (上尉),
 China

Shangwei (上尉),
 Taiwan
Százados Hungary

Taewi (대위)		 South Korea

Taii (大尉), Ichii (一尉)		 Japan
Yüzbaşı Turkey
Đại Úy Vietnam
Капетан (Kapetan) Macedonia


Insignia


A variety of images illustrative of different forces' insignia for captain (or captain-equivalents) are shown below:







  • Argentine Army
    (Capitán)





  • Australian Army





  • Bangladesh Army





  • Belgian Land Component






  • Brazilian Army
    (Capitão)






  • Brazilian Air Force
    (Capitão)






  • Brazilian Military Police
    (Capitão)





  • British Army/Royal Marines





  • Canadian Army





  • Colombian Army





  • Chinese army






  • Kapitán
    Czech Republic Army






  • Egyptian Army






  • Kapteeni
    Finnish Defence Force







  • Capitaine
    French Army







  • Capitaine des Eaux et Forêts
    French Forests Office







  • კაპიტანი (kapitani) Georgian Army







  • Hauptmann
    German Army







  • Lochagos
    Hellenic Army







  • Százados
    Hungarian Defence Force






  • Indian Army






  • Kapten
    Indonesian Army







  • Kapten
    Indonesian Navy and Indonesian Marine Corps







  • Kapten
    Indonesian Air Force







  • Captaen
    Irish Army







  • Seren
    Israel Defense Forces







  • Seren
    Israel Air Force







  • Seren
    Israeli Navy







  • Capitano
    Italian Army







  • Kapitonas
    Lithuanian Land Force






  • Капетан (Kapetan)
    Macedonian Army







  • Capitán
    Mexican Army






  • 대위 (Daewi)
    North Korean army







  • Kapitein
    Royal Netherlands Army






  • Kaptan
    Pakistan Army







  • Capitán (Spanish)
    Kapitán (Tagalog)
    Philippine Army







  • Kapitan
    Polish Army







  • Căpitan
    Romanian Armed Forces






  • капита́н (kapitán)
    Russian army







  • Kaptein
    South African Army






  • 대위 (Daewi)
    South Korean army







  • Kapten
    Swedish Air Force







  • Kapten
    Swedish Army







  • Hauptmann
    Swiss Armed Forces






  • 上尉 (Shàngwèi)
    Taiwanese army







  • Roi Ek (ร้อยเอก)
    Royal Thai Army







  • Yüzbaşı
    Turkish Armed Forces







  • Bo Gyi
    Myanmar Army







  • U.S. Air Force[N 1]







  • U.S. Army (dress, garrison)





  • U.S. Army (field, combat)





  • U.S. Army (field, combat)






  • U.S. Marine Corps[3] (dress, garrison)





  • U.S. Marine Corps[3] (field, combat)




Historical







  • Hauptmann
    German Army (1935 to 1945)







  • Hauptmann
    German Waffen-SS (1935 to 1945)







  • Kaptein
    South African Defence Force






  • капита́н (kapitán)
    Soviet Army






  • U.S. Army (September 1959 to October 2015)[4]







  • U.S. Army (1861 to 1865)







  • C.S. Army (1861 to 1865)





See also



  • Captain (United Kingdom)

  • Captain (United States)

  • Senior captain

  • Staff captain



Notes





  1. ^ The U.S. Marine Corps insignia for captain is slightly different from the USA / USAF insignia depicted above in that it lacks beveled edges and the cross-bars are further towards the ends. See collar insignia for U.S. Navy lieutenant.




References





  1. ^ Non-Commonwealth air forces using an air force-specific rank structure include the Egyptian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force, Royal Air Force of Oman, Royal Thai Air Force and the Air Force of Zimbabwe.


  2. ^ Force, Government of Canada, National Defence, Royal Canadian Air. "Article - Royal Canadian Air Force - Backgrounder - New insignia for the Royal Canadian Air Force". www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  3. ^ ab Defense Logistics Agency (27 May 2016). "Insignia, Rank, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy and Captain, U.S. Marine Corps". Quick Search Assist. Building 4/D, 700 Robbins Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094: DLA Document Services. Retrieved 13 November 2017.


  4. ^ Jahner, Kyle (1 October 2015). "The end of the Green Service Uniform: 1954-2015". Army Times. Military Times.










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