Ranks in the French Army: Encyclopedia II - Ranks in the French Army - Officers

Ranks in the French Army - Officers

Officers are divided into

• the regular officers of the Army
• the commisary of the Army
• the officers of the technical and administrative corps of the Army.

They all wear the same insignia and titles.

• Général d'armée: In command of an army. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division

• Général de corps d'armée: In command of an army corps. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division

• Général de division : in command of a division.

• Général de brigade : in command of a brigade, or of a légion in the Gendarmerie

The title "général" originates in the ancient rank of "capitaine général" (literally, "general captain"), who was in command of the whole army.

The is no distinction between infantry and cavalry generals, since they are all supposed to be able to command any type of unit.

Ranks in the French Army - Officiers supérieurs - Senior officers

• Colonel : in command of a regiment or a groupement (in the Gendarmerie). During the French Revolution, they were called "chef de brigade". The origin of the difference in metal color is that infantry officers once wore silver epaulettes, while those of the cavalry and other arms wore gold, and the color of the rank badge had to differ from these metals in each case.
  • Infantry
  • Cavalry and other arms (armes à cheval)

• Lieutenant-colonel: same responsibilities as a colonel. They were called "major" during the First French Empire. Notice that the metal colors alternate silver and gold in each case, as opposed to those of the colonels. This characteristic goes back at least to alternating stripes on the headdress of that empire.
  • Infantry
  • Cavalry and other arms (armes à cheval)

• Commandant: also called chef de bataillon in the infantry, chef d'escadrons in the cavalry and chef d'escadron in the artillery.

The word "colonel" originates in the title capitaine colonel, "the one who commands a column (regiment). Lieutenant-colonel is the one who can "stand for" a colonel (lieu-tenant, tenir lieu = to stand for). Chef, "chief", comes from Latin caput="head".

Ranks in the French Army - Officiers sulbalternes - Junior officers

• Capitaine: in command of a company (infantry), a squadron (cavalry) or a battery (artillery)

• Lieutenant: in command of a section (infantry), a peloton (cavalry) or a brigade (gendarmerie)

• Sous-lieutenant: same prerogatives as the lieutenant

• Aspirant : Acting Officer or Officer Candidate.

• Élève-officier : Student Officer or Cadet. During the first years at the schools of École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr or École militaire interarmes

Ranks in the French Army - Majors

• Major: same prerogatives as the lieutenant.

Note the difference with Anglo-Saxon ranking systems, where "majors" rank as commandants.

Ranks in the French Army - Sous-officiers - Warrant officers

• Adjudant-chef : same prerogatives as the lieutenant. In the cavalry, they are addressed as "Mon lieutenant" by lower ranks, but by "Mon adjudant" by higher ranks.

There is a joke that says that beyond details of the uniform, the difference between a lieutenant and an adjudant-chef in that "the first one is young, while the second is old".

• • adjudant-chef des armes à pied
  • adjudant-chef des armes à cheval

• Adjudant : same prerogatives as the lieutenant

• Sergent-chef (infantry) or Maréchal des logis-chef (cavalry), addressed as "chef"
  • Sergent-chef
  • Maréchal des logis-chef

• Sergent (infantry) or Maréchal des logis (cavalry) : in command of a group
  • Sergent
  • Maréchal des logis

• Student warrant officer at the ENSOA.

The "Major" is the "Major warrant officer", the adjudant is the adjoint ("aid") of an officer and the sergeant "serves" (Latin serviens) in the Army.

The aspirants or sous-lieutenants are rookie officers and are aided by adjudants or adjudants-chefs, who are experienced warrant officers. The lieutenant are experienced junior officers, aided by sergeants who are learning how to command a section.

Ranks in the French Army - Militaires du rang - Enlisted

• Caporal-chef de première classe. Distinction created in 1999.

• Caporal-chef (infantry) or Brigadier-chef (cavalry) : in command of a team

• Caporal (infantry) or Brigadier (cavalry) : in command of a team. Note that in the Swiss Army, a Brigadier is a colonel in charge of a brigade (the Swiss army reserves the title of "general" for times of war), and thus effectively ranking général de brigade.

• Soldat de première classe. This is a distinction rather than a rank.

• Soldat de deuxième classe: No rank insigna nore command Depending on the arm, they are called
  • fantassin (infantry)
  • légionnaire (Légion étrangère)
  • Marsouin (Troupes de Marine)
  • artilleur (artillery)
  • bigor (artillerie de marine)
  • sapeur (engineering, including the sapeurs-pompiers de Paris)
  • chasseur (chasseurs à pied, chasseurs alpins, chasseurs à cheval)
  • dragon, cuirassier, hussard (cavalry)
  • transmetteur (signals corps)
  • conducteur (trains).

There are also distinctions to distinguish volunteers and conscripts, and barets for experience (one for five years, up to four can be obtained).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Officers", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki