General is an officer of the highest rank in the armed forces of many countries. In the United States, the title is used for the highest officers of the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The rank of general entitles an officer to command a force larger than a regiment.
The Army and Air Force have five levels of general, and the Marine Corps has four. The highest level is called General of the Army or General of the Air Force. An officer holding that rank wears the insignia of five stars. Before 1944, this officer wore four stars. The next rank is called simply general and carries four stars. Lieutenant general follows with three stars, major general with two, and brigadier general with one. In most cases, a general commands all ground troops in a continent or other large area of operations. A lieutenant general commands a corps or field army, a major general a division, and a brigadier general a brigade.
Congress created the rank of General of the Army in 1866 and awarded it to Ulysses S. Grant, who led Union troops in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Henry H. Arnold became the first General of the Air Force in 1949.
In 1799, Congress established the nation’s highest military title, General of the Armies of the United States. Congress intended the rank for George Washington, commander of the first American army, but he never received it. An act of Congress finally awarded him the title in 1976. The only soldier previously given the rank was John J. Pershing. He received it after leading the American forces in Europe in World War I (1914-1918).
