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wore a gold epaulette. Both company-grade officers and non-commissioned officers began wearing chevrons as rank insignia in 1821. The captain wore a single chevron, point up, above the elbow on each sleeve; again, the color was silver for infantry captains and gold for all other captains. In 1832, company-grade officers ceased wearing chevrons and reverted to a system of epaulettes (again silver for infantry and gold for all others); captains wearing an epaulette on each shoulder, but smaller and less elaborate than the field grade officer versions. In 1836, captains began wearing an insignia of two bars (gold for infantry and silver for all others). Finally, in 1872, all captains, regardless of branch, began to wear two silver bars.
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615:, after earning their commissions as unrestricted line officer second lieutenants, as well as earning an accredited Juris Doctor degree and passing a bar examination, enter active duty as first lieutenants and must complete the Marine Officer Basic Officer Course/The Basic School to qualify as rifle platoon commanders, before subsequently attending their MOS school prior to assignment to their first Marine Corps Judge Advocate billet and completing the minimum time in grade requirements for selection for and promotion to captain.
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also served as staff officers in regimental and brigade headquarters and as aides-de-camp to brigadiers and general officers. British Marine battalions also utilized captain as the appropriate rank of their constituent Marine companies. Therefore, American colonial militia and
Provincial Regular units (e.g., First and Second Virginia Regiments), as well as colonial Marines, mirrored British Army and Marine organization and rank structure.
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Marine captains are company grade officers. These captains generally serve as staff officers in battalions/squadrons (aviation), regiments/aviation groups (MAG or MACG), or in MAGTFs (MEU and MEB) and typically have an opportunity to command companies, batteries (artillery and air defense) or various
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The U.S. military inherited the rank of captain from its
British Army forebears. In the British Army, the captain was designated as the appropriate rank for the commanding officer of infantry companies, artillery batteries, and cavalry troops, which were considered as equivalent-level units. Captains
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to general officers, liaison and exchange officers to other units, services, and foreign militaries, recruiting officers, students in advanced and graduate/post-graduate programs in
Professional Military Education institutions and civilian universities, and on various types of special assignments.
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An Air Force captain's authority varies by group assignment. In an operations group, senior captains may be flight commanders while more junior captains may be heads of departments. In the maintenance or logistics and mission support groups they are almost always flight commanders. In the medical
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On July 23, 1775, General
Washington decreed that captains would wear a "yellow or buff" cockade in their hats as their badge of rank. In 1779, the rank insignia for captains was changed to an epaulette worn of the right shoulder. Infantry captains wore a silver epaulette while all other captains
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group, captains usually have limited administrative and command responsibility as captain is frequently the entry-level rank for most medical officers and dental officers.
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421:. The insignia for the rank consists of two silver bars, with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Marine Corps version.
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of at least one U.S. state or territory are appointed captains, or first lieutenants promotable upon completion of initial entry training.
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types of detachments, with the title billet of company commander, for the ground units, or detachment commander, for aviation units. In the
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533:(12-member) Operational Detachments Alpha are also commanded by a captain, who has the title of "detachment commander."
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profession. Other health care professions including nurse anesthetists, pharmacists, optometrists, veterinarians, and
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These ranks are reserved for wartime use only, and are still listed as ranks within their respective services
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Captains of all four services routinely serve as instructors at service schools and combat training centers,
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in the Navy/Coast Guard officer rank system and is different from the higher Navy/Coast Guard rank of
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DA Pamphlet 600–3, Commissioned
Officer Professional Development and Career Management
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insignia of the rank of captain. Style and method of wear vary between the services.
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units, captain is the entry-level rank for those possessing a medical degree, or a
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397:(USSF) (abbreviated "CPT" in the USA and "Capt" in the USMC, USAF, and USSF) is a
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No official insignia and not currently listed by the Army as an obtainable rank.
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Bushatz, Amy, "Space Force
Officer Ranks," military.com Accessed 9 October 2022
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In the Space Force, a captain typically has authority over a
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57:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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1534:No universal insignia for officer candidate rank
1600:Officer ranks of the United States Space Force
655:"The Official Home Page of the U.S. Air Force"
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635:United States Air Force officer rank insignia
8:
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552:, and is referred to as a flight commander.
370:(USAF), with two-silver-bar insignia on his
463:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
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483:Learn how and when to remove this message
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
1585:Military ranks of the United States Army
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630:United States Army officer rank insignia
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200:Shoulder boards (USA, USMC, USAF, USSF)
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461:adding citations to reliable sources
55:adding citations to reliable sources
129:For the naval rank of captain, see
521:(field and air defense artillery)/
413:. It is equivalent to the rank of
136:Military rank of the United States
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66:"Captain" United States O-3
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592:In Army and Air Force
573:In Army and Air Force
539:Marine Raider Regiment
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587:physician assistants
457:improve this section
51:improve this article
569:Specialty branches
509:Company commanders
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407:first lieutenant
395:U.S. Space Force
354:U.S. Coast Guard
342:Equivalent ranks
336:First lieutenant
322:Next higher rank
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40:This article
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1552:(epaulettes)
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602:Juris Doctor
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455:Please help
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393:(USAF), and
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276:Abbreviation
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113:
104:
94:
87:
80:
73:
61:
49:Please help
44:verification
41:
1322:Coast Guard
1241:Space Force
604:degree and
504:Description
1579:Categories
1472:NOAA Corps
746:candidate
659:www.af.mil
641:References
583:healthcare
473:April 2021
415:lieutenant
409:and below
346:Lieutenant
289:Rank group
107:April 2021
77:newspapers
1558:U.S. Code
1546:(collar)
1399:PHS Corps
1157:Air Force
823:Insignia
579:doctorate
444:does not
403:pay grade
383:U.S. Army
368:Ed Dwight
350:U.S. Navy
312:Pay grade
303:rank code
234:U.S. Army
157:U.S. Army
1286:Brig Gen
1202:Brig Gen
815:Special
619:See also
389:(USMC),
372:side cap
366:Captain
1293:Maj Gen
1209:Maj Gen
808:Wartime
744:Officer
600:with a
598:lawyers
596:Corps,
575:medical
519:battery
515:company
465:removed
450:sources
425:History
419:captain
399:company
385:(USA),
381:in the
379:Captain
206:Country
144:Captain
91:scholar
1299:Lt Gen
1275:Lt Col
1260:1st Lt
1255:2nd Lt
1215:Lt Gen
1191:Lt Col
1176:1st Lt
1171:2nd Lt
1049:MajGen
550:flight
281:(Army)
267:
255:
243:
231:
215:
167:, and
93:
86:
79:
72:
64:
1054:LtGen
1034:LtCol
1019:1stLt
1014:2ndLt
817:grade
810:grade
730:ranks
581:in a
523:troop
411:major
326:Major
98:JSTOR
84:books
1522:VADM
1517:RADM
1512:RDML
1507:CAPT
1497:LCDR
1487:LTJG
1449:VADM
1444:RADM
1439:RDML
1434:CAPT
1424:LCDR
1414:LTJG
1376:VADM
1371:RADM
1366:RDML
1361:CAPT
1351:LCDR
1341:LTJG
1265:Capt
1181:Capt
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1131:VADM
1126:RADM
1121:RDML
1116:CAPT
1106:LCDR
1096:LTJG
1082:MIDN
1077:Navy
1044:BGen
1024:Capt
1009:Cand
1005:Midn
917:Army
802:O-10
726:and
448:any
446:cite
352:and
307:OF-2
300:NATO
279:CPT
70:news
1502:CDR
1482:ENS
1454:ADM
1429:CDR
1409:ENS
1381:ADM
1356:CDR
1336:ENS
1327:CDT
1304:Gen
1280:Col
1270:Maj
1246:Cdt
1225:GAF
1220:Gen
1196:Col
1186:Maj
1162:Cdt
1136:ADM
1111:CDR
1091:ENS
1059:Gen
1039:Col
1029:Maj
986:GAS
976:GEN
971:LTG
956:COL
951:LTC
946:MAJ
941:CPT
936:1LT
931:2LT
922:CDT
795:O-9
788:O-8
781:O-7
775:O-6
770:O-5
765:O-4
760:O-3
755:O-2
750:O-1
459:by
316:O-3
53:by
1581::
1492:LT
1477:OC
1419:LT
1404:OC
1346:LT
1331:OC
1329:/
1250:OT
1248:/
1166:OT
1164:/
1101:LT
1086:OC
1084:/
1007:/
981:GA
966:MG
961:BG
926:OC
924:/
657:.
529:.
163:,
159:,
715:e
708:t
701:v
661:.
517:/
486:)
480:(
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471:(
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453:.
374:.
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348:(
133:.
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114:(
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105:(
95:·
88:·
81:·
74:·
47:.
20:)
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