Greg flew to Utah this weekend to commission his brother Daniel. They are now both officers in the U.S. Air Force. Daniel will be attending medical school in Houston this fall.
Looking at this picture sent to me from Greg's dad (who is a retired Air Force officer) reminded me of the happy news that I mentioned earlier that Greg has been chosen to be promoted to the rank of major. And that reminded me of our first years of marriage when I didn't even know what a major was. For years, our conversations would be peppered with my questions like "Now, is a major higher or lower than a captain?" and "What comes first, being a Lieutenant Colonel or a regular Colonel?"
So, for those of you who do not spend your spare time memorizing military terms, I offer you this list for your reference. The ranks are in ascending order.
The first three ranks in the Air Force (and Army and the Marines) are the company grade officers:
2nd Lieutenant
1st Lieutenant
Captain
Then you become a field grade officer:
Major
Lieutenant Colonel
Colonel
Next are the general officers (which I had to look up because it's out of my realm of experience):
Brigadier General (one star)
Major General (two stars)
Lieutenant General (three stars)
General (four stars)
For some perspective, you spend about 2 years as a 2nd lieutenant, two years as a 1st lieutenant, and about six years as a captain. Because you spend so long as a captain, there is a distinction between junior captains and senior captains. Most people make it to Lt. Colonel by retirement, but to be promoted to "full bird" Colonel (or beyond) you have to be sprinkled with fairy dust.
I don't know what the deal with "company grade," "field grade," and "general officers" is. I assume it comes from the army and has to do with where on (or off) the battlefield you serve. In my own personal experience, it determines what kind of house you get to live in.
When Greg and I were first married and moved to Dover, I believed all members of the Air Force were officers. I did not understand the concept of enlistment. That just shows how clueless about basic military matters I was. But now I've been around long enough that I even know all that enlisted ranks. (But I will save that for another day.)
Now you can celebrate Easter knowing that a Colonel intimidates the jelly beans out of a 2nd Lieutenant.
