Ranks in the French Army
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The ranks in the French Army :
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[edit] Marshals
The title of Maréchal de France is awarded as a distinction, rather than a rank. The marshals wear seven stars and a baton.
Famous examples include Maréchal Leclerc, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, Marie Pierre Koenig and Alphonse Juin.
An infamous example would be Philippe Pétain, who became famous as Maréchal Pétain, and retained his title even after his trial and imprisonment and after he was stripped of other positions and titles.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Généraux - General officers
Général d'armée: Army General: In command of an army. This is not a genuine rank, but an appointment of Divisional General.
Général de corps d'armée: Corps General: In command of an army corps. This is not a genuine rank, but an appointment of Divisional General.
Général de division: Divisional General: in command of a division.
Général de brigade: Brigade General : in command of a brigade, or of a légion in the Gendarmerie
The title "général" originates in the ancient rank of "capitaine général" (literally, "captain general"), 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.
[edit] 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".
[edit] 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.
- Aspirant : Reservist Officer, Student Officer or Cadet. During the first years at the schools of École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr or École militaire interarmes or Ecole des Officiers de la Gendarmerie Nationale
[edit] Majors
- Major: same prerogatives as the lieutenant.
Note the difference with English ranking systems, where "majors" rank as commandants.
[edit] Sous-officiers - Sub-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".
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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 : Chief Sergeant
Maréchal des logis-chef : Chief Marshal of Lodgings
- Sergent (infantry) or Maréchal des logis (cavalry) : in command of a group
Sergent : Sergeant
Maréchal des logis : Marshal of Lodgings
- Eleve Sous-Officier Student sub-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.
[edit] 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 many armies, 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 insignia. Depending on the arm, they are called
- fantassin (infantry)
- légionnaire (Légion étrangère)
- artilleur (artillery)
- sapeur (engineering, including the sapeurs-pompiers de Paris)
- chasseur ("Hunter": light troops)
- chasseurs à pied (Light Infantry)
- chasseurs à cheval (Light Mounted Infantry)
- chasseurs alpins (Light Alpine Infantry)
- dragon (Dragoon: Mounted Infantry unit)
- cuirassier (Cuirassier: Heavy Cavalry unit)
- hussard (Hussar: Light Cavalry unit)
- transmetteur (signals corps)
- conducteur (trains).
- SLANG
- Bigor (Artillerie de la marine; see Troupes de marine): A term either from the gunner's order to fire (Bigue de hors) or a term for a species of sea slug (bigorneau) because they would stick to their emplacements and couldn't be removed easily.
- Colo (Troupes Coloniales): The former term for the Troupes de la Marine when they were Colonial troops.
- Marsouin (Troupes de marine): From a term for the Harbour Porpoise, due to their duties at sea or on land.
- Para (Troupes aéroportées): Airborne troops.
- Poilu (Infanterie): "Hairy One". A derogatory term, much like the Commonwealth Forces term Pongo ("Smelly one").
There are also distinctions to distinguish volunteers and conscripts, and bars for experience (one for five years, up to four can be obtained).
[edit] Ingénieurs du service du matériel
- Ingénieur général de première classe
- Ingénieur général de deuxième classe
- Ingénieur en chef de première classe
- Ingénieur en chef de deuxième classe
- Ingénieur principal
- Ingénieur de première classe
- Ingénieur de deuxième classe
- Ingénieur de troisième classe
[edit] Table of ranks
| Maréchaux - Marechals | ||||
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| Maréchal | ||||
| "Maréchal" is not an actual rank, but a distinction | The "six-star general" used to be the general commanding the defences of Paris. This rank is not in use anymore. | |||
| Officiers généraux - General officers | ||||
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| Général de brigade | Général de division | Général de corps d'armée | Général d'armée | |
| Commands a brigade or a légion in the Gendarmerie | Commands a division | Commands a corps of army. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division. | Commands an army. This is not a genuine rank, but a function assumed by some généraux de division. | |
| Officiers supérieurs - Senior officers | ||||
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Infantry | |
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Cavalry | |
| Commandant | Lieutenant-colonel | Colonel | ||
| Officiers subalternes - Junior officers | ||||
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| Aspirant | Sous-lieutenant | Lieutenant | Capitaine | |
| Major - Major | ||||
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| Major | ||||
| Sous-officiers - Warrant Officers | ||||
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| Élève sous-officier | Sergent or Maréchal des logis for cavalry | Sergent-chef or Maréchal des logis-chef for cavalry | Adjudant | Adjudant-chef |
| A four chevron sergent-chef major existed up till 1947 | ||||
| Militaires du rang - Enlisted | ||||
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| Soldat Première classe | Caporal | Caporal-chef | Caporal-chef (distinction) | |
