Doc Jargon: Documentary left parent seeing stars

Photo By Kaitlin Knauer | Doc Jargon, cutting through the jargon that is the U.S. Army. Send your Army terminology questions to [e-mail] This column features how to take care of money matters using free resources provided by the Army.  

KS, UNITED STATES

08.15.2022

Story by Collen McGee 

Fort Riley Public Affairs Office

Hello Doc Jargon,

I was watching a program on General Douglas MacArthur and the narrator referred to him as a “five-star general.” My son heard this and asked me what a five-star general is. I have to plead ignorance and his father is deployed. Can you help?

Signed,

Military Parent

Dear Military Parent,

A five-star general is called general of the Army and ranks immediately above an Army general who wears four stars. He is equivalent to a Navy fleet admiral and a general of the Air Force. Someone who earns this rank is a Soldier and leader who has gained preeminence during a time of war. He is also equal to a field marshal in European armies.
However, the rank did not always exist in our American military structure. During the American Civil War, the four-star general grade was referred to as a General of the Army. Ulysses S. Grant was such an officer, as was William Sherman and Philip Sheridan. However, the title of General of the Army was discontinued after Sheridan’s death on Aug. 5, 1888.
The rank of five-star general, or general of the Army as we now know it, was re-established by Public Law 482, 78th Congress, and approved Dec. 14, 1944.
The law became permanent on March 23, 1946. Since then, there have been four generals of the Army: the first was George C. Marshall, followed by MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley.
Contrary to what many believe, a general of the Army is not the highest rank attainable. That would be the rank of general of the Armies of the United States, and only two men in American history have attained it: George Washington, who was posthumously awarded the honor by Congress in 1976 and John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, who was promoted to the rank after commanding U.S. forces in World War I.
Other five-star general officers in American history were Henry “Hap” Arnold, a general of the Air Force; and Chester Nimitz, William “Bull” Halsey, Ernest King and William Leahy, who were each selected as five-star fleet admirals in the U.S Navy.

Thank you for the question. I hope I didn’t leave you seeing stars too,

Sincerely,
Doc

• Date Taken: 08.15.2022
• Date Posted: 08.15.2022 13:11
• Story ID: 427273
• Location: KS, US