Hap Arnold is the Air Force’s only five- , but just the 10th highest ranked US ever.

The Highest Ranking By Peter Grier

en. of the Air Force Henry H. American air arm in World I. In calendar notes he personally presented “Hap” Arnold is the highest- II, he built and led the na- Arnold with his new commission ranking officer in US Air tion’s armada of 80,000 warplanes to during a brief noontime meeting on Force history. But he didn’t victory, despite his own debilitating June 2, 1949. don a USAF uniform until heart trouble. Arnold died in Sonoma, Calif., on Glate in life, well after retirement. His accomplishments were recog- Jan. 15, 1950. Following a somber How can both those statements be nized in 1944 when he was elevated to ceremony held amidst sleeting winter true? five-star status. At the time, US air units weather, the career-long man The answer sheds light on the United were part of the Army, so his official was buried in Arlington Cemetery as States’ fascinating list of all-time top was . That a full member of the new Air Force military leaders—those who reached was the rank he held when he retired he had done so much to bring to life. the highest rungs, how they got there, due to poor health in 1946. Today Arnold remains the only and how they stand compared to com- One year later the officer in American history to reach patriots and heroes who came before. Air Force was born. Two years later, five-star status in two services. But this As every is taught today, in 1949, President Truman signed a does not make him the highest-ranking Arnold was a giant, a pioneer of bill commissioning the retired Arnold officer in the US military pantheon, of American airpower. Among the first a five-star , course. He was not the top US general US military pilots taught by the Wright an honor many in felt of World War II. He was not even the brothers, he helped organize the young Hap richly deserved. Truman’s desk highest-ranking officer promoted to 50 AIR FORCE Magazine / March 2012 star rank did not seem commensurate with what he had accomplished. After all, Washington did more than defeat the British in . Along the way he established the framework for how American should organize themselves, how they should behave, and how they should relate to civilian leaders. Almost every big decision he made set a precedent. He was the father of the US military as well as the US itself. “Washington’s stewardship as the Army’s senior officer was unique and, by its nature, could not have been duplicated by his successors,” writes Army historian William Gardner Bell in Army and Chiefs of , 1775-2005.

Fitting and Proper Furthermore, the needs of on a huge scale in the 20th century had produced four- and five-star US generals. Technically, they outranked the three-star Washington. By the time the nation’s bicentennial rolled around, federal lawmakers decided it was only fair to recognize the great Virginian’s preeminence. Accordingly, on Sept. 28, 1976, Congress passed a calling for Washington to be posthumously promoted to the grade of General of the of the United States, with that grade to have precedence over other Army grades,

Left: General ’s attack on the Hessians at Trenton, Dec. 25, 1776, as depicted by artist Emanuel Leutze.

Highest Ranked Military Officers

H1 Gen. of the Armies George Washington 2 five-star status in , H Gen. of the Armies John J. Pershing when Congress approved the grade. H3 Adm. of the What does the all-time US military H4 Fleet Adm. William D. Leahy look like? Who heads the list, and how did they get there? H5 Gen. of the Army George C. Marshall Perhaps the best way to answer these H6 Fleet Adm. Ernest J. King questions is to start at the pinnacle of H7 Gen. of the Army Douglas MacArthur leadership, where the situation is clear. George Washington is the highest- H8 Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz ranking US officer. If somehow the H9 Gen. of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower nation’s wartime heroes were gathered 10 together in one force, from Ulysses S. H Gen. of the Air Force Henry H. “Hap” Arnold Grant to Gen. David H. Petraeus, they H11 Fleet Adm. William F. “Bull” Halsey Jr. would all be under the command of H12 Gen. of the Army Omar N. Bradley the father of our country. 13 This is so because Congress and the H Fleet Adm. David G. Farragut President directed it. When Washing- H14 Gen. of the Army Ulysses S. Grant ton died, he was a general. H15 Gen. of the Army William T. Sherman But as the centuries passed, this three- AIR FORCE Magazine / March 2012 51 H15 H14 H13

William Sherman Ulysses Grant

past or present. It is clear from with dissipating, Congress President ’s leverage resolution’s wording that lawmakers specifically authorized President John in the postwar Paris peace conference. meant Washington to be the senior Adams to suspend promotions to this On Sept. 3, 1919, Congress honored US military officer of all time. “It is exalted plane. Pershing’s wartime service by reviving considered fitting and proper that no of- Enter Pershing. Born in 1860, he the grade of and ficer of the should was an officer of the old school. A star bestowing it upon him. He retired with outrank Lt. Gen. George Washington at West Point, he served in the Indian that rank on Sept. 13, 1924. on the Army list,” stated the legislation. Wars, the Spanish-American War, and After this promotion, Pershing con- President was happy to the US struggle against insurrection in tinued to wear the four stars he and the sign an Executive Order that carried the . He performed admirably Army’s other top generals of the time out Congress’ wishes. Washington’s as an observer in the Russo-Japanese had adopted as their , according appointment was given an effective War—service that helped convince to the Army Center of Military His- date of July 4, 1976. President to person- tory. At the time, service regulations The grade of General of the Armies, ally nominate him for general held that full generals should wear as opposed to that of General of the over 909 higher-ranking officers. four stars, but made no mention of Army, is meant to convey leadership the insignia a General of the Armies over all branches of the US military. What Insignia? should display. It has been associated with only two Despite personal tragedy—his wife Later, at the height of World War men in US history: George Washington and three daughters died in a fire II, in December 1944, Army regula- and John J. Pershing. at the of in tions were changed to prescribe that Of the two, only Pershing held the 1915—Pershing rose to command officers holding the rank of General of title in his lifetime. Thus “” the American Expeditionary Forces the Army (singular) should wear five might be listed second in the hierar- in , the first large-scale stars on their shoulder. This did not chy of US military leaders. Congress deployment of US troops in . affect Pershing’s place in the service first voted to create the General of Starting from almost nothing he or- or in history. the Armies rank in 1799, but the ganized training and logistics for an “Although General Pershing con- aging George Washington was not army of two million men. He insisted tinued to wear only four [stars], he immediately raised to this new level Americans would fight as a separate remained preeminent among all Army and he died that year. In 1800, with force—a move that helped establish personnel, by virtue of congressional Washington gone and the prospect of a the US as a world power and increased action and Army regulations governing H9 H8 H7

Dwight Eisenhower Chester Nimitz Douglas MacArthur

52 AIR FORCE Magazine / March 2012 H12 H11 H10

Omar Bradley William "Bull” Halsey Jr. Henry “Hap” Arnold

rank and precedence, until his death famous line, “You may fire when you and generals who are top-shelf on July 15, 1948,” states an Army are ready, Gridley.” leaders in great wars. Following Wash- Center of monograph The Battle of Bay ended in ington, Pershing, and Dewey, whose on five-star leaders. a great US victory, with ’s ships final ranks were essentially accolades, The next step down on the US mili- and shore installations destroyed and the next level in the hierarchy consists of tary ladder is of the Navy, a minimal loss to US forces. It put the famous officers who steered the nation rank that by seniority and precedence world on notice a new sea power was to victory in World War II. is superior to that of a five-star Fleet rising and, not coincidentally, made George C. Marshall was preeminent Admiral. Only one man has held it in Dewey a national hero. Congress among these men (though not the most American history—George Dewey. quickly voted him the thanks of the US senior). A graduate of Virginia Military He is thus arguably the third-ranking and bumped him up to . Institute, Marshall was a second lieuten- US officer of all time. Then, in 1899, lawmakers voted to cre- ant in World War I’s AEF and an aide to Dewey, like Washington and Persh- ate the rank of Admiral of the Navy, to Pershing. He helped devise the crucial ing, acceded to his high place in the be held by only one person. “Whenever and victorious Meuse-Argonne Offen- military firmament after his toughest such office shall be vacated by death sive. He rose through the ranks in the were won. A Vermonter and or otherwise the office shall cease to , a time when promotions Naval Academy graduate, he served exist,” said the enacting legislation. were hard to come by for most. as an up-and-coming officer in the A brigadier in 1936, he was named . By 1898 he was a com- Arch-General Army Chief of Staff by President modore and of the US Another congressional act raised Franklin Roosevelt in 1939. Marshall Asiatic . At the onset of the Dewey to this pedestal on March 24, was sworn in to the post and raised to Spanish-American War, he was ordered 1903, with his commissioning date general on Sept. 1, the day German to proceed from to the Philip- set retroactively to March 2, 1899. forces marched into Poland and World pines to commence actions against According to a Naval History and War II began. the Spanish fleet. On the morning of Heritage Command biography, he After , Marshall became May 1, 1898, he reached the entrance held the rank of Admiral of the Navy nothing less than the principal architect to , then sent his ships into until his death in Washington, D.C., of the American contribution to the Al- battle shortly after first light, uttering on Jan. 16, 1917. lied cause and eventual victory. Like to the commander of his flagship USS The US military and lawmakers have his mentor Pershing, he demanded Olympia, Capt. Charles V. Gridley, the traditionally awarded five stars only to competence to the extent that some H6 H5 H4

Ernest King George Marshall William Leahy

AIR FORCE Magazine / March 2012 53 H3 H2 H1

George Dewey John Pershing George Washington

found him cold. He once appointed an Under the promotion deal, FDR’s received a fifth star. Since that time four old colleague to a high post, only to Chief of Staff Adm. William D. Leahy, stars has remained the highest level of hear the man had delayed acceptance who served as the de-facto first US Joint US military achievement. After Korea because his furniture was not packed Chiefs Chairman, emerged as the most there was some sentiment in Congress to for the necessary move. Marshall called senior officer. Leahy was promoted establish a six-star rank for MacArthur, him to see if this was true and was told to effective Dec. 15, but that faded as surely as MacArthur’s it was—the man’s wife was out of town; 1944—and thus today ranks fourth on own political ambitions. Similarly, after there was nothing to be done. Marshall the all-time US military list. Marshall the 1991 Persian , there was withdrew the job and placed his friend was next, with a promotion date of Dec. some discussion of promoting Army on the “retired” list the next day. 16. He was followed by King, promotion Generals H. Norman Schwarzkopf and The Army Chief himself was satis- date Dec. 17; Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Colin L. Powell to five-star rank, but fied with the four stars on his shoulder. Dec. 18; Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Dec. this sentiment soon faded. But from the beginning of the war the 19; Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Dec. As to the great US military leaders of Navy pushed Congress for a higher- 20; and lastly Arnold, who received the the Civil War, today they rank below the ranking slot, with some in that service first of his eventual two five-star posts five stars, but at the top of the four-star arguing that they needed such a level on Dec. 21, 1944. hierarchy. First among these is Adm. to place them on better footing with David G. Farragut, the Navy hero cred- allies, particularly the British, who Marshall ited with saying, “Damn the torpedos, had fleet admirals and field The story around Washington in later full speed ahead!” as he entered Mobile of such status. years was that Marshall had opposed Bay in 1864. A grateful Congress pro- In 1942, Chief of Naval Operations the move to five stars because he did moted Farragut to full admiral after the Adm. Ernest J. King wrote Marshall a not want to be referred to as “Marshal war, on July 25, 1866. He was the first memo urging that Marshall accede to Marshall.” He denied this in postwar Navy officer to hold that rank. Farragut the creation of a level above admiral interviews with his eventual biogra- outranked his Army compatriots due and general. King’s suggestions for pher, Forrest C. Pogue. “I didn’t think to length of service; he was appointed the names of these new ranks were I needed that rank and I didn’t want to a in 1810—when he was “arch-admiral” and “arch-general.” In a be beholden to Congress for any rank nine years old. Nov. 30, 1942, memo, Marshall replied or anything of that kind,” Marshall told On July 25, 1866, Congress also that he did not think the move wise. Pogue. “That was twisted around and made Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant a “In the first place, it would involve somebody said I didn’t like the term full General of the Army, putting the immediate implication that we marshal because it was the same as my him in of all Army forces. were proposing something for our name. I know Mr. Churchill twitted me He was succeeded in this post by Lt. own personal advancement. Also, I about this in a rather scathing tone. I Gen. William T. Sherman, promoted believe that neither our legislators nor don’t recall that I ever made the expres- to General of the Army on March 4, the American people would react at all sion. But my reason for not wanting it 1869. According to the Army Center favorably to the creation of what to was, I thought it was much better that of Military History, regulations at them would be exalted ,” I personally shouldn’t be beholden to the time specified that an officer so Marshall wrote his Navy counterpart. anything for Congress except for fair designated wear a four-star insignia. Pressure from President Roosevelt, treatment­—which they gave me.” With the beginning of the Civil a former assistant secretary of the In , Adm. William F. War’s sesquicentennial last year, the Navy, and Secretary of War Henry L. Halsey Jr. earned elevation to the status relative ranks of Farragut, Grant, Stimson eventually forced Marshall to of Fleet Admiral. In 1950, during the Ko- and Sherman are once again likely to accept the inflation of ranks. Marshall rean War, Army Gen. Omar N. Bradley generate discussion. n and his fellow Army four-stars got an additional star and title General of the Peter Grier, a Washington, D.C., editor for the Christian Science Monitor, is a Army. The Navy received the five-star longtime defense correspondent and a contributor to Air Force Magazine. His rank Fleet Admiral. most recent article, “Big Plans for the Air Force Museum,” appeared in February. 54 AIR FORCE Magazine / March 2012