Field marshal is the second most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks, but junior to the rank of Generalissimo. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army, and as such, few persons are ever appointed to it. It is considered as a five-star rank (OF-10) in modern-day armed forces in many countries. Promotion to the rank of field marshal in many countries historically required extraordinary military achievement by a general. However, the rank has also been used as a divisional command rank and also as a brigade command rank. Examples of the different uses of the rank include Afghanistan, Austria-Hungary, Pakistan, Prussia/Germany, India and Sri Lanka for an extraordinary achievement; Spain and Mexico for a divisional command ; and France, Portugal and Brazil for a brigade command.
Brigadier general or brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops or.
Air marshal is an air-officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence, including many Commonwealth nations. The rank is usually equivalent to a vice admiral or a lieutenant general.
Air chief marshal is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. This rank is also equivalent to an Admiral in a navy or a full general in an army or other nations' air forces.
The following table shows comparative officer ranks of several Allied and Central powers during World War I.
Ettore Bastico was an Italian field marshal who served as the commander of Axis forces in North Africa from 1941 to 1943 during World War II. In addition to being a general of the Royal Italian Army, he served as the governor of the Italian held Aegean islands and of Libya. After his time in the army, he became a military historian and published several books.
The following are the ranks and insignia of NATO Air Forces Enlisted personnel for each member nation.
This table shows the ranks and insignia of NCOs and Seaman in the navies of member countries of NATO. NATO maintains a "standard rank scale" in an attempt to match every member country's military rank to corresponding ranks used by the other members. The rank categories were established in the document STANAG 2116, formally titled NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel.
An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a general officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional general and below the army general, so it usually corresponds to the lieutenant general. However, in some countries such as Spain, Brazil, and Peru, the rank of army corps general is not used, in Spain the rank of army corps general is replaced by the rank of lieutenant general, while in some countries such as Brazil and Peru, the rank of army general is immediately above that of divisional general.
Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps general.
A five-star rank is the highest military rank in many countries. The rank is that of the most senior operational military commanders, and within NATO's standard rank scale it is designated by the code OF-10. Not all armed forces have such a rank, and in those that do the actual insignia of the five-star ranks may not contain five stars. For example: the insignia for the French OF-10 rank maréchal de France contains seven stars; the insignia for the Portuguese marechal contains four gold stars. The stars used on the various Commonwealth of Nations rank insignias are sometimes colloquially referred to as pips, but in fact either are stars of the orders of the Garter, Thistle or Bath or are Eversleigh stars, depending on the wearer's original regiment or corps, and are used in combination with other heraldic items, such as batons, crowns, swords or maple leaves.
The rank insignia of the Italian Navy are worn on epaulettes of shirts and white jackets, and on sleeves for navy jackets and mantels.
Ubaldo Soddu was an Italian general and politician who held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army and Undersecretary of State for War during the initial phases of World War II. On 13 June 1940, immediately after the outbreak of hostilities with France and the United Kingdom, he assumed the position of deputy chief of the General Staff. Promoted to army general, he replaced general Sebastiano Visconti Prasca as commander of the Albanian Higher Troop Command during the Greco-Italian War on 8 November 1940. Because of the defeat Italian troops suffered between 22 and 23 November 1940, he was replaced after four weeks in command by the Italian Royal Army's chief of staff, General Ugo Cavallero.
The Italian Army ranks are the ranks used by the Italian Army and are worn on epaulettes of shirts. The Army of Italy contains levels of ranks showing both their officers' status and seniority as dedicated members of the Italian militia. Although altered throughout history, the current ranks stand as the lowest rank being "soldato semplice" and the highest rank being "generale". There are a total of 32 ranks in seven categories. These categories include: temporary service volunteers, permanent service volunteers, sergeants, marshals (NCOs), junior officers, senior officers, and generals.
The Italian military rank of maresciallo is classified as a "sub-officer" and is the highest rank of non-commissioned officer in the Italian Armed Forces. It is higher than the rank of sergeant but lower than that of ensign/second lieutenant. There are from three to five grades within the rank, according to the different branches of the armed forces. The rank is achieved through merit or attending the Scuola Allievi Marescialli. Marshal is an intermediate rank of the armed forces which is currently granted to NCOs with the training and technical competence to carry out specialised executive roles, and to command smaller and technically complex units.
The Police ranks of Italian police officers denote the position of a given officer in the police hierarchy in Italian police forces.
Paolo Ruggiero is a General in the Italian Army who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation of NATO from 19 July 2019 to 7 July 2022 when he was replaced by General Chris Badia of the German Air Force.
Rank comparison chart of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and enlisted personnel for all armies and land forces of the European Union member states.
Rank comparison chart of all navies of the European Union member states. Some EU member states do not have naval forces, either because they are landlocked Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovakia.
Rank comparison chart of air forces non-commissioned officers and other personnel of the European Union member states.
Italian Air Force [1] 
