Colonel

For other uses, see Colonel (disambiguation). Common anglophone military ranks Navies Armies Air forces Officers Admiral of the Fleet Marshal / Field Marshal Marshal of the Air Force Admiral General Air Marshal Commodore Brigadier Air Commodore Captain Colonel Group Captain Commander Lt. Colonel Wing Commander Lieutenant Commander Major / Commandant Squadron Leader Lieutenant Captain Flight Lieutenant Sub-Lieutenant Lieutenant Flying Officer Ensign 2nd Lieutenant Pilot Officer Midshipman Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Seamen, soldiers and airmen Warrant Officer Sergeant Major Warrant Officer Petty Officer Sergeant Sergeant Leading Seaman Corporal Corporal Seaman Private Aircraftman Colonel (pronunciation: /ˈkɜrnəl/), abbreviated as Col or COL, is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures. A colonel is typically in charge of a regiment in the army. Today, a colonel is usually a military title rated as the highest, or the second-highest, field rank below the general, or "flag", grades. In some small military forces, it can be the highest rank held. Contents 1 History and origins 1.1 Colonel-in-Chief 2 Colonel and equivalent ranks by country 2.1 Colonel in individual military forces 2.2 Central and Eastern European equivalent ranks 2.3 Western European equivalent ranks 2.4 Other national equivalent ranks 2.5 Gallery 3 Colonel as highest ranking officer 4 Other uses of Colonel ranks 5 See also 6 References 6.1 Bibliography 6.2 Notes // History and origins As the office of colonel became an established practice, the colonel became the senior captain in a group of companies which were all sworn to observe his personal authority — to be ruled or regimented by him. This regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonel's regiment or standing regulation(s). By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonel's regiment (in the foregoing sense) came to be referred to as his regiment (in the modern sense) as well. With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the seventeenth century, a colonel (normally a member of the aristocracy) became a holder (German Inhaber) or proprietor of a military contract with a sovereign. The colonel purchased the regimental contract — the right to hold the regiment — from the previous holder of that right or directly from the sovereign when a new regiment was formed or an incumbent was killed. In French usage of this period the senior colonel in the army or in a field force — the senior military contractor — was the colonel general and, in the absence of the sovereign or his designate, the colonel general might serve as the commander of a force. The position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. (The head of a single regiment or demi brigade would be called a mestre de camp or, after the Revolution, a chef de brigade.) By the late 19th century, colonel was a professional military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. Along with other ranks it has become progressively more a matter of ranked duties, qualifications and experience and of corresponding titles and pay scale than of functional office in a particular organization. As European military influence has expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by nearly every nation in existence under a variety of names. With the rise of communism, some of the large Communist militaries saw fit to expand the Colonel rank into several grades, resulting in the unique senior colonel rank which was found and is still used in such nations as China and North Korea. In modern English, the word colonel is pronounced similarly to kernel (of grain) as a result of entering the language from Middle French in two competing forms, dissimilated coronel and colonel. The more conservative spelling colonel was favored in written use and eventually became the standard spelling even as it lost out in pronunciation to coronel. Colonel-in-Chief Main article: Colonel-in-Chief In many modern armies the 'regiment' has more importance as a ceremonial unit or a focus of common loyalty amongst its members, rather than as an actual battle formation. Troops tend to be deployed in 'Battalions' (commanded by a lieutenant colonel) as a more convenient size of military unit, and as such colonels have tended to have a higher profile in specialist and command roles rather than as actual commanders of regiments. However, in Commonwealth armies the position of the colonel as the figurehead of a Regiment is maintained in the honorary role of colonel-in-chief, usually held by members of the Royal Family,1 the nobility, or retired senior military officers. The Colonel-in-Chief wears a Colonel's uniform and encourages the members of the regiment, but takes no active part in the actual command structure or in any operational duties.2 Colonel and equivalent ranks by country Colonel in individual military forces The following articles deal with the rank of colonel as it is used in various national militaries. Kolonel (Belgium, Estonia & Netherlands) Colonel (Canada) Colonel (India) Colonel (Pakistan) Colonel (United Kingdom) Colonel (United States) Central and Eastern European equivalent ranks Since the 16th century, the rank of regimental commander was adopted by several Central and Eastern European armies, most notably the forces of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Cossacks and then Muscovy. In countries with slavic languages, the exact name of the rank maintains a variety of spellings, all descendant from the Old Slavonic word plk or polk meaning unit of standing army (see The Tale of Igor's Campaign), and include the following: Plukovník (Czech Republic and Slovakia) Pułkownik (Poland) Pulkininkas (Lithuania) Polkovnik (Russia, Slovenia, Bulgaria) Polkovnyk (Ukraine) Pukovnik (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia) The Hungarian equivalent ezredes literally means "leader of a thousand" (i.e. of a regiment) Western European equivalent ranks Oberst (Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway) Överste (Sweden) Ofursti (Iceland) Eversti/Överste (Finland) Syntagmatarchis (Greece) Other national equivalent ranks  Afghanistan Dagarwal (دګروال)  Armenia — Gndapet (գնդապետ)  Georgia Polkovniki (პოლკოვნიკი)  China Shang Xiao  Iran Sarhang (سرهنگ)  Israel Aluf Mishne (אלוף משנה)  North Korea Sangchwa  Republic of Korea Taeryong  Thailand Nai Phan (TH: นายพัน) Chief of 1,000 Phan Ek (TH: พันเอก) First of 1,000: Colonel Phan Tho (TH: พันโท) Second of 1,000: Lieutenant Colonel  Turkey Albay  Vietnam Đại tá  Egypt عقيد Aqid (Egypt and Most Arab League Member Countries) Gallery Australia Belgium Brazil (Coronel) Canadian Army Chilean Army Colonel (Coronel) Chilean Air Force Colonel (Coronel) Chilean Navy (Capitan de Navio) Colombia Egypt (Colonel - Arabic: عقيد‎) Poland (Pułkownik) Germany (Oberst) Republic of Ireland Italy (Colonnello) Netherlands (Kolonel) Colonel (Pakistan Army) Portugal (Coronel) Shang Xiao ROC (Taiwan) Romania Sri Lanka Sweden (Överste) Thailand Soviet Union Colonel as highest ranking officer Some military forces have a colonel as their highest ranking officer, with no 'general' ranks, and no superior authority (except, perhaps, the head of state as a titular commander-in-chief) other than the respective national government. Examples include the following (arranged alphabetically by country name): Antigua and Barbuda (170 personnel) Benin (4,500 personnel) Costa Rica (about 8,000 personnel) Gambia (1,900 personnel) Iceland (100 personnel, employed only for peacekeeping duties) Libya Luxembourg (has only one branch, the army, with a total of 1,500 personnel) Monaco (two branches, with a total of about 250 personnel) Niger (8,000 personnel) Suriname (1,800 personnel) Vatican City State (now consisting of a single branch, the Swiss Guard) Rank insignia for a COLONEL in several nations which have no higher military rank.  Iceland  Monaco  Vatican City Colonel CCP Colonel CSP Other uses of Colonel ranks Further information: Colonel (disambiguation) See also List of comparative military ranks References Bibliography Keegan, John; & Wheatcroft, Andrew (1996). Who's Who in Military History: From 1453 to the Present Day. London: Routledge. Cecil Adams of the Straight Dope on the pronunciation of "colonel": http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_250.html Notes This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) ^ See this list of colonel-in-chief appointments held by HRH The Prince of Wales. ^ A webpage by a Scottish regiment concerning their Colonel-in-Chief.