Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, major is a field officer above the rank of captain and below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy and Coast Guard. Although lieutenant commanders are considered junior officers by their services, majors are senior officers.
The pay grade for the rank of major is O-4. The insignia for the rank consists of a golden oak leaf, with slight stylized differences between the versions of the different services. Promotion to the rank of major is governed by the Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980.
Army
A major in the U.S. Army typically serves as a battalion executive officer or as the battalion operations officer. Majors can also serve as company commanding officers, a major can also serve as a primary staff officer for a regiment, brigade or task force in the areas concerning personnel, logistics, intelligence, and operations. A major will also be a staff officer / action officer on higher staffs and headquarters. In addition, majors command augmented companies in Combat Service and Service Support units. U.S. Army majors also command special operations companies, such as U.S. Army Special Forces companies, Civil Affairs companies, Military Information Support Operations companies, and certain types of separate, numbered vice lettered, Military Intelligence companies.In the 1830s, the Army selected an oak leaf as the rank insignia for a major, though the rationale for the choice remains unclear. Oak leaves and acorns were used in the early American army on high ranking officer's headwear and may have come from the British or Germans as oak leafs and acorns were used in German uniforms in the 18th Century. The Army and US Air Force oak leaf is a stylized gold leaf that does not represent any individual tree.
Selected majors in the United States Army attend the 10-month Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, with a greater number attending satellite schools administered by Fort Leavenworth at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. 960 graduated from the Leavenworth course in 2009, at the time the largest class in Army history.
American Revolution
The Continental Army mostly followed the organization and rank structure of the British Army. A regiment consisted of eight companies with three officers and about 60 enlisted men each. The field-grade officers of a regiment were the colonel, the lieutenant colonel and a major. The major was the regiment's third in command and, at least in theory, would command one of the regiment's two battalions if the regiment were divided for tactical purposes.American Civil War
During the American Civil War the Union Army continued to use the existing titles of rank and rank insignia established for the U.S. Army. After the Southern states seceded and became the Confederacy, the Confederate army retained the same titles of rank as its U.S. counterpart, but developed a new system of rank identification and insignia for its officers.While U.S. officers continued to wear their rank insignia on their shoulder straps, Confederate officers wore their rank insignia on the collar, as well as rows of gold lace forming an Austrian knot pattern on each sleeve. The number of rows of gold lace increased with the rank of the officer.