American Leiutenant ranks on MAC

[Irwin66666]

Hi

This might just be me by thought if ask

I'm playing on a mac, 2.12 CMBN base game only. All of my Lt's rank are indicated by a single silver bar, regardless if they are 1st or 2nd Lt, I thought a silver bar was 1st Lt

Have I got this wrong or is this a funky Mac issue?

Andy

[JoMac]

No, its right...Junior Commissioned Officers ( 1st-2nd Lt's ) have single Bar, and Senior Commissioned Officers ( Capt'-Batt ) have dual Bars.

Joe

[Irwin66666]

I should have expanded my question a bit.....

I thought a 2nd LT had a single gold bar and 1st LT had a single Silver Bar. All my Lt's have single silver, regardless of 1 or 2 LT rank.

Is that right?

[Warts 'n' all]

You are correct, they should be different.

[Michael Emrys]

What's more, battalion commanders (Lt. Cols.) should be represented by silver maple leaves. You might find this page useful.

http://www.army.mil/symbols/armyranks.html

Michael

[Irwin66666]

I'm guessing it's a MAC glitch with the art work. No big problem.

[Warts 'n' all]

Being a Limey I'm puzzled as to why the higher ranks were given Silver insignia and the lower ranks Gold. Does anyone know the history behind those choices?

[John Kettler]

Irwin66666,

Welcome aboard! Who knew we had that many Irwins?!

Here is an in-depth answer to your question, whose root traces all the way back to the American Revolution, yet wasn't resolved until World War I. Nor is this some sort of grog rambling, but is straight from the Pentagon. The latest changes which led to this confusing situation came about this way.

"In 1872, epaulettes were abolished for officers and replaced by shoulder knots. As the shoulder knots had no fringe, it was necessary that some change in the insignia on the dress uniform be made in order to distinguish the major from the second lieutenant. It was natural to use the gold leaf which the major had worn on the shoulder strap for the previous twenty-one years. In the same year, the bars on the shoulder straps of the captains and first lieutenants were changed from gold to silver to correspond with the silver devices of the senior officers.

The service uniform of olive drab gradually came to be used more frequently and by the time of World War I, the blue uniform was worn only in the evenings and on dress occasions. As a result, metal insignia was authorized for wear on the service uniform on the shoulder loop and on the collar of the shirt when worn without a jacket. Shortly after the United States entered World War I, only the service olive drab uniform was being worn. The need for an insignia for the second lieutenant became urgent. Among the proposals was one to authorized for that grade one bar, the first lieutenant two bars, and the captain three bars. However, the policy of making as little change as possible prevailed, and a gold bar was adopted in 1917, following the precedent previously established by the adoption of the major’s insignia.

Although silver outranks gold insofar as the Armed Forces metal insignia of grade, gold can be considered as outranking silver in medals and decorations and their appurtenances. The order of precedence in establishing medals when using the same design is gold, silver and bronze."

Taken from The Insititute of Heraldry site of the US Army. The Institute of Heraldry handles such matters now for all the US services, including the Coast Guard.

http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=15677&CategoryId=9170&grp=2&menu=Uniformed%20Services&ps=24&p=0

Warts 'n' All,

The above link explains the whole silver and gold issue, after which you may, or may not be, squared away on the whys and wherefores. It was certainly educational for me.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Warts 'n' all]

Thanks for that, John. Certainly an interesting read.