A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army ) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps . It may be subordinate to an army group . Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces , and fleets in navies . A field army is composed of 80,000 to 300,000 soldiers.
30-667: Fourth United States Army was a field army of the United States Army between 1932 and 1991. The Fourth Army was authorized by the National Defense Act of 1920 and was originally to be composed of Organized Reserve units primarily from the First, Second, and Third Corps Areas . The Headquarters and Headquarters Company were constituted in the Organized Reserve on 15 October 1921 and allotted to
60-576: A field army was a hōmen-gun ( 方面軍 ; 'area army'). In the Soviet Red Army and the Soviet Air Forces , an army was subordinate in wartime to a front (an equivalent of army group ). It contained at least three to five divisions along with artillery, air defense, reconnaissance and other supporting units. It could be classified as either a combined arms army (CAA) or tank army (TA); and while both were combined arms formations,
90-482: A general vacates their three or four-star rank at the termination of their assignment unless placed in an equal ranking billet. Douglas MacArthur , who served as a four-star general and Army Chief of Staff, reverted to two stars after his CoS tour ended but chose to stay on active duty in the United States Army. The practice of using lieutenant general and general grades as a temporary rank continues, with
120-403: A headquarters, and usually controls at least two corps, beneath which are a variable number of divisions . A battle is influenced at the field army level by transferring divisions and reinforcements from one corps to another to increase the pressure on the enemy at a critical point. NATO armies are commanded by a general or lieutenant general . Lieutenant General (United States) In
150-462: A three-star rank is a game of musical chairs; once an officer vacates a position bearing that rank, they have 60 days to be appointed or reappointed to a position of equal or higher importance or involuntarily retire. Historically, officers leaving three-star positions were allowed to revert to their permanent two-star ranks to mark time in lesser jobs until statutory retirement, but now such officers are expected to retire immediately to avoid obstructing
180-736: Is abbreviated as LTG in the Army, LtGen in the Marine Corps, and Lt Gen in the Air Force and Space Force. The United States Code explicitly limits the total number of generals that may be concurrently active to 231 for the Army, 62 for the Marine Corps, and 198 for the Air Force. For the Army and Air Force, no more than about 25% of the service's active duty general officers may have more than two stars. Some of these slots can be reserved by statute. Officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit, including
210-476: Is sometimes translated as "field army", it may also be translated as the more generic "field force" or "mobile force" (as opposed to limitanei or garrison units). In some armed forces, an "army" is or has been equivalent to a corps-level unit . Prior to 1945, this was the case with a gun ( 軍 ; 'army') within the Imperial Japanese Army , for which the formation equivalent in size to
240-413: Is temporary. Officers may only achieve three-star grade if they are appointed to positions that require the officer to hold such a rank. Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, which is usually set by statute. Lieutenant generals are nominated for appointment by the president from any eligible officers holding the rank of brigadier general or above, who also meet the requirements for
270-722: The Air Force Reserve Command . Additionally, lieutenant generals of all services serve as high-level staff officers at various major command headquarters and The Pentagon , often as the heads of their departments. In 2014 five women were serving as lieutenant generals in the US Army. After the close of the Second World War, generals were normally promoted permanently to brigadier general and major general, with temporary promotions to lieutenant general and general to fill senior positions as needed. In theory,
300-563: The United States Armed Forces , a lieutenant general is a three-star general officer in the United States Army , Marine Corps , Air Force , and Space Force . A lieutenant general ranks above a major general and below a general . The pay grade of lieutenant general is O-9. It is equivalent to the rank of vice admiral in the other United States uniformed services which use naval ranks . It
330-486: The deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency . The president may also add three-star slots to one service if they are offset by removing an equivalent number from other services. All statutory limits may be waived at the president 's discretion during time of war or national emergency. The three-star grade goes hand-in-hand with the position of office to which it is linked, so the rank
SECTION 10
#1732772730939360-516: The Army and discontinued. An Army or Marine Corps lieutenant general typically commands a corps -sized unit (20,000 to 45,000 soldiers for an Army Corps and a similar number of Marines for a Marine Expeditionary Force), while an Air Force lieutenant general commands a large Numbered Air Force consisting of several wings or a smaller USAF Major Command (MAJCOM) such as the Air Force Special Operations Command or
390-642: The East. On February 28, 1855, President Franklin Pierce nominated Winfield Scott to be breveted lieutenant general, effective March 29, 1847, as an honor for his capture Veracruz and San Juan de Ulúa , during the Mexican–American War . The grade was re-established by a vote in House of Representatives on 1 February 1864, with 96 for and 41 against. On June 1, 1888, the rank was merged with General of
420-656: The Fourth Army participated prior to World War II was the GHQ Fourth Army maneuvers in southwestern Washington in August and September 1941. The exercise included over 120,000 Fourth Army soldiers from Regular Army and National Guard units. Following the maneuvers, the Fourth Army headquarters returned to its station at the Presidio of San Francisco, where it was located on 7 December 1941. Fourth Army remained in
450-547: The Fourth Army). The Roman army was among the first to feature a formal field army, in the sense of a very large, combined arms formation, namely the sacer comitatus , which may be translated literally as "sacred escort". The term is derived from their being commanded by Roman emperors (who were regarded as sacred), when they acted as field commanders . While the Roman comitatensis (plural: comitatenses )
480-572: The President and the Department of Defense creating temporary or indefinite three- and four-star assignments, with a fixed term of office, with the approval of the Senate. Even with the temporary status, such officers are also almost always granted permanent retirement in the last grade they held with the satisfactory completion of at least two or three years in grade. Listed in order of receiving
510-591: The Second Corps Area. New York City , New York , was designated as headquarters upon organization, but the unit was never organized at that location. The Headquarters Company was initiated in December 1922 at New York City. The Headquarters Company was withdrawn from the Organized Reserve on 18 August 1933 and allotted to the Regular Army effective 1 October 1933. Concurrently, the army headquarters
540-625: The Secretary of Defense, the president, or Congress but these are rare, as they block other officers from being promoted. Some statutory limits under the U.S. Code can be waived in times of national emergency or war. Three-star ranks may also be given by an act of Congress but this is extremely rare. Other than voluntary retirement, the statute sets a number of mandates for retirement. Lieutenant generals must retire after 38 years of service unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer. Otherwise, all general officers must retire
570-583: The Seventh Corps Area troops, and at Camp San Luis Obispo, California , and Fort Lewis, Washington , for the Ninth Corps Area troops. The next Fourth Army maneuver was also a split exercise, this time under the command of Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt . Held in August 1940, the maneuver was conducted near Camp Ripley for the Seventh Corps Area units and at Fort Lewis for the Ninth Corps Area contingent. A primary focus of this exercise
600-606: The abandonment in 1933 of the “Six Army” plan in favor of the “Four Army” plan, the Fourth Army area was restructured to consist of the Seventh and Ninth Corps Areas. The army headquarters was transferred to the Presidio of San Francisco on 3 October 1933 upon the assumption of command of Major General Malin Craig , the senior corps area commander. The Fourth Army mission was to develop defense and operational plans for contingencies in
630-580: The continental United States during World War II , largely responsible for the defense of the West Coast and training tactical units to operate efficiently in combat. During the 1960s, Fourth Army operated "Tigerland", an infantry training school at Louisiana's Fort Polk that prepared recruits for infantry combat in Vietnam . In July 1971, Fourth Army was consolidated with Fifth United States Army at Fort Sam Houston. Between 1984 and 1991, Fourth Army
SECTION 20
#1732772730939660-458: The former contained a larger number of motorized rifle divisions while the latter contained a larger number of tank divisions . In peacetime, a Soviet army was usually subordinate to a military district . Modern field armies are large formations which vary significantly between armed forces in size, composition, and scope of responsibility. For instance, within NATO a field army is composed of
690-536: The month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a three-star officer's retirement until the officer's 66th birthday and the president can defer it until the officer's 68th birthday. General officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors. Since there is a finite number of three-star slots available to each service, typically one officer must leave office before another can be promoted. Maintaining
720-649: The names field armies is word numbers , such as "First Army"; whereas corps are usually distinguished by Roman numerals (e.g. I Corps) and subordinate formations with ordinal numbers (e.g. 1st Division). A field army may be given a geographical name in addition to or as an alternative to a numerical name, such as the British Army of the Rhine , Army of the Potomac , Army of the Niemen or Aegean Army (also known as
750-711: The position, with the advice of the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank. The standard tour length for most lieutenant general positions is three years but some are set four or more years by statute. Extensions of the standard tour length can be approved, within statutory limits, by their respective service secretaries,
780-647: The promotion flow. During the Quasi War with France, President John Adams promoted George Washington to lieutenant general to celebrate his service in the American Revolution . The rank of lieutenant general would not be awarded to an active American military commander until Ulysses S. Grant was promoted sixty years later, shortly before the end of the American Civil War, to recognize his position as overall commander of Union forces in
810-588: The vicinity of the Pacific coast and the western United States, review the mobilization plans of the Seventh and Ninth Corps Areas, and oversee the training of units in the army area. As part of the responsibility to oversee training, the Fourth Army planned, conducted, and/or participated in three major maneuvers between 1937 and 1941. The 1937 maneuvers, under the command of Major General George S. Simonds , were actually four separate exercises and were held at Fort Riley , Kansas , and Camp Ripley , Minnesota , for
840-423: Was based at Fort Sheridan , Illinois. Lieutenant General James R. Hall served as the last commanding general, holding the position from 1989 until Fourth Army was inactivated in 1991. Field army Specific field armies are usually named or numbered to distinguish them from "army" in the sense of an entire national defence force or land force. In English , the typical orthographic style for writing out
870-509: Was demobilized. The second iteration of the headquarters, Fourth Army, was constituted in the Regular Army on 9 August 1932 and allotted to the Seventh Corps Area. The headquarters was organized on 15 August 1932 at Omaha , Nebraska . The Headquarters Company (constituted in the Organized Reserve on 15 October 1921) was withdrawn from the Organized Reserve 18 August 1933, and allotted to the Regular Army effective 1 October 1933. Due to
900-608: Was to train the army and corps staffs, all of which had been provisionally organized from the corps area staffs. Following the 1940 maneuver, the organization of the Fourth Army was changed to reflect the assignment of the III Corps to the troop list and the loss of the VII Corps to the Second Army. The Fourth Army Headquarters Company was activated on 18 November 1940 at the Presidio of San Francisco. The final maneuver in which
#938061