The army rank of captain (from the French capitaine ) is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces , but usually refers to a more senior officer. Today, a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery (or United States Army cavalry troop or Commonwealth squadron ). In the Chinese People's Liberation Army , a captain may also command a company , or be the second-in-command of a battalion .
24-726: Captain Samuel Victor Templeton (1900 – 26 July 1942) was an officer in the Australian Army during the Second World War . He is well known for his actions with the 39th Battalion as the commander of 'B' Company during the First Battle of Kokoda and went missing in action on 26 July 1942 near the village of Oivi. Templeton's Crossing was named in honour of Captain Sam Templeton. It
48-499: A flight lieutenant commanded an aircraft flight, with the increasing combat power of aircraft and therefore squadrons, command and control has shifted up the rank structure (currently, for instance, most squadron commanders in the RAF are Wing Commanders , a reflection on the comparative combat power between the modern air force and its predecessor). The RAF's promotion system is automatic up until flight lieutenant. Every officer will attain
72-548: A flight lieutenant generally involves management of a team of specialist non-commissioned officers and airmen, within their specific branch. In the RAF Regiment , a flight lieutenant generally has the same role and responsibility as a captain in the British Army, in charge of a regiment flight of 30 men, and could be second-in-command of a squadron of up to 120 men. Flight lieutenant is the most common officer rank in
96-437: Is a commission for 20 years or age 40, whichever is later. Promotion to squadron leader thereafter is strictly upon merit; officers promoted beyond flight lieutenant are appointed to a career commission, or service to age 60. Resigning a commission is generally dependent on the needs of the service, although an officer who has completed their return of service (service the RAF requires to justify its expense in originally training
120-867: Is the first point where the Kokoda Track, from Port Moresby, crossed Eora Creek. Wayne Wetherall, a PNG campaign historian and the founder of the Kokoda Spirit trekking company, travelled to Japan in 2009 to meet Kokichi Nishimura , one of the last survivors of the Japanese 144th Regiment to ask him about Templeton. Templeton's son Reg wanted to know what had happened to his father, as there had been various conflicting stories, none of which were confirmed. Nishimura believed that he had buried Templeton, and said that he had not been present at Templeton's death, but that he had been captured and, when interrogated before Lieutenant Colonel Hatsuo Tsukamoto, commander of
144-486: Is usually equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the navy and of the rank of captain in other services. The equivalent rank in the former Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) (until 1980) was flight officer . The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1920 until the 1968 unification of
168-478: The French Revolution , during the early modern period , was a nobleman who purchased the right to head a company from the previous holder of that right. He would in turn receive money from another nobleman to serve as his lieutenant . The funding to provide for the troops did not come from the monarch or their government; the captain responsible for feeding, housing, and provisioning their company. If he
192-757: The Royal Air Force . The rank originated in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in 1914. It fell into abeyance when the RNAS merged with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War but was revived in 1919 in the post-war RAF. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence . Flight lieutenant is immediately senior to flying officer and immediately below squadron leader . It
216-484: The 144th regiment, lied and said, "There are 80,000 Australian soldiers waiting for you in Moresby," and laughed at Tsukamoto, who became enraged and killed him with his sword. Nishimura said that he later found the body with a sword or bayonet blade protruding from its side, and buried it because of the smell. Nishimura returned to PNG in 2010 at 90 years of age, and showed Wetherall the place at which he believed Templeton
240-438: The 14th century, from Old French capitaine . The military rank of captain was in use from the 1560s, referring to an officer who commands a company. The naval sense, an officer who commands a man-of-war , is somewhat earlier, from the 1550s, later extended in meaning to "master or commander of any kind of vessel". A captain in the period prior to the professionalization of the armed services of European nations subsequent to
264-543: The Canadian Forces , when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian flight lieutenants then became captains . In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was capitaine d'aviation . The rank originated in the Royal Navy as a rank title for naval lieutenants serving in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Promotions to the rank were first gazetted on 30 June 1914. It fell into abeyance when
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#1732794540965288-529: The RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy 's officer ranks , with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the current rank of flight lieutenant would have been "air lieutenant". Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on navy officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It
312-567: The RAF; in April 2013, for example, there were 8,230 RAF officers, of whom 3,890 (47.3%) were flight lieutenants. In RAF informal usage, a flight lieutenant is sometimes referred to as a "flight lieuy". A Flight Lieutenant's starting salary is £42,008.48 as of 2019. In the Air Training Corps , a flight lieutenant is usually the officer commanding of a squadron , appointed under a Cadet Forces Commission. Retired flight lieutenants are
336-471: The RNAS merged with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War but was revived in 1919 in the post-war RAF. On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army , with Royal Naval Air Service lieutenants (titled as flight lieutenants and flight commanders) and Royal Flying Corps captains becoming captains in the RAF. In response to the proposal that
360-540: The army. However, the United Kingdom 's Royal Air Force , many other Commonwealth air forces and a few non-Commonwealth air forces use an air force-specific rank structure in which flight lieutenant is OF-2. A group captain is derived from the naval rank of captain. Canada is a unique exception. Due to the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968, the air force rank titles are
384-420: The first rank that may continue to use their rank after they have left active service. The rank insignia consists of two narrow blue bands on slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flight suit or the casual uniform. The rank insignia on the mess uniform is similar to the naval pattern, being two band of gold running around each cuff but without
408-429: The officer) could leave after as little as four years. For aircrew, given the large expense required for training, this return of service is generally the length of their initial commission anyway, unless they re-role to a different branch having failed an element of flying training. Most aircrew reach their squadrons as flight lieutenants due to the length of training time required (up to four years for fast jet pilots) and
432-689: The rank of captain after completion of their training if they are in the active component, or after a certain amount of time, usually one year from their date of commission as a lieutenant, for the reserve components. The rank of captain should not be confused with the naval rank of captain , or with the UK-influenced air force rank of group captain , both of which are equivalent to the army rank of colonel . The term ultimately goes back to Late Latin capitaneus meaning "head of [something]"; in Middle English adopted as capitayn in
456-474: The rank provided they complete their professional training and do not leave early. For aircrew, flight lieutenant is reached 2.5 years after commissioning, Engineering Branch (AS & CE) entrants with applicable bachelor's/master's degrees reach flight lieutenant at 2.5 and 1.5 years respectively, and for all other ground branch officers, 3.5 years. Aircrew are appointed to an Early Departure Payment Commission upon reaching their Operational Conversion Unit , which
480-525: The same as those of the Canadian Army. However, like their Commonwealth counterparts, rank braids are pearl grey and increase in half strip increments. The decision was taken not to restore the historic rank titles for the RCAF due to it being deemed 'too confusing'. Flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant ( Flt Lt or F/L ) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from
504-503: The significant holds in the training pipeline. The majority of squadron line pilots are flight lieutenants, with some squadron executives or Career Commission aircrew reaching Squadron Leader. Aside from aircrew, whose work typically does not require active leadership for units of airmen, ground branch officers can expect to operate units that can range in size from a few specialist non-commissioned personnel to 50 or more personnel for engineering or other manpower intensive roles. The role of
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#1732794540965528-535: Was also suggested that RAF captains might be entitled flight-leaders. However, the rank title flight lieutenant was chosen as flights were typically commanded by RAF captains and the term flight lieutenant had been used in the Royal Naval Air Service. The RAF rank of flight lieutenant was introduced in August 1919 and it has been used continuously since then. Although in the early years of the RAF
552-458: Was buried, but no body was found there. Captain (OF-2) In some militaries, such as United States Army and Air Force and the British Army, captain is the entry-level rank for officer candidates possessing a professional degree, namely, most medical professionals (doctors, pharmacists, dentists) and lawyers. In the U.S. Army, lawyers who are not already officers at captain rank or above enter as lieutenants during training, and are promoted to
576-495: Was unable to support the company, or was otherwise court-martialed, he would be dismissed (" cashiered "), and the monarch would sell his commission to another nobleman to command the company. Otherwise, the only pension for the captain was selling the right to another nobleman when he was ready to retire. Many air forces, such as the United States Air Force , use a rank structure and insignia similar to those of
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