Military Ranks Explained

[@NameExplain]

Any military people watching? What rank are/were you?

[@pyeitme508]

No, just a civilian 😂. Though I know military personnel & veterans😂

[@gawkthimm6030]

only served reserve duty as a private for a short time

[@beepboop204]

when i was 17 i thought it would be a good idea to join the army reserve. turns out, its mostly marching, camping, and getting yelled at. i ended up in construction like 20 years later, it at least it didnt have marching and camping lol

[@justinedelmayer1234]

I'm a US Army vet

[@MikeGill87]

I'm fairly certain "corporal" comes from the Latin "corpus" (body)

[@gamingmoth4542]

In the United States we consider everyone in the Army as a "Soldier". Who you would call "Soldiers" we call "Enlistees" (or "Enlisted"). On the other hand, calling someone in other service branches a of the military a "Soldier" wouldn't really sit well with them. People in the Marine Corps like to go by the name "Marines". The Airforce have "Airmen". The Navy has "Sailors". Lastly, the Coast Guard have the creative name of "Coast Guardsmen".

[@joemungus6063]

Better than guardies or something haha

[@jaypab]

And Space Force has "Guardians"...

[@herrgodfrey9563]

Space Force is guardians lmao

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

​@@jaypabguardians.. of the galaxy?

[@joemungus6063]

@@herrgodfrey9563 i totally forgot about that lmfaoo

[@jfdavis668]

Lance is a spear, not a sword. A spear a horseman uses.

[@jfdavis668]

Colonel comes from column, but as in a military column, a group of soldiers marching together. It evolved over time to be the regiment. A colonel commanded a column of troops.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

And sometimes when a veteran Roman regiment was ready for retirement, they'd move en masse and create a new settlement in one of Rome's provinces, leading to the word "colony." People from the colonies were looked down on by the sophisticates in Rome (like Irishmen in the UK, Appalachian hillbillies in the US, or Newfoundlanders in Canada), eventually leading to the word "clown"!

[@jodycarter7308]

Corporol would come from latin for body, captain would have came caput.

[@joaovitormatos8147]

I love how "Coronel" and "Colonel" are almost the same word, have the same meaning but have completely different etymologies. While "Colonel" comes from Column (watch the video), "Coronel" (the equivalent in Spanish and Portuguese) comes from the Latin "Coronalis", officer of the crown

[@josecarlosmoreno9731]

I'd bet Coronalis is the actual origin given that a lot of this video seemed to be just stuff he made up, at least that's the appearance. Like the staff sergeant being because they supposedly used a staff (?), or corporal being derived from caput rather than corpus, etc.

[@Kamonohashiii]

the English took the word colonel twice from the mid French coronel coming from the old French colonel, then from the Italian in the 16th century with colonnello replace the “r” with the “l". the French did the same using the old word closer to the Latin word however strangely the English still pronounce it with an R. (although I don't know how they can pronounce that "Kernel" wtf)

[@SantomPh]

A Staff Sergeant is called "Staff" normally. A WO is an NCO given a warrant by the monarch to lead their specific discipline-training, motor pool, helicopter pilots or a staff function on base. A Colonel actually is the highest on-field officer rank as Generals are meant to be at staff HQ behind the lines. Colonels were also given "general" duties in the Britsh army such as the Wagonmaster General.

[@babanas66]

Corporal doesn't come from caput (head) but from corpus (body). The genitive of corpus is corporis Corporis - corpor - corporal And, like many said, lances are spears or polearms used by horsemen and cavalry

[@herrhalter]

I guess the mix up is that (in French at least), 'corporal' is 'caporal', derived from Latin 'caput' and the explanation in the video relates to the term 'caporal' more than 'corporal'. This should have been explained more clearly (afer the 'lance = sword' blunder, a lance actually being a cavalry spear, the video has a sloppy half-assed feel to it...)

[@SampoPaalanen]

As others too have pointed out a lance is heavy cavalry SPEAR (those long spears knights use, those are lances), I've never heard lance being used as term for a sword

[@cennethadameveson3715]

In previous times a Field Marshal, marshaled troops on a battlefield. The traditional marshal's baton (part of the rank badge) was used to signal the troop movements.

[@ChurchHatesTucker]

The US Army never had Field Marshals, but in WWII it was decided they needed one to have an equivalent rank when dealing with allies. The story is that the obvious guy for the job was named Marshall and nobody wanted a "Marshal Marshall" so they went with General of the Army instead.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

The word marshal (in American frontier towns it was another name for the sheriff who kept order) goes back to the French "marechal," and ultimately to the Frankish kings, among whom it was a title given to an official in charge of the royal stables! (Compare it to "seneschal," an official in charge of the royal household.)

[@Michael_De_Santa-Unofficial]

​@@ChurchHatesTucker I believe the rank of "General of The Army" in the US Army dates back to the 1860's.

[@ChurchHatesTucker]

@@Michael_De_Santa-Unofficial That was more of a job title, still four stars.

[@nebulan]

So in the US the navy and coast guard don't use colonel or major and captain is instead the leader. It's ensign -> LT -> commander -> captain (with some intermediate terms between like LT. Cmd)

[@SantomPh]

Ensign Lt jr grade Lt LT Commander Commander Captain Commodore/Rear Admiral lower Rear Admiral Vice Admiral Admiral Admiral of the Fleet What is confusing to some is that the rank insignia of a US Navy Lieutenant is the same as an Army/Marine Captain - two silver bars

[@trevoryong4611]

​@@SantomPh I get that, but it makes sense when you understand that a Navy Lieutenant is equivalent in rank to an Army/Marine Captain. It is interesting to me that US Navy officers have effectively two set of rank insignia- the pins like you have referred to which is similar to the insignia of the other branches of the US military and the stripes/bands on their sleeves/rank boards which mirror the rank insignia of Commonwealth (British) navies (excepting the fact that they omit the loop or "half nelson" that these navies have)

[@herrgodfrey9563]

In the US Army, the currently held highest rank is General. However, there are technically two higher ranks. One is General of the Army (5 star) and General of the Armies (6 star). Only two men have held the 6 star rank. One was George Washington who was given that rank posthumously. The other and only person to hold it while alive, was John J Pershing. This said, Pershing never wore more than four stars. Pershing was famous for his exploits during The Great War. He was also the second highest paid person holding a government position. The only higher paid person was the President of the United States.

[@tommyblack6135]

I actually went and looked it up because I had always heard that the 6-star general was a special rank reserved exclusively for Washington. It's true that Pershing was awarded it, but Congress recently conferred it upon Ulysses Grant as well.

[@alanwatts5445]

5 star ranks were used in WW I and WW II to clarify command structures and to make sure English and French "Field Marshalls" did not out rank the American Generals and take over leadership of American troops who insisted on serving under their own leaders and partners to the English and French..

[@nessesseda]

Could be interesting, if you made an adendum just for the german speaking world. Because while most of our ranks have the same names, Sergeant and Colonel are particularily different and could be fun to explain.

[@eloriamedic]

Can you give a short summary of the difference, I'm really curious now?

[@nessesseda]

@@eloriamedic Sure. Our word for Sergeant is "Feldwebel", roughly translated to field official in early modern german. It is distinct, because only germany, austria and switzerland use/used this term. Our word dor colonel is "Oberst", which translates to the highest, as in premodern armies the Oberst would be the highest ranking soldier in combat. Incidentally, in premodern times armies could have fewer ranks, so we stuck to our native ranks Feldwebel/ Hauptmann(for Captain)/ Oberst and adopted names like lieutanant and major, once armies grow their beauracracy and complexity.

[@eloriamedic]

@@nessesseda Thank you 👍

[@HalfEye79]

Are you sure "Corporal" doesn't come from the latin word "corpus" meaning body?

[@ArturdeSousaRocha]

Could also be a corruption of "caporal".

[@ryansenft3315]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@samuellawrencesbookclub8250]

Might be interesting to do videos on other branches of the armed forces, and perhaps differences between the names of ranks in other languages.

[@johnwalters1806]

You could have mentioned the most famous Brigadier, from Dr Who. Also that Willhem II of Germany was a Field Marshal of the UK until the outbreak of WWI.

[@skyden24195]

Coming from a USAF family, I can share a few other ranks within that branch of service, specifically in the ranks of "non-commissioned officer" (NCO). In the USAF the lowest rank is "Airman basic," after that "Airman," then "Senior Airman," "Staff Sergeant," "Technical Sergeant," "Master Sergeant," "Senior Master Sergeant," finally "Chief Master Sergeant" (Although a Chief Master Sergeant can have 3 variations of rank similar to a General being 1 to 4 star(s)). My dad served 20yrs in the USAF, achieving the rank of "Technical Sergeant." Because of achieving this rank, our family would have to move from Travis AFB, CA to Scott AFB, IL due to my dad being assigned as senior NCO of Scott AFB's (Medical) Orthopedics Sector. My maternal grandfather would serve 30 yrs. in the USAF and earn the rank of "Chief Master Sergeant," a rank which would place him as senior NCO over all of the USAF's "Red Horse" Western Division, ("Red Horse" being the USAF's hostile environment civil engineering branch, i.e., the personnel that constructed flight-lines and supporting infrastructure in hostile/combat regions.)

[@DevonLv]

The “Warrant” part of Warrant Officer, I believe, comes from naval terminology. An official “warrant” from the sovereign designating an officer’s role on a ship (Gunner, Boatswain, etc). In the US, we still use Warrant Officers as technical experts and engineering technicians.

[@willh2690]

That's how it started in Royal Navy. Warrant officers were professional experts whilst commissioned officers were gentlemen, thus didn't nessarily know what they were doing. Eventually the rank of sergeant major in the Army was replaced by warrant officer. They act as either technical experts or senior enlisted advisors to a company or squadron (WO2), or a battalion, regiment or higher unit (WO1) where they are given the appointment of sergeant major.

[@lornenoland8098]

Ranks are based on layers upon layers of traditions over centuries. If we were to start again from scratch, no doubt it would be quite different

[@andreaseverin1346]

In many cases, the jobs of yesterday become the ranks of today. Like in the French Navy, where officer ranks include things like Fregate Captain, Corvette Captain and Vessel Captain which are the three highest below admirals

[@jedispartancoolman]

Did warrior class nobles such as knights have ranks in the military?

[@seanrea550]

I would imagine so when pulled into a force. As nobles they would fill an officers role fitting of their title.

[@J3dstar]

​@@seanrea550Knight commander, knight banneret, knight bachellor

[@trevoryong4611]

The origins of the ranks as I understand are: Private- In medieval times, soldiers were to be free men, as opposed to serfs, thus they were private citizens, not bound to any other person Lance Corporal- derived from "men of lance" denoting soldiers who were originally mounted troops, thus being seen as having a higher status than an ordinary foot soldier. Corporal- from corpus meaning body- denoting someone who was in charge of a body of troops Sergeant- from the Latin for servant- originally derived from servants of knights who would also take part in the battle. In more modern militaries, sergeants are the primary assistants of the officers Staff Sergeant- This was to denote sergeants who held "staff" positions - ie. more administrative related positions as opposed to ordinary sergeants Warrant Officer- These senior soldiers held a Warrant from the chief of the army. Lieutenant- from constituent part lieu meaning in place of and tenant denoting the holder of an office Captain- from the term capital meaning head Major- originally from the term "sergeant major"- denoting an officer who was generally responsible for administrative functions Lieutenant Colonel- an officer who was the colonel's lieutenant (deputy who would step into the colonel's role in his absence) Colonel- from the term colunelas meaning column, thus the colonel was the head of a column of troops Brigadier- denoting the officer in command of a Brigade General- denoting the officer who was in general command of the army. Broken down further, the term was originally designated "Captain General". His deputy was his lieutenant, thus Lieutenant General and the chief administrative officer of the army was the "Sergeant Major General" or now Major General I understand that some of the origins are somewhat lost to time and thus different explanations have been given to describe how these ranks obtained their names so the above is just my understanding of where they have come from

[@seanrea550]

There is something else to warrant officers, atleast to thr US understanding. They are technical specialists given an officers rank but filling a tradesmans role in the military that requires high experience and skill. Carpenters, smiths, surgeons and the like although medical fields now form a core part of the army in general.

[@trevoryong4611]

The US treat Warrant Officers differently from Commonwealth countries. Warrant Officers in the UK and other commonwealth countries are senior enlisted personnel - equivalent to E8s and E9s in the US@@seanrea550

[@aktuellyattee8265]

The word corporal doesn't come from the Latin word for head (caput), it comes from the Latin word for body (corpus).

[@andreaseverin1346]

Corporal actually comes from both corpus and "caporal", which is the French word that still means corporal today. That one is from caput

[@lordnoobchard7979]

In addition, Warrant officers can take up special positions. Warrant Officer 2s can take on the role of a Company Sergeant Major, whilst Warrant Officer 1s can take on the roles of Regimental Sergeant Major, Garrison Sergeant Major and sometimes even Army Sergeant Major. My great great grandfather was Regimental Sergeant Major in the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, during the 2nd World War.

[@inregionecaecorum]

Outside of the army you used to have the Postmaster General, who we must consider was the General of all the Postmasters and could command a formidable army of footsoldiers most of whom are tough as nails and will be wearing shorts even in December. And last but not least there is the Witchfinder General, which was a good movie back in the day.

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

The Post office is filled with veterans. A lot of which have battlefield experience. If the postmaster general attempted to take over the country they might succeed.

[@boltaurelius376]

​@@perceivedvelocity9914Post boxes used as pill boxes. Non posties don't stand a chance.

[@simeonmbuzi1473]

What a wonderful explaination! In Zambia, we don't have the classifcation "officer" & "soldier". We instead have "Non-Comissioned officers" (the ones you call soldiers) and "Comissioned Officers" (The one you simply call "officers")

[@Guderian0617]

One thing that has always confused me is that Major is a higher rank than the Lieutenant, but Mj Gen is a lower rank than the Lt Gen. Any reasons why that might be the case?

[@mattgyure997]

Major general used to be Sergeant major general at some point in history the sergeant part was dropped

[@arwelp]

In the Royal Navy the officer ranks go Midshipman (in training) -> Lieutenant (automatically after 30 months) -> Lieutenant Commander (Executive Officer, or commanding officer of a small ship) -> Commander (CO of a warship, submarine, squadron, or shore establishment. May also work at the Ministry of Defence) -> Captain (CO of a large ship, or more senior position ashore) -> Commodore (CO of a large RN establishment) -> then the “flag ranks”, who have their own flags: Rear Admiral (responsible for an entire capability within the RN) -> Vice Admiral (works at government level, helping to implement government policy) -> Admiral (highest rank in the Navy). One of my flatmates at university was a midshipman, taking a degree as part of his training; he retired about 35 years later as a Rear Admiral, having done a turn as Commander UK Maritime Forces.

[@mattgyure997]

Dude, I love your videos but this is so poorly researched. I’m now questioning some of your other videos and how accurate they are. Most of these ranks are very old, and when the names were created, the hierarchy wasn’t the same as it is now. 1. Private, used to refer to private soldiers, i.e. mercenary’s. 2. Lance Corporal, another likely theory is the fact that a lance was a small unit of 5 to 10 men in medieval times. Also, a Lance is a type of spear. 3. Corporal, either comes from the Latin corpus as in body, or from the Italian capo corporale, not directly from caput. 4. Sergeant, your etymology is correct however, it used to refer the average soldier i.e., one who serves in the army. 5. Staff sergeant, they served as members of staff they did not carry staffs; regular sergeants would carry pikes at certain periods through history to address ranks and formations. Also called Color sergeants, would protect those carrying the colors and have a red sash denoting rank. 7. Warrant officers are called so because they have received a warrant rather than a full commission. 8. 2nd lieutenant, this one is pretty much spot on actually the second Lieutenant is the same thing as second mate or second class 9. Lieutenant, also fine, no problems here. 10. Captain, the etymology is correct however, captains are often the ones in charge of things, companies or specialized attachments lieutenants are usually the second in command. 11. Major, it’s fine no problems 12. Lieutenant Colonel, the problem is with Colonel. 13. Colonel, well, it probably does from come from column. It refers to a military column, not a pillar. 14. Brigadier, spot on. 15. Major general, originally used to be called sergeant major general after the sergeant major in old rank in the British military now an honorary position. Also, this is the reason why major general was a lower rank than Lieutenant General. 16. Lieutenant General, no problems. 17. General, no problems 18. Field Marshal, I think it’s fine, but I’m not sure. i’m sorry for the long post. This is by far the longest comment I’ve ever written on KZbin but this really frustrated me. This is a topic I enjoy and this is a horribly under research video. Most of the list here was comprised of stuff I remembered cross-referenced with a quick Google search.

[@alanwatts5445]

Another explanation for "General". Colonels commanded regiments composed of one type of troop (or branch). Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers (Pioneers), etc. The units above regiment (Brigade, Division, Corps, Army, etc.) were composed of several different branches. So the officer commanding them could not be a branch officer, but was a "General" officer of all branches. In the U.S. Army, Colonels and below wear branch insignia to show what type of troops they are trained for. But General officers wear no branch insignia.

[@sandradermark8463]

Most ranks come from the French. This may come from the Norman conquest, am I right? And leftenant is also the way I pronounce it, though in the original French it is pronounced "lyötnang".

[@AlRoderick]

Also interesting is the reason why the UK has a Royal Navy, a Royal Air Force, a Royal Marines, but not a Royal Army, although some army units are individually called royal or the king's something.

[@NarpytheCrimeDog]

Commissioned Officers represent the military and the government. Non-Commissioned officers represent the troops. The idea is that NCO's will keep mission readiness high between monitoring morale, conducting training, and discipline. Officers are intended to provide orders, obtain supplies and resources, and issue orders. The idea of separating the two is incredibly beneficial - so long as officers and non-commissioned officers cooperate. It creates an incredibly efficient fighting force. Rank structure and duties differ based on needs and specialties. For instance, in Special Operations units, rank doesn't matter anywhere near as much as specialization.

[@victoriacyunczyk]

Imperial Japan was interesting since each branch had everything. The Army had submarines and an aircraft carrier, and the Navy had infantry and tanks. So a ship could be led by a corporal, and an infantry platoon by a petty officer. It can make study complicated at times.

[@zaco-km3su]

That was because there were different factions backing the Army and a Navy. Basically there was a civil war between the 2 armed forces.

[@HalfEye79]

In Germany, the troops are divided into three parts. The lowest part consists of "Mannschaften", the middle part "Unteroffizier" and the highest "Offizier". The lowest rank of the "Mannschaften" don't have a broader name. Each part of the army has kind of an own. The next one is "Gefreiter". The next four ranks are "Obergefreiter", "Hauptgefreiter", "Stabsgefreiter" and "Oberstabsgefreiter". There are two ranks left in the part of the "Mannschaften" and they are "Korporal" and "Stabskorporal". The "Unteroffizier"-group is loosely split into "Unteroffizier mit Portepee" and "Unteroffizier ohne Portepee" so with or without a "Portepee". A "Portepee" is the part on the belt, which connects it to the sheath of the saber. The lowest rank is just named "Unteroffizier". It is followed by "Stabsunteroffizier". These are in the group of "Unteroffizier ohne Portepee". And consists additional with a person learning to are "Unteroffizier" and that rank is called "Fahnenjunker". A person, who learns to be a "Unteroffizier mit Portepee" is "Fähnrich" followed by "Oberfähnrich". The others are "Feldwebel" followed by "Oberfeldwebel", "Hauptfeldwebel", "Stabsfeldwebel" and "Oberstabsfeldwebel". Then it goes to the level of "Offizier". The two lowest ranks of this group are "Leutnant" and "Oberleutnant". The next are "Hauptmann" and "Stabshauptmann". The next is "Major". The next are "Oberstleutnant" (mind the little difference to one beforehand) and "Oberst". Now we are going big and start with "Brigadegeneral". Then there are "Generalmajoe", "Generalleutnant" and "General".

[@PabloRichardFernandez]

In the British, other Common Wealth militaries, and NATO rank categorization scheme, they are categorized as ‘officer’ and ‘Other Ranks’. In the army in particular, all are soldiers.

[@SamAronow]

It's interesting that _lieutenant_ has its origins in "substitute deputy;" the Hebrew term for lieutenant is _segen,_ which also means "deputy." In fact the name Segel/Segal/Siegel comes from _segen levi,_ "Deputy Levite."

[@robertoroman557]

Your videos help me a lot

[@_sindre_8658]

All due respect but some of the explanation for the Soldier ranks' etymology is way off. PRIVATE - called so because individuals have the privilege of enlisting or making private contracts to serve as private soldiers in military units. LANCE CORPORAL - Does in fact come from LANCIA SPEZZATA - but this means "broken spear" not an old soldier. This is because in earlier warfare, if you managed to break a spear it was because you had been in a lot of action. Therefore as an experienced soldier you were seen as a leader. CORPORAL - Yes it technically comes from the Latin "Capitus" but only by proxy. It really stems from the Italian phrase Cabo Corporale (head of a "body" (as in a body of men). SERGEANT is largely correct. It does in fact come from the same root as the word Servant, probably for the same reason as you described - possibly also because they were people who had served for a long time and were therefore leaders and experts. STAFF SERGEANT is just a sergeant in a STAFF role - although yes the word STAFF in itself may have originated in authoritative figures in general carring staffs. WARRANT OFFICERS (both class 2 and class 1) are named after the warrant officers which historically served (and still do) in the Royal Navy. These were men who, although they did NOT have a proper royal commission as officers, were leaders and experts in their own right on board. In the British Army, Warrant Officers are just the seniormost NCO ranks, where WO2s are usually either the RQMS (Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant), managing supplies at a regiment or battalion level, or a CSM/SSM (Company/Squadron Sergeant-Major), responsible for discipline and leadership at a company level as well as advising the company commander (a Major), and then WO1s are the seniormost NCOs in any given unit of battalion size or greater, usually appointed as an RSM (Regimental Sergeant-Major).

[@Gordons1888]

Warramt officer comes from the fact warrant officers hold a warrant rather than a commission

[@shadowresponder]

This video seems very poorly researched. 1. What you call “Soldier” is generally called “Enlisted”. A soldier is someone who serves in the Army. You wouldn’t call someone serving in the Navy a “soldier”. They would be called sailor. And you wouldn’t call someone in the Air Force a soldier either. They would be called Airman. 2. A Lance is not a sword. A Lance is a type of pole arm. 3. You talked about how people are promoted to the rank of Private after training. I am not sure if this is 100% the case even in the British Army. But technically speaking, in most NATO militaries or at least the United States. The trainee already holds some rank while in training. Ranks correspond to paygrades. For example in the United States, Army E2 Private. That trainee in the US Army is already given pay corresponding with their pay. Army Privates are also called Private while at Basic Combat Training. 4. I prefer to think more about duty positions, assignment, or billets as where actual power comes from. Aside from customs and courtesies I tend to think of rank more as though a title of experience and prestige while duty positions, billets, and assignments are positions of power. For example: Although a typical Infantry Squad Leader in the US Army holds the rank of Staff Sergeant, it is the billet or Squad Leader that allows him to lead a squad. Another example where billet supersedes rank is law enforcement on military installations. A Military Police Private on patrol can enforce laws and pull over or even arrest a Colonel on base for violating the law. Even though the Colonel outranks the Military Police Private. Last example, although all pilots in the US Military are commissioned officers. Air Traffic Control is usually manned by enlisted personnel. In which case technically speaking, the commissioned officer who is a pilot is obeying the orders of the Air Traffic Control who may be an enlisted man.

[@EEE-1409]

Video starts at 2:56 if you're impatient: British army used for rank reference!

[@johnkilmartin5101]

The term lance in this regard references a knight, squire and page as a subunit of a banner under a knight banneret. Since these units were not of a standard size and might include infantry the lord who the banneret reported to would ask how me lances he had brought.

[@sasha1mama]

"Miles" in this context is "mee-layz", and no - that's milites. A lance is a spear, not a sword. The corrupted Italian makes more sense. Corporal does not come from "caput", but from corpus, and by extent corporatus, referencing "body" - as in "a body" of men or soldiers, in the context. That's a brigadier *general.* Followed by a major general, a lieutenant general, a general, and finally the commanding general. You also neglected a few sergeant rankings. Sgt > SSgt > Gunnery Sgt (a Marine Corps exclusive🏆🌟) > Master Sgt > Sgt Major. That last one mayvbe a subrank of major now that I think about it, but w/e. No, I don't care that you're only going by English ranks. That land belongs to the Norse.

[@andyberry-zx2lt]

ive heard it said before, that Goerge Marshall of WW2 (5 stars) was considered by the President to be called a Field Marshal. he balked at it by saying, "Im not going to be 'Field Marshal Marshall!"

[@welltooknown]

Im from Canada, and I have a friend who just became a lieutenant. Why is the British (and Canadian) pronounced LEFTtenant?

[@shadowresponder]

Canada used to be a British Colony. And Canada is still part of the British Commonwealth. You will see that most British Commonwealth nations have the same marching style, generally the same ranks and are all based off the British Army. As a result, countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand 🇨🇦 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 and I am pretty sure even India 🇮🇳have some sort of similarity to the British Army.

[@Corky341]

I completed 22 years 'Colour Service' in the British Army and attained the heady rank of Staff Sergeant. (Or Colour Sergeant/Serjeant). Do any other armies around the world still have Lance Sergeants and Corporal of Horse? ..... to name a just a couple of the more obscure ranks we use. (I imagine Canada might. So too New Zealand).

[@MasterGeekMX]

As a Stargate fan, this video is awesome. Military ranks was the toughest thing to keep track on that series of all things hahha.

[@TheCsel]

I feel like I have heard that Sergeant was originally "sargeant at arms" which similar to "man at arms"" was an armored soldier but was not a knight or horseman. But sergeant at arms, with sergeant meaning servant was a position more like the personal bodyguard of a noblemen, but one that had important logistic duties like a ship's steward.

[@ChristoAbrie]

You forgot to mention that, at least for the British army, the sitting Monarch serves as the Head of the Armed Forces as well, and that children of the Monarch (as well as direct-line grandchildren) are obligated to serve in the Military.

[@AirbornChaos]

Warrant Officer, at least for the Royal Navy, were junior officers. The navy had specialized jobs, like the carpenter or sail-maker, or midshipman(officer-in-training), where sailors needed to give these men the respect due a commissioned officer, but the navy could only, legally, give commissions as a Lieutenant or greater. So the Captain of the ship would instead issue these men a, "Warrant," in lieu of the King's Commission.

[@micealhome6363]

This guy gives new meaning to simpleminded.

[@timbuktu8069]

I could never figure out why a Seargent Major doesn't outrank a Lieutenant Colonel.

[@arwelp]

Because officers hold the monarchs’ Commission; soldiers who work up through the enlisted ranks - corporal / sergeant / WO / even regimental sergeant majors are NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers). The newest-minted 2nd Lieutenant outranks the longest-serving NCO (but would obviously be extremely “unwise” to ignore “advice” from a senior NCO).

[@timbuktu8069]

Yes but a Major outranks a Lieutenant. If a Lieutenant Colonel is slightly less than a Colonel Why isn't a Seargent Major slightly less than a Major? @@arwelp

[@arwelp]

@@timbuktu8069 Because “major” qualifies “sergeant”, while “lieutenant” qualifies “colonel”. A sergeant major is a higher rank than an ordinary sergeant, while lieutenant colonel is a lower rank than colonel. In any case, the important distinction is that sergeant major is an NCO rank while a lieutenant colonel is a fairly high-ranking officer. ANY officer outranks any NCO.

[@timbuktu8069]

OK I understand But it still sounds confusing to me.@@arwelp

[@TylertheCC1010fan]

@@timbuktu8069 If you are still wondering, an easier explanation, think of the "major" in "sergeant major", not in the context of the rank of the same name, but rather the word major, as in the context of something being greater or more important, so as result "sergeant major" = "greater sergeant", with "lieutenant colonel" the usage of "lieutenant" has some relation to the rank, but is more about the meaning of "lieutenant", which is an assistant/ deputy, "lieutenant colonel" is just a slightly altered way to say colonel's lieutenant or in other words colonel's assistant / assistant colonel, this is also the case with "lieutenant general".

[@peterbrown1012]

Linguistically Corporal is higher than Sergeant, in days of old, Sergeant was a infantry rank and Corporal a Cavalry rank, when the infantry introduced corporals, the Cavalry added of Horse to denote their superiority, only the Household Cavalry still have these ranks.

[@cpt_nordbart]

German Soldat Is a soldier German Söldner Is a mercenary. At least both get paid.

[@aaroncarlin3074]

Sergeants do not command a huge amount of soldiers at all. In the British Army, which includes such armies as the Australian Army, they work closely with a Lieutenant(pronounced left-tennant) who commands a platoon of about 30 soldiers in total. 3 sections, each commanded by a corporal, with a Lance corporal being a corporals 2IC. If I ever become a junior officer, starting as a Second Lieutenant, I'd be terrified without my sergeant! Sergeants have a tonne of experience to help the platoon commander make good decisions.

[@heeeeeyyyyyyyyy]

The difference between officers and soldiers within the British Army are that officers have a commission from the monarch which historically was bought hence the name. Non commissioned officers which are all other ranks except for private. Staff Sergeants are equal in rank to Colour Sergeants, traditionally they were experienced sergeants who would protect the regimental and royal colours (flags) in battle. Colour sergeants are only in the infantry, with the remainder of the army using Staff Sergeant(except household cavalry, they don’t use the word sergeant at all for any rank) Warrant officers are presented a scroll which is a warrant from the monarch confirming their status as warrant officers. That warrant is their authority in the same way if a police forces issues a warrant for someone’s arrest. Officers don’t necessarily outrank soldiers in practice. Junior officers, 2Lt and Lt don’t give orders to sergeants and above. Typically the junior officers are generally developed by the senior NCOs until they promote to captain. Army captains should also not be confused with Navy Captains who are equivalent of Colonels.

[@FormulaJRay]

Interesting, though I was hoping there would be an explanation as to why British people pronounce "Lieutenant" as leftenant. Navy ranks next?

[@ThePawsketeer]

The weird thing is that Google says that a colonel leads a brigade

[@berdenglumot]

In WWII, every German officers rank end with the word "Fuhrer", which is so confusing. Please make a video on those ranks.

[@reggriffiths5769]

Unless things have changed in the last fifty years, a Lance Corpora; is/was not a rank, but an Appointment. A sergeant in the Horse Guards for example, has the rank of sergeant, but also have the appointment of Horse Corporal. The mascot handler in another regiment might have the rank of Corporal, but may also be the Goat Majoe 0-an appointment. Or am I wrong?

[@AdamG1]

I'm hearing impaired and rely on subtitles. Live in the US and have the English captions on, I had to laugh because youtube generated "leftenant" every time you pronounced lieutenant in the British way.

[@abdulwahidmdtahir3660]

Malaysia follows the British system because Malaysia was once colonised by or a British protectorate. But there are a little differences I think or need some clarification. From the bottom rank we have private, lance corporal, corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, warrant officer 2, warrant officer 1. Since there is only one WO1 in a regiment (commanded by a colonel), he is called as RSM (Regimental Sergeant Major). Is it correct or the same with British army? As for the officers we used to call the officer commanding a Brigade, a Brigadier. Later we changed it to Brigadier General. Above Brigadier General, we have Major General, normally commanding a Division. Higher still we have Leutenant General and General. What I don't understand is why in lower rank officer, Leutenant is lower than Major, but Leutenant General is higher than Major General. What was the history behind this?

[@Ksnobrd]

Solders are known as enlisteds in the army, they enlisted, well officers go to military school like westpoint, enlesties start as E1, or privets 3rd, as officers start as officers, or to an enlisted would know it as, E3 (I am not in the military but i have much family in the army, if any of this is wrong, please let me know as I will be enlisting soon and want more knowledge on it)

[@typograf62]

The word "miles" might be Etruscan though nobody is sure.

[@hughjass1044]

In the Canadian Army, we have a couple of other ones which may have equivalents in other countries as well..... Lieutenant Corporal - A section 2IC or other corporal who has been put in temporary command and has gotten shit faced drunk on his imaginary and temporary power and has let it go straight to his head..... OR..... a female corporal who is hooked up with any senior rank (usually a SGT or better) and thinks she wears his rank because the other troops are scared of her BF. Super Trooper - A young private, usually with less than a year in, who has won some sort of award or gotten some kind of accolade and is firmly convinced he knows everything there is to know and that he's God's gift to soldiering. These individuals are usually seen hanging around with, and sucking up to, the senior NCOs and officers. Blister - An enlisted soldier who is nowhere to be found when there's work to do but shows up once it's finished and tries to claim credit. MIR Commando - An enlisted soldier who spends half their career at the MIR (clinic) trying to score medical chits so they can got out of any work typically done by.... well, anyone really. Shit Pump - A soldier who converts good rations into human feces and has not a single other redeeming quality and is good for not a solitary other f*cking thing on God's earth. Also referred to as Fresh Air Inspectors.

[@balaam_7087]

A bit of helpful advice: Don’t google “Rear Admiral”

[@versace6609]

Why

[@SampoPaalanen]

@@versace6609 I'm guessing you end up with something nasty if you don't got safe search on

[@mrcroob8563]

My guy did you just call a lance a sword?

[@Zahri8Alang]

Stares at Captain Crunch Salutes Colonel Sanders(he got that from the local government methinks)

[@beepboop204]

i learned that commonwealth countries like mine run off Warrant Officers, while the US runs off Sargents.

[@seanrea550]

The US still have warrant officers but they fill their own cluster of ranks as specialty officers. For some jobs In particular you do not want some lieutenant fresh out of academy or ocs being in charge and not understanding the field but you want a field specialist. Say a master carpenter on an age of sail ship.

[@beepboop204]

@@seanrea550 thanks

[@JoBo431]

great video. Warrant officer means that they are an officer by warrant and not commission.

[@kogn5338]

warrant actually comes from literally getting a warrant to be an office (i guess like a lesser commission).

[@LordSluggo]

An officer's commission comes from the President, a WO's warrant comes from their branch secretary

[@bigchungus5065]

I thought privates were called private because they signed private contracts with their company commanders on enlistment.

[@mikehenderson631]

Can you please do a video on navy rankings

[@David-yw2lv]

In some countries,there is a rank of Colonel General,does it correspond to Kieutanant General in English speaking countries?I went to a boarding school in the 9th grade.There were several there who thought I was an idiot for saying a Lieutenant General is higher than Major General.

[@WooliteMammoth]

Why do you add "uhh" to the end of of like 50% of your words?

[@markoprvulovic2693]

this is only for British army and royal marines, navy and air force have different ranks

[@pablosilva6988]

Awesome video

[@beaconhousepechsfilm-makin8187]

Much needed video

[@SenorTucano]

Corporal is not from the Latin for head (caput) - it’s from corpus

[@qwertyuiopgarth]

A lance is more a spear than a sword.

[@skeletonwguitar4383]

I wish you would expand on this with different ranking system in the military, not from every single nation but the major ones at least like from US, Russia, China, one or two other European country perhaps Pretty please?

[@davethm75]

Ok I must ask. How the hell does lieutenant sound anything like the British version that sounds like "left Tennant" I am so confused it hurts my brain

[@oloruntobaoluwadarewasiu8045]

Happy New year Long life and prosperity

[@vasquezjesus1020]

Is it true that a left hand salute is for civilization?

[@graceneilitz7661]

I think that’s the British army, because the navy definitely has different rank names.

[@Veldazandtea]

Cowards hide behind rank and title. Leaders lead by example. Don't play by the rules. Take charge and get things done. Just don't think you'll be "rewarded" for it in the end. Vets tend to end up homeless. SAS will go against generals orders to save their own. Considering the SAS get things done more then most the generals didn't dare get in their way. We still got the best spec ops. The SAS just don't brag about it.

[@otakubancho6655]

Another term for private is cannon fodder.

[@vorrdegard2176]

The Indian army follows a similar or the same system since it was founded under the British Raj

[@backstagerm5733]

"Soldiering is a good life"

[@KCKingdomCreateGreatTrekAgain]

Doing naval ranks would be nice.

[@besticudcumupwith202]

..."LeffftTenit Dan"? Forrest had it wrong?

[@modmaker7617]

"Left-tenant"? I live in the UK and I never heard of this pronunciation probably due to not being in the military but I only heard "loo-tenant"

[@TheCsel]

its very ubiquitous in the UK, in a military sense. Though american media has "loo-tenant", so it has spread pretty thoroughly through british society as well because of various histrical shows and even sci fi shows like Star Trek.

[@ALLAHALLAHism]

There's no F in lieutenant. 😤

[@gmg9010]

My Grandpa’s 1st cousin was a Brigadier General here in the states.

[@theconqueringram5295]

Interesting etymology!

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

Doesnt corporal come from corpus meaning body? As in a body of men? Because then that leave Captain as a derivation of a caput, head.

[@JJ-si4qh]

I'm sorry, but there are a lot of inaccuracies in here

[@IsYitzach]

That sounds like the UK army and air force ranks. What about the navy ranks?

[@Hernani-c6f]

What's major sergeant? master sergeant? major general?

[@ZoomZip]

There is Officers, and there is Enlisted. The way you separated with officers and soldier is comically wrong. So are officers in the british army, not soldiers?

[@aardappeleten7701]

In the British Army, isn't the highest (person of command??) the King?