REAR ADMIRAL

(Redirected from Rear-Admiral)
'Rear admiral' is a naval commissioned officer rank that is usually two-star rank ranking below Vice Admiral. It originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy. Each Naval Squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head, who would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice, or vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval assault.
In the rear of the Naval Squadron, a third admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered the least dangerous, the admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of the squadron admirals. This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the first and junior-most of the admiralty ranks of most navies.
In some European navies and in the Canadian Force French translations, the rank of rear admiral is known as counter admiral. In the Royal Netherlands Navy this rank is known as ''schout-bij-nacht'' (lit: Supervisor during nighttime - denoting the role junior to the squadron admiral).

Contents

United Kingdom

Canada

United States

Promotion

Retirement

See also

United Kingdom

The Royal Navy maintains a rank of rear admiral.

Canada

In the Canadian Forces, the rank of 'rear-admiral' (RAdm) (''contre-amiral'' or ''cam'' in French) is a Navy rank equal to a major-general of the Army or Air Force. A rear-admiral is a flag officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A rear-admiral is senior to a commodore or brigadier-general, and junior to a vice-admiral or lieutenant-general.
The rank insignia for a rear-admiral is two gold maple leaves beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St. Edward's Crown, worn on the shoulder straps of the Service Dress jacket, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The Service Dress tunic also features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves.
Rear-admirals are initially addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am", as applicable. Rear-admirals are normally entitled to staff cars.

United States

In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, rear admiral is considered a "Flag rank" and is divided into two grades, being that of the Lower Half (RDML) O-7, and Upper Half (RADM) O-8. This practice began in the late 19th century, when rear admirals would be assigned a seniority on the Navy or Coast Guard promotion list. Those on the upper half of the list would receive a higher rate of pay, even though all rear admirals were considered the same rank.
When the United States Navy and Coast Guard abolished the rank of commodore (which was also briefly known as "commodore admiral"), rear admirals on the lower half of the promotion list assumed duties of one star admirals, although until the 1980s all rear admirals still wore two stars as their badge of rank. Since then, rear admirals (Lower Half) wear one star while rear admirals (Upper Half) wear two; verbal address remains "rear admiral" for both ranks. On correspondence, where the rear admiral's rank is spelled out, an (LH) and (UH) follows the rear admiral's rank title to distinguish between one and two stars. The military abbreviations for the ranks are RDML (one star) and RADM (two stars). Upper half is also occasionally abbreviated as RAUH. The flags flown for rear admirals have one and two white, single point up stars on blue fields for the lower half and upper half.

Promotion

To be promoted to RDML (O-7) and/or RADM (O-8), officers who are eligible for promotion to these ranks are screened by an in-service promotion board comprising other flag officers from that branch of the service. This promotion board then generates a list of officers they recommend for promotion to flag rank to the President of the United States for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the secretary of that service branch, and the service's chief of staff or commandant. The President may nominate an eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if he chooses to do so, but this is extremely rare. The nominated officers must then be confirmed by majority vote by the Senate before they can be promoted.
For the 'National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps' and the 'Public Health Service Commissioned Corps', many flag officers are normally not screened by a promotion board and are recommended to the president by their respective department secretary for promotion.

Retirement

The mandatory retirement age for all flag officers is 62. This can be deferred to age 64 in some cases by the Secretary of their service, the Secretary of Defence, or by the President. Under the law (10 USC, Sec 635), an officer who has been promoted to O-7, but is not on the recommended list and/or nominated to O-8, must retire five years after promotion to O-7, or 30 years of active duty service, whichever is later.
An O-8 must retire five years after being promoted to O-8, or 35 years of service, whichever is greater (10 USC, Sec 636).
The Secretary of the their respective service can defer the above mandatory retirements, up until the time that the officer reaches the age of 62 (10 USC, Sec 637). The Secretary of Defence can defer the retirement age to 64 and the President can defer it to 66 if they choose.

See also