Colonel? General? Commander?

So a lot of our Star Wars favorites are involved with the military, we've got Commander Skywalker, General Solo, Admiral Ackbar, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Lieutenant Colonel Solo, and so on. They all sound official and military like to me, but I have no idea what they represent. What is the order of military rankings? What's at the bottom? What's at the top? And what separates all those in the middle? Are there privlages that come with certain positions?

So, anybody got any idea?

Thanks

-Dell

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it goes something like this:


Commander
Lieutenant
Colonel
General
Admiral
Grand Admiral

 

Bottom seems to be Flight Officer in a squadron and on naval ships, Ensign.

 

As far as Starfighter Command it goes like this:

Flight Officer
Leutenant
Captain
Major
Lt. Colonel
Colonel
General

Navy tends to follow US Naval ranks:

Ensign
Lt.
Lt. Commander
Commander
Captain
Admiral

Commanders in Starfighter command are somewhat ambigous. Wedge was called Commander, but he filled the role of a Colonel. And when Tycho and Gavin took command of Rogue Squadron they were Colonels. But then Generals are found leading Fleet task forces, so again it becomes somewhat inconsistant.

The miltary ranks of SW have been debated by several people on several websites and no one has come to a definite determination.

Here is a link for you: Ranks

As far as privilages, the higher the rank the more classified info they get, and the better accomidations they get.

 

Okay, it goes like this, top down.

SFC Fleet
Admiral
General
Colonel Captain
Lieutenant Colonel Commander
Major Lieutenant Commander
Captain Lieutenant
Lieutenant Ensign
Flight Officer

Now in SFC, Colonels are sometimes called Commander, but that's because they're the CO of a squadron. CO=Commanding Officer, so you get Commander.

Now no matter what rank they are the CO of a ship is always called Captain, so you could have an Ensign in charge of a shuttle, but they'll be called Captain.

Now a General is apparently able to command a task force of Fleet forces, but isn't part of the Fleet. Now occasionally you'll have an Admiral in charge of a task force, but then they'll also have a General who's in charge of the fighter squadrons in the fleet.

Now the reason the SFC has more ranks is because SW doesn't have the equivelant of a Lieutenant Junior Grade for the Fleet. And Flight Officer is actually taken from the British RAF I believe. It's kinda put in there because you have to be an officer to fly, so they created that rank.

For prevledges. A FO is going to have the least amount, probably relatively new to the SFC, shares a room with their wingman. Then you have a Lieutenant, they're a little higher up, still share a room, but they can be in charge of a flight. A Captain is likely to have their own bunkroom when able, they can be XOs, or in an older squadron flight leaders. After Captain you have Major, they can be XOs or COs, and in the extremely old squadrons, like Rogue, they're flight leaders, generally they'll have their own quarters and if a CO/XO their own small office. A Lieutenant Colonel is your first truly high rank, they'll have their own quarters, probably the CO or the XO, but not always. Colonel is the highest rank that you can be and still not have to leave a squadron, normally Wedge is different. They're the CO, have their own small office, their own quarters, the head matience tech probably works on their fighter. A General, now that's apparently the highest you can go in SFC. You're probably not going to be in a squadron. You'll have your own quarters, a lot of liberties. More than likely you're in command of a Wing, which is a group of squadrons. In special cases, when an Admiral can't be used, they're in charge of a task force. That is a group of ships assigned to a specific job.

For the Fleet it's much the same, but give an Ensign the same as a Flight Officer, and skip over the Lieutenant's stuff. And you also have to remember that the Fleet probably has non-officers in it. We just don't hear from 'em.

 

Thanks, that's very informative.

 

Now no matter what rank they are the CO of a ship is always called Captain, so you could have an Ensign in charge of a shuttle, but they'll be called Captain.

They're called Captain, but their actual rank would be Brevet Captain... it's a temporary promotion if they wouldn't normally be at that rank.

That happens in ... the first Wraith Squadron book, I think it is. X-Wing 5 or 6, at any rate.

 

Well a Brevet Captain is someone assuming the actual rank of Captain pending a review of authority. When you call someone captain because they run a ship it is merely a formality and sign of respect. A Brevet Captain actually has the authority of a Captain, an Ensign who is "captain" of a ship doesn't.

 

Yeah, a Brevet Captain in SFC is basically a regular SFC Captain, but when an Ensign's a captain it's just a formality. It's like Han being called Captain Solo.