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20-gun ship to rank with major, and lieutenant to rank with captain in the Army.

      Although the top naval ranks were provided, the only two officers ever to attain a higher rank than captain prior to 1862 were Ezekiel Hopkins, whom Congress on December 22, 1775, commissioned with the rank of C-in-C of the Fleet, and Charles Stewart who was commissioned Senior Flag Officer by Congress in 1859. Hopkins and Stewart were called "commodore" as was any other captain who commanded more than one ship.

      During our War of Independence, the Army had the rank of ensign and the Navy did not. The several Army ranks were then distinguishable by the color of the cockade, green for lieutenant, buff for captain, and pink or red for a field officer. As early as 1780 major generals wore two stars on their epaulettes and brigadier generals one. During our quasi-war with France, toward the end of the eighteenth century, Washington was commissioned lieutenant general, our first, and three stars were prescribed to be worn by him.

      In the Army Register for 1813 the rank of ensign had disappeared but there were third lieutenants (as in the Soviet Army today) and coronets. In 1832 the eagle was adopted as the insignia of colonel in the Army and in 1857 the lieutenant colonel, captain, and first lieutenant wore the same insignia as today. These insignia were adopted some time in the interval between 1847 and 1857. The gold bar, insigne of the second lieutenant, was authorized just prior to World War I.

      The Navy has used the same shoulder insignia as the Army since the Civil War. However, shoulder insignia on blues were discontinued by the Navy in 1911 but the insignia were still prescribed on epaulettes. The Navy adopted the eagle for captain in 1852, twenty years after it had been approved by the Army for colonels.

      In the first half of the last century the Navy List contained officers of four grades only. A captain wore three stripes, a master commandant, two (master commandant, established in 1806, was changed to commander in 1837;) and a lieutenant, one. A master had no stripe but three buttons instead. There were midshipmen too, but they were warrant officers and aspirants for commissioned rank as the present French term designates them.

      Our first full general was U. S. Grant and our first full admiral, David D. Porter; both won their rank in the Civil War. In that war there was a large increase in the Navy and more naval ranks were established. In 1862 ensign was provided in the Navy to correspond to second lieutenant; and the term lieutenant commanding became lieutenant commander. An ensign wore one stripe as now; an additional stripe was added for each rank till the rear admiral had eight. Since 1869 the senior officers have worn the same stripes as now prescribed. In 1883 the rank "master" was changed to lieutenant, junior grade.

      The rank of commodore, which had been abolished, was temporarily revived during World War II. The rank of passed-midshipman was abolished about 1910; thereafter graduates of the Naval Academy were commissioned ensign. The rank of ensign had previously been attained by passed-midshipmen after 2 years at sea and a successful examination at the end of that cruise. The only permanent change in recent years was the addition of aviation cadet to both the Air Force and Navy listings. The warrant rank of flight officer in the Air Force, which was created during the war, has now been abandoned, all the flight officers then holding warrants either being commissioned second lieutenants or separated. The naval rank of commodore was likewise dropped, and brigadier generals of the Army and Air Force now rank with admirals of the lower half.

      The following are the present corresponding ranks in the Armed Services:

NAVY	MARINE CORPS	ARMY	AIR FORCE	COAST GUARD
Fleet Admiral		General of the Army	General of the Air Force
Admiral	General	General	General	Admiral
Vice Admiral	Lieutenant General	Lieutenant General	Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral
Rear Admiral (upper half)	Major General	Major General	Major General	Rear Admiral (upper half)
Rear Admiral (lower half) and Commodore	Brigadier General	Brigadier General	Brigadier General	Rear Admiral (lower half) and Commodore
Captain	Colonel	Colonel	Colonel	Captain
Commander	Lieutenant Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Commander
Lieutenant Commander	Major	Major	Major	Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant	Captain	Captain	Captain	Lieutenant
Lieutenant (Junior Grade)	First Lieutenant	First Lieutenant	First Lieutenant	Lieutenant (Junior Grade)
Ensign	Second Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant	Ensign
Commissioned Warrant Officer	Commissioned Warrant Officer	Chief Warrant Officer	Chief Warrant Officer	Commissioned Warrant Officer
Midshipman		Cadet	Cadet	Cadet
Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer Junior Grade	Warrant Officer Junior Grade	Warrant Officer
Aviation Cadet			Aviation Cadet

      Officers of all the fighting service, whether regular or reserve, take precedence among themselves according to their dates of rank. Officers take command in their respective services in accordance with their dates of rank in the line, the senior, unless otherwise ordered, taking command, whether regular or reserve. The command of a task force or group composed of commands from two or more services devolves upon the senior commanding officer present in the force or group unless otherwise designated by the appropriate common senior, acting for the President.

      The obvious exceptions to this are that officers outside the line (that is, commissioned in

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