RE: [DL] Butterbars?

["Heivilin, Jim" <banzai@missouri.edu>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Yates [mailto:jyates@primaryfunction.com] 
> Subject: Re: [DL] Butterbars?
> 
> And doesn't the term "butterbar" refer to the 
> badge/emblem-thingie that
>
Officially called "rank insignia".  Typically worn on the collar or epaulet
depending on type of uniform.  Usually shiny (gold or silver) on dress
uniforms and subdued on field uniforms (black replaces silver and this
sickly baby puke color replaces gold).  

> officers of that rank pin on their uniform?  Generals get 
> stars, Colonels(?) get eagles, Lieutenants get pretty 
> gold colored pieces of metal that look like little sticks 
> of butter.  Majors and Captains and other ranks escape me
> 
A 1st Lieutenant has a bar shaped the same but colored silver. 
A Captain has two of these bars side-by-side connected with two thin links.
Commonly referred to as "railroad tracks".  Captains usually command a
company (90 to 160 men depending on type of unit). 
A Major has a oak leaf colored the same puky shade of gold as the 2nd
Lieutenant.  Majors are usually staff officers.  Occasionally a Major might
command a company (for example, attack helicopter companies are often
commanded by a Major).  
A Lieutenant Colonel has a silver oak leaf.  Lieutenant Colonels are
addressed as Colonel and usually command a battalion (anywhere from 300 to
650 men).  
A Colonel has a silver eagle.  Colonels usually command brigades (several
battalions plus support troops).  
Generals have stars.  In a perverse sense of logic the order of General
Officers seems backwards.

A Brigadier General has one silver star (called Brigadier because in the
18th and 19th centuries they commanded brigades).  Brigadier Generals
sometimes command independent (not a regular part of a division or higher
organization) brigades still.  
A Major General has two silver stars. 
A Lieutenant General has three and thus is actually higher than the Major
General.
A General has four silver stars. 

During wartime there can also be a five star general called General of the
Army and he has five silver stars arranged in a circle.  

Rank insignia in the Air Force is nearly identical to the Army's.  In the
Marine Corps the insignia is *slightly* smaller.  

As bonafides I'm a USAR Major of Engineers and spend five years on Active
Duty in Germany. 

Jim

Jim Heivilin, System Administrator
IAT Services, Open Systems Team 
University of Missouri at Columbia
mailto:banzai@missouri.edu, 573-884-3898