Senior colonel Senior colonel Senior colonel is an army officer rank placed between a regular colonel and a major general. The rank typically exists in militaries that do not maintain a rank of brigadier general or brigadier. In Nazi Germany, a rank equivalent to senior colonel, "Oberführer", was used by both the SA and SS. In the branches of the "Allgemeine SS" (General SS) and "Waffen-SS" (Armed SS) the rank of "Oberführer" was widely used. The rank did not exist in the army ("Heer"), although the "Kriegsmarine" (navy) maintained the equivalent rank of "Kommodore". After World War II, armies in Asia, especially
Ranks in the French Army 1791. The official historic succession of the "Lieutenant-General of France" corresponded to Général de division for the French Army, and Vice-Amiral (Vice-Admiral) for the French Navy. The rank of Général de corps d'armée wasn't officially adopted until 1939, along with five other French Armed Forces ranks. In the below descriptions, "horse-mounted" does not refer to current units (the only remaining horse-mounted unit is a ceremonial unit in the Republican Guard) but to the traditional affiliation of the units. The word "colonel" originates in the medieval term "capitaine colonel", "the head (officer) of a column" (=regiment). Lieutenant-colonel is the one who