Commander Air Force's mid-rank officers' ranks are modelled on those of the Royal Navy, the term wing commander is used as a rank, and this is the equivalent of a lieutenant colonel in the army or a commander in the navy. The rank of wing commander is above that of squadron leader and below that of group captain. In the former Royal Naval Air Service, which was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force in 1918, the pilots held appointments as well as their normal ranks in the Royal Navy, and they wore insignia appropriate to
Captain general of the Air Force the Navy "(Armada Española)". This rank is reserved to the monarch as Commander-in-chief. An Air captain general's insignia consists of two command sticks under five four-pointed stars below the Royal Crown and a golden string. The Spanish Air Force as a separated branch of the Spanish Armed Forces was officially established on 7 October 1939, after the Spanish Civil War. Francisco Franco as head of Spanish state and commander-in-chief named himself 1st captain general of the Spanish Air Force. General Ángel Salas Larrazábal, a veteran fighter pilot, has been the only honorary Air captain general (1991-1994). Captain general of the