General officer brigadier general is brigadier, which is not always considered by these armies to be a general officer rank, although it is always treated as equivalent to the rank of brigadier general for comparative purposes. As a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major; confusion often arises because a lieutenant is outranked by a major. Originally the serjeant major was, exclusively, the commander of the infantry, junior only to the captain general and lieutenant general. The distinction of serjeant major general only applied after serjeant majors were introduced as a rank of field officer. Serjeant was eventually dropped from both rank titles, creating
General of the Armies Washington was posthumously promoted to the full grade of "General of the Armies of the United States", with effective date from July 4, 1976. The promotion was authorized by a congressional joint resolution on January 19, 1976 which recommended Washington's promotion and further declared that no officer of the United States armed forces should ever outrank George Washington. The signed by Secretary of the Army Clifford Alexander, Jr., simply formalised the promotion. It did not mention six-star status, nor did it include, as the legislation did, the phrasing "such grade to have rank and precedence over all other grades of