Sergeant major general general appeared to create a precedence issue, in that a major outranks a lieutenant but a lieutenant general outranks a major general. This continues to cause confusion to those unfamiliar with the history of the rank, particularly in those armies using insignia similar to the British Army. The rank is sometimes used by paramilitary organizations such as militias. Sergeant major general Sergeant major general is a now mostly extinct military rank. A prominent example was Philip Skippon in the English New Model Army as organized by Oliver Cromwell. Over the course of the 17th century, the increasing professionalisation of armies
General officers in the United States the Chief of Staff of the Army, who had been a major general, equal rank with the Chief of Naval Operations which had been a four-star position since 1916. Lieutenant Generals were reauthorized on 5 August 1939. Four Lieutenant Generals were authorized as temporary ranks for the commanding officers of the four numbered field armies at the time. The four-star rank of General remained unique to the Chief of Staff. During World War II most American Generals held temporary or “theater” appointments in the Army of the United States. Until the Second World War, the highest Marine Corps general rank