Sergeant major general 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 saw sergeant major general become the most junior of the general ranks. At the same time, the "sergeant" portion of the title was more and more commonly dropped; by the early 18th century, the rank's name had been permanently shortened to major general. Since sergeant major general had ranked below lieutenant general, the newly named rank of major
General of the Armies appoint Douglas MacArthur to the rank of "General of the Armies" and have this position be considered a six-star general rank. The proposal for MacArthur's promotion to a new rank was begun on July 23, 1945. The Army draft for the promotion specified three key points regarding the renewed proposal for General of the Armies: At the beginning of August 1945, a member of MacArthur's staff drew a single sketch of a five star general insignia superimposed in its center with a sixth star of rank. This sketch was the first known design for a "six star general" insignia, but