Major general (United States) Major general (United States) In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general. A major general typically commands division-sized units of 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. Major general is equivalent to the two-star rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and is the highest permanent rank during peacetime in the uniformed services. Higher ranks are technically temporary ranks linked to specific positions, although virtually all officers
General of the Armies of Pershing to the rank of "General of the Armies of the United States" and allowed him to design his own insignia. On September 3, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson, in accordance with , promoted Pershing to that same rank. The rank was primarily intended to recognize Pershing's performance as commander of the American Expeditionary Forces. General Pershing chose to wear the four stars of a general, but in gold, to signify his new position. A bureaucratic loophole in Army regulations did not recognize this insignia, thus Pershing's gold stars did not appear on Army rank precedence charts and were considered