Major-general (United Kingdom) of the Royal Army Chaplains Department, the Chaplain-General, and similar appointments, were accorded 'the relative precedence' - that is to say the equivalence rather than the full powers and authority - of the rank of major-general. The Commandant General Royal Marines has held the rank of major general since 1996, when the post was downgraded from lieutenant general. As in the British Army, a Royal Marine major general ranks below lieutenant general and above brigadier. From its foundation on 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force (RAF) briefly maintained the rank of major-general. The service was
General of the Armies Bradley in 1981, Congress considered a special recognition to commemorate the passing of the last of the Second World War five star officers. Six weeks after Bradley's death, the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to the Institute of Heraldry and the Army requesting to know the feasibility of promoting Bradley to the rank of six star general. A brief was issued which repeated much of the concerns raised in 1964 when Douglas MacArthur had been considered posthumously for the rank. The Institute of Heraldry released two insignia designs for the rank of the General of the Armies which