Lieutenant colonel
Military rank
Lieutenant colonel (UK: /lɛfˈtɛnənt ˈkɜːrnəl/ lef-TEN-ənt KUR-nəl, US: /luːˈtɛn-/ loo-TEN-) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces, such as in the United States, also use the rank of lieutenant colonel.
01Etymology
The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence. Sometimes, the term 'half-colonel' is used in casual conversation in the British Army. Additionally, in the U.S. Army 'light colonel' has been used informally in the past. In the British military, it is customary to refer to either a lieutenant colonel or a colonel by their first names when mentioning them, e.g. "Colonel Tim will be at the parade". In the United States Air Force, the term 'light bird' or 'light bird colonel' (as opposed to a 'full bird colonel') is an acceptable casual reference to the rank but is never used directly towards the rank holder. A lieutenant colonel is typically in charge of a battalion or regiment in the army.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Lieutenant colonel”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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