Lieutenant General
A three-star general officer of the US Army, O-9 and NATO OF-8, commanding corps and army-level organizations.
Overview
Lieutenant General wears three stars and commands a corps of tens of thousands, an Army service component command, or a major joint staff. Three-stars hold the largest operational commands below the four-star level and often serve as deputy commanders of combatant commands. The rank descends from the seventeenth century deputy to the captain general of an army. Because the grade is tied to assignment, lieutenant generals revert to major general when a tour ends unless appointed elsewhere. Army vice chiefs and theater deputies typically wear it, and it is the peacetime ceiling for most careers.
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