by Powerbits
In the United States Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, colonel (/ˈkÉœËrnÉ™l/) is the most senior field grade military officer rank, immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general. It is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the other uniformed services. By law, a colonel must have at least 22 years of cumulative service and a minimum of three years as a lieutenant colonel before being promoted.[1] The pay grade for colonel is O-6.
When worn alone, the insignia of rank seen at right is worn centered on headgear and fatigue uniforms. When worn in pairs, the insignia is worn on the officer’s left side while a mirror-image reverse version is worn on the right side, such that both of the eagles faces forward to the wearer’s front.
The insignia for a colonel is a silver eagle which is a stylized representation of the eagle dominating the Great Seal of the United States (which is the coat of arms of the United States). As on the Great Seal, the eagle has a U.S. shield superimposed on its chest and is holding an olive branch and bundle of arrows in its talons. However, in simplification of the Great Seal image, the insignia lacks the scroll in the eagle’s mouth and the rosette above its head. On the Great Seal, the olive branch is always clutched in the eagle’s right-side talons, while the bundle of arrows is always clutched in the left-side talons. The head of the eagle faces towards the olive branch, rather than the arrows, advocating peace rather than war. As a result, the head of the eagle always faces towards the viewer’s left.
However, when worn as a single insignia with no matching pair, such as on the patrol cap, garrison cap/flight cap, or the front of the Army ACU, there is a split between the services on which mirror image of the eagle should be worn. In the United States Army and United States Air Force, the eagle is always worn with “the head of the eagle to the wearer’s right,” with the olive branch clutched in the eagle’s right hand talons (see Department of the Army Pamphlet 670-1, paragraph 19-6 (a)(1)). In the United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Coast Guard and NOAA, the eagle is worn with “the head facing forward” on the wearer’s right side of the garrison cover (see Marine Corps Order P1020.34G, Uniform Regulation, paragraph 4005d(1)). Since respective service’s officer insignia is worn on the left side and the rank insignia is worn on the right hand side of the Marine, Navy, Coast Guard and NOAA garrison caps, the eagle is facing to the eagle’s left with the olive branch clutched in the eagle’s left hand talons, which is a mirror opposite to the wear of the single eagle for Army and Air Force officers.
1 Requirement
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