Is A colonel higher than a captain?

In the U.S. military, a colonel in the army is the equivalent rank of a captain in the navy. The reason that colonel is pronounced like kernel in English is that the French borrowed colonel from Italian and pronounced the word with an /r/ sound, spelling it coronel. The word then came into English from French.



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U.S. Navy. In the United States Navy, captain was the highest rank from 1775 until 1857, when the United States Congress created the rank of flag officer. The modern rank of captain (abbreviated CAPT) is a senior officer rank, with the pay grade of O-6. It ranks above commander and below rear admiral (lower half).

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But among commissioned officer ranks, it is a relatively low rank. Although it is superior to a 2nd Lieutenant and a 1st Lieutenant, it is junior to a Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General, and General of the Army.

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