Marshal of the air force

Marshal of the Air Force is the English term for the most senior rank in a number of air forces. The ranks described by this term can properly be considered marshal ranks.

No air force in an English-speaking country formally uses the exact title "marshal of the air force", although it is sometimes used as a shortened form of the full title. In several Commonwealth air forces and many Middle Eastern air forces the most senior rank is named "marshal of the", followed by the name of the air force (e.g. marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force).

Brazil and Italy have used rank titles which literally translate as marshal of the air, whereas Portugal's rank translates as "marshal of the air force". The Soviet Union used "chief marshal of air forces" but the modern ranks in the Russian Federation has discontinued this usage. Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe used the rank of generalfeldmarschall (also used by the World War II German Army) and the even higher rank of reichsmarschall which was held solely by Hermann Göring.

The first instance of this rank was marshal of the Royal Air Force, which was established on paper in 1919 and was first held by Lord Trenchard (from 1927 onwards). Other Commonwealth countries later adopted their own national versions of the rank but, unlike the United Kingdom, they have only used it as a ceremonial honour.

Seniority
Marshals of the air force can be properly considered marshals and such ranks are equivalent to the army rank of field marshal and the navy rank of admiral of the fleet. Marshal of the air force is a five-star rank and in NATO countries it is described by the ranking code of OF-10. As such a senior rank, it is very seldom held. It is awarded either in a ceremonial capacity to heads of state or members of royal families, or to the most senior officers in large air forces.

In the air forces of Australia, India, Thailand and the United Kingdom, marshals of the air force are immediately senior to air chief marshals. In the case of New Zealand, although the rank of marshal of the Royal New Zealand Air Force has been bestowed, no Royal New Zealand Air Force officer has attained higher rank than air marshal and the New Zealand rank of air chief marshal only exists on paper. A similar situation to the one in New Zealand also existed in Malaysia until the 1970s when the Royal Malaysian Air Force replaced its air-officer ranks with general-officer ranks, although it retained the rank of marshal of the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The rank of marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force was never granted.

During Germany's Nazi period, the Luftwaffe (air force), in common with the Heer (army), used the rank of generalfeldmarschall (field marshal), which was equivalent to großadmiral (grand admiral) in the navy. Generalfeldmarschall was immediately senior to generaloberst (colonel general) and it was the most senior German air force and army rank until the promotion of Hermann Göring, the commander of the Luftwaffe, to the even higher rank of reichsmarschall (imperial marshal or marshal of the realm) in July 1940. The German ranks of reichsmarschall and generalfeldmarschall ceased to exist with the fall of the Third Reich.

The Soviet rank of chief marshal of a troop arm was established in 1943 as an analogue to the British rank of marshal of the Royal Air Force and as an equivalent rank to the Soviet rank of general of the army. As there was no direct correspondence between Soviet and British ranks, chief marshal was only approximately equivalent to marshal of the Royal Air Force and it might also be considered equivalent to air chief marshal. Officers were promoted to the rank of chief marshal of air forces (or chief marshal of aviation, depending on translation). In addition officers were promoted in other troop arms such as artillery and armoured troops which are not covered in this article.

The rank of chief marshal of aviation was subordinate to the rank of marshal of the Soviet Union and superior to marshal of a troop arm (which was also established in 1943 as an analogue to the rank of air marshal). Marshals of a troop arm were immediately senior to Soviet colonel generals. The first man to hold the rank of chief marshal of aviation was Alexander Novikov who led the Soviet Air Force from 1942 to the end of World War II. He was promoted February 1944. Since that time at least seven other Soviet officers have held the rank. The Russian Federation has replaced its chief marshal ranks with general of the army for both army and air force officers.

Rank insignia
There are a variety of rank insignia in use by the different air forces which maintain a rank of marshal of the air force. Some, such as the Royal Air Force, derive the pattern from the sleeve lace for an admiral of the fleet, using one broad light blue band on a wider broad black band with four narrow light blue bands each on slightly wider black bands. Others use a pattern of stars, typically numbering five in total.

Current holders of the rank
As of 2013, there are 17 living individuals who hold or have held the rank, or its equivalents, of Marshal of the Air Force. Twelve of those are royalty who have been appointed to the rank in a ceremonial capacity, including Queen Sirikit of Thailand, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the current head of state of Malaysia. In the case of Malaysia, the elected Yang di-Pertuan Agong is appointed a Marshal of the Air Force for his tenure as head of state, but relinquishes the rank after completing his term in office. He can, however, be re-appointed to the rank if he later serves another term.

The Duke of Edinburgh holds the ceremonial rank of a Marshal of the Royal Air Force, as well as the honorary ranks of Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force and Marshal of the Royal New Zealand Air Force; owing to their smaller size, however, neither of the latter two air forces have ever used the rank in an operational capacity. In the case of Canada, although the rank of Marshal of the Royal Canadian Air Force existed on paper until 1968, the Duke of Edinburgh was never appointed to this rank nor to the other Canadian 5-star ranks. In 2012, his son, the Prince of Wales, was appointed to the British rank.

The remaining five holders of the rank were all serving air officers; four of those served as Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Air Force, and were promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Royal Air Force upon concluding their tenure. Of the four only Lord Criag did not retire at that point as he went on to serve as Chief of the Defence Staff in the rank of Marshal of the RAF. Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh, DFC, served as the first four-star Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 1964 to 1969, when he retired. He was promoted to the ceremonial rank of Marshal of the Indian Air Force in 2002, thus making India the only other Commonwealth nation besides the UK to have awarded the rank to an air officer.

Other countries
The rank also exists or has existed (on paper) in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, South Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Vietnam, but not all of these countries have ever actually used it. The Turkish Air Force maintains a rank of hava mareşalı (literally air marshal but equivalent to five-star rank). The Indonesian Air Force maintains the rank of marsekal besar (literally, "great marshal" and also a five-star rank) although no Indonesian Air Force officer has ever been promoted to the rank. The French Air Force, in common with the French Army has marshal of France as its most senior rank. However, unlike the French Army, the Air Force has never had one of its officers created a marshal of France.

The United States does not use the rank, instead using general of the air force which has only been held once and is currently retained only on paper. China also does not use a marshal rank, preferring first class general (kong jun yi ji shang jiang) which has never been held by an air force officer and was abolished in 1994. Spain uses the equivalent rank of captain general of the Air Force which is held only by HM King Juan Carlos.

Fictional use
A marshal of the air force is mentioned in Roald Dahl's book the The BFG. Dahl himself was a Royal Air Force officer during World War II.