rank

The order or place In which certain officers are placed in the army and navy, in relation to others. The term is sometimes applied to debts or securities to indicate their precedence in respect to order of payment. —

The order or place in which officers are placed in the army and navy, in relation to others. It is a maxim that officers of an inferior rank are bound to obey all the lawful commands of their superiors, and are justified for such obedience. Rank is often used to express something different from office. It then becomes a designation or title of honor, dignity, or distinction conferred upon an officer in order to fix his relative position in reference to other officers in matters of privilege, precedence, is the case with the staff officers of the army; Wood v. U. S., 15 Ct CL 159. Military Rank is that character or quality bestowed on military persons which marks their station and confers eligibility to exercise command in the service. It is divided into grades which mark the different positions and powers of the different classes of persons possessing it; Army Reg. 1S95. It is generally held by virtue of office in a regiment &c., but may be conferred independently of office. In each grade, date of commission &c., determines precedence. The determination by the legislative or executive branch as to the relations among officers is binding on the judicial department; De Celis’s Adm’r v. U. S., 13 Ct. Cl. 117. Command is exercised by virtue of office and special assignment. Without orders an officer cannot put himself on duty except under Art. of War 22 (to quell an affray in his own or another corps, &c.) f or Art. of War 122 (providing that where different corps come together the officer highest in rank shall command the whole). See Davis, Mil. Law. 560. A Vice Admiral ranks with a Lieut. General; Rear Admiral with Major General; Commodore (abolished from the active list March 3, 1899) with Brig. General; Captain with Colonel; Commander with Lieut. Colonel; Lieut. Commander with Major; Lieutenant with Captain; Lieutenant (junior grade) with First lieutenant; Ensign with Second Lieutenant. See R. S. § 1466. Officers of the Marine Corps are on a similar footing as those of similar grades in the army; R. S. § 1603. Precedence between officers in each branch is according to the dates of commissions; Op. A. G. Oct. 7, 1905. The distinction between rank and office is more clearly apparent with reference to staff officers than to officers of the line, because in the latter case the words used to designate the rank and the office are usually the same, while in the former case they are always different. In some cases, officers of the line have a rank assigned to them different from the title of their office. Selections are usually made from among officers whose rank is raised to a higher degree by the service assigned to them, but the new rank does not confer a new office. In the army, all officers, except chaplains, are paid according to their rank; in the navy, the pay of staff officers does not depend upon their rank; and there rank only determines matter of precedence, etc., among officers. Grade is a step or degree in either office or rank. See Wood v. U. S., 15 Ct. Cl. 151.

adj.

In English law. Excessive ; too large in amount; as a rank modus. 2 Bl. Comm. 30.

n. The order or placo in which certain officers are placed in the army and navy, in relation to others. Wood v. U. S., 15 Ct. Cl. 158.

Frequently expresses something different from office; is a designation or title of honor, dignity, or distinction confen-ed upon an officer to fix his position with reference to other officers in matters of privilege, precedence, and sometimes of command, or by which to determine his pay or emoluments.^ See Grade, 2; Title, 5.