Colonel

From Wikinfo

Colonel (Ger: Oberst) is a military rank, the highest below general grades, and usually just above Lieutenant Colonel. The word is pronounced similarly to "kernel".

In the US military, a colonel in the United States Army, United States Air Force and United States Marine Corps is equivalent to a captain in the United States Navy; the insignia for all four positions is a silver eagle (hence the term "bird colonel" to distinguish a full colonel from a Lt. Col). American army colonels usually command a brigade or a regiment in the US Marine Corps. In the United Kingdom colonels are not usually field commanders. They are usually staff officers in between field commands at battalion and brigade level.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Colonel" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel December 19, 2003