If a Major is a higher military rank than a Lieutenant, why does a Lieutenant General outrank a Major General?

Answer 1

I was always told that the original British rank was "Sergent Major General" and was like the personnel officer of the army, while the Lieutenant General was the Executive officer to the General. Later the rank was changed to Major General as not to be confused with the enlisted rank of Sergent Major.

Answer 2

*** If a Major is a higher military rank than a Lieutenant, why does a Lieutenant General outrank a Major General? ***


The term Major General is a shortened version of the term Sergeant Major General, therefore a Lieutenant General out ranks a Sergeant major general.

http://www.easternct.edu/personal/faculty/pocock/ranks.htm
US Military Ranks and Units

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General.

A Lieutenant General normally ranks immediately below a General and above a Major General. The term Major General is a shortened version of the previous term Sergeant Major General, which was in turn subordinate to Lieutenant General, which is why a Lieutenant General outranks a Major General whereas a Major is senior to a Lieutenant.

Check the links.

Answer 3

It's the same reason a Lt Col outranks a major. In the three tiers of the officer rank system, lieutenant is always the second highest, exception being the navy of course.

Company Grade
0-3 Captain
0-2 1st Lieutenant
0-1 2nd Lt.

Field Grade
0-6 Colonel
0-5 Lt. Colonel
0-4 Major

Flag Grade
0-10 General
0-9 Lt. General
0-8 Maj Gen
0-7 BGen

As you can see the second to highest rank in each tier is classified as a lieutenant. And lieutenant basically means one below the superior.

Answer 4

Good question. Think of it this way. A "lieutenant" is normally a reference to the direct subordinate of any figure of authority, so a Lieutenant General" would be just that to a full 4 star general. If you want to see goofy, check out the way the admiral ranks are, and how they have changed over the years.

Answer 5

Yes Major is higher rank that General. There is no clear cut reason as to why Lt. Gen is higher ranking than Maj. General. It just the way the rank structure is set up.

Here are the officers fanking Air Force & Army
2nd Lt.
1st Lt
Captain
Major
Lt. Colonel
Colonel (also known as Full Bird Colonel)
Brigidare General
Major General
Lt. General
General
General of the Air Force (General of the Army)

And the Navy officer ranking
Ensign
Lt. Junior Grade
Lieutinent
Lt. Commander
Commander
Captain
Rear Admiral Lower Class
Rear Admiral Upper Class
Vice Admiral
Admiral
and they have Fleet Admiral

Answer 6

The military term 'major' denotes a mid-level command position. Like a foreman, he's half a working stiff and half an executive.

The term 'lieutenant' literally means 'holding a place'. It denotes a second in command status where the lieutenant would hold the next higher rank if that person is not able to perform the duty. A 1st Lt is the second in command of the Company. A Lt. Gen. is second in command to the General. It's like the term 'vice'. (vice president, vice admiral, etc).

Answer 7

Your 1st and 2nd Lieutenants are the lowest ranks for officers.

Be - Brig Gen

My - Major Gen

Little - Lieutenant General

General - General (4 star)

I am AMAZED I can remember that seeing as it was 1992 when I first learned that acronym. :)

Answer 8

Because once upon a time, It used to be: Sgt. Major General Which is obviously lower than a Lt. General. Then they decided to do away with the SGT part of the title, And were left with Major General. And it wasn't worth the effort and expense to change everyone rank and title, along with all the other paper work that would be needed, To swap the position of the two ranks.

Answer 9

You need to know where Lieutenant comes from and then it makes sense. It's two words with latin roots, lieu, which means 'in place of', and tenet, 'to have'.

In just 'Lieutenant' it means to have command in place of the captain, which is the next rank.

In terms of Lieutenant General, it means to have command in place of the General, which is the next and highest rank.

Answer 10

general is sometimes called captain general
and lieutenant is the deputy of a captain
major is higher than a brigadier (an old british rank between
captain and major)