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65-660: The Expert Soldier Badge , or ESB , is a special skills badge of the United States Army . Similar in appearance to the Combat Action Badge , the ESB is awarded to soldiers who are neither infantry , special forces , nor combat medics who demonstrate their competence in various warrior and mission essential tasks, land navigation, and physical fitness. The badge was approved on June 14, 2019 and entered service in October 2019, as

130-460: A captain . A Greek cavalry ( hippikon ) regiment was called a hipparchia and was commanded by an epihipparch . The unit was split into two and led by two hipparchos or hipparch , but Spartan cavalry was led by a hipparmostes . A hippotoxotès was a mounted archer. A Greek cavalry company was led by a tetrarchès or tetrarch . The rank and file of the military in most of the Greek city states

195-582: A commission ; they are trained or training as leaders and hold command positions. Officers are further generally separated into four levels: Officers who typically command units or formations that are expected to operate independently for extended periods of time (i.e., brigades and larger, or flotillas or squadrons of ships), are referred to variously as general officers (in armies, marines, and some air forces), flag officers (in navies and coast guards), or air officers (in some Commonwealth air forces). General-officer ranks typically include (from

260-410: A dimoiria was a half file and a dimoirites was a half-file leader. Another name for the half file was a hèmilochion with a hèmilochitès being a half-file leader. Different types of units, however, were divided differently and therefore their leaders had different titles. For example, under a numbering system by tens, a dekas or dekania was a unit of ten led by a dekarchos , a hekatontarchia

325-419: A private . The private was a man who signed a private contract with the company commander, offering his services in return for pay. The money was raised through taxation; those yeomen ( smallholding peasants) who did not fulfill their annual 40-day militia service paid a tax that funded professional soldiers recruited from the yeomanry. This money was handed to the company commanders from the royal treasury, with

390-413: A regiment " ( syntagma ) and was therefore like a modern colonel . Below him was the tagmatarches , a commanding officer of a tagma (near to the modern battalion ). The rank was roughly equivalent to the legatus of a Roman legion . Next was the lokhagos , an officer who led an infantry unit called a lokhos that consisted of roughly a hundred men, much the same as in a modern company led by

455-564: A commander, in addition to completion of a 12-mile foot march, a land navigation test and the Army Combat Fitness Test . Testing is conducted at the brigade -level, with units being given a week to set up the test course, a few days of training, and then a few days of testing. The design for the ESB is similar to that of the Combat Action Badge. It features the same M9 bayonet and M67 fragmentation grenade , superimposed on

520-406: A leader at the head of each column (or file) and a secondary leader in the middle so that the back rows could move off to the sides if more frontage was needed. A tetrarchia was a unit of four files and a tetrarchès or tetrarch was a commander of four files; a dilochia was a double file and a dilochitès was a double-file leader; a lochos was a single file and a lochagos was a file leader;

585-504: A lieutenant colonel as a commanding officer and a major as an executive officer . Modern military services recognize three broad categories of personnel. These are codified in the Geneva Conventions , which distinguish officers , non-commissioned officers , and enlisted men . Apart from conscripted personnel one can distinguish: Officers are distinguished from other military members (or an officer in training ) by holding

650-695: A military hierarchy. It incorporates the principles of exercising power and authority into the military chain of command —the succession of commanders superior to subordinates through which command is exercised. The military chain of command is an important component for organized collective action. Uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms of a number of countries . Ranking systems have been known for most of military history to be advantageous for military operations , in particular with regards to logistics, command, and coordination. As time went on and military operations became larger and more complex, more ranks were created and

715-753: A rectangular base, as found on the Combat Action Badge. The ESB does not, however, feature a wreath. Badges of the United States Army As described in Army Regulation 670-1 Uniforms and Insignia, badges are categorized into marksmanship , combat and special skill , identification , and foreign . Combat and Special Skill badges are further divided into six groups . A total of six combat and special skill badges are authorized for wear at one time on service and dress uniforms; this total does not include special skill tabs or special skill tab metal replicas. Personnel may wear up to three badges above

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780-527: A strict hierarchy—a king was conceived of as first among equals , not a monarch as later or ancient societies understood the concept, and all nobles were theoretically equals (hence " peers "). A nobleman was obligated to bring a set number of troops when asked by his liege-lord, a king or merely a higher-ranked noble who had obtained his service by the gift of land . The troops' lord retained at least nominal control over them—many post-classical military planning sessions involved negotiating each lord's role in

845-447: A title borne by the officer sent with military powers to represent the king in certain provinces. A lieutenant du roi was sometimes known as a lieutenant général to distinguish him from lieutenants subordinate to mere captains. The sergeant acting as staff officer to the captain general was known as the sergeant major general . This was eventually shortened to major general , while captain general began to be addressed, depending on

910-546: A way for soldiers in other military occupational specialties to certify their competence within their occupation, as well as general combat skills. The concept of the ESB (initially referred to as the Expert Action Badge) was initially proposed in 2015 as part of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command 's Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) 2020 Strategy, as one way to improve combat readiness in

975-471: Is derived from the 17th-century French peloton , meaning a small ball or small detachment of men, which came from pelote , a ball. The commissioned officer carrying the (infantry) company's flag was the ensign . The word ensign was derived from the Latin word insignia . In cavalry companies the equivalent rank was cornet . In English usage, these ranks were merged into the single rank of second lieutenant in

1040-568: The Albanian People's Army 1966–1991 ), but they have had to re-establish them after encountering operational difficulties in command and control . From 501 BC, the Athenians annually elected ten individuals to the rank of strategos , one for each of the ten "tribes" that had been created with the founding of the democracy . Strategos means "army leader" and is usually translated as " general ". Originally these generals worked together with

1105-498: The military branch , as general of the infantry , general of the cavalry or general of the artillery , and these ones, over time, were shortened to simply general . This is the reason a major outranks a lieutenant, but a lieutenant general outranks a major general. In modern times recruits attending basic training, also referred to as boot camp by some branches, are instructed in the hierarchical structure of military rank. Many new enlisted civilians find it difficult to understand

1170-419: The sergeant was dropped from both titles since both ranks were used for commissioned officers. This gave rise to the modern ranks of major and major general. The full title of sergeant major fell out of use until the latter part of the 18th century, when it began to be applied to the senior non-commissioned officer of an infantry battalion or cavalry regiment. Regiments were later split into battalions with

1235-406: The 19th century. Not all officers received a commission from the king. Certain specialists were granted a warrant, certifying their expertise as craftsmen. These warrant officers assisted the commissioned officers but ranked above the non-commissioned officers (NCOs). They received their authority from superior officers rather than the king. The first NCOs were the armed servants ( men-at-arms ) of

1300-494: The Army. The ESB was first openly discussed on March 30, 2017, at an NCO Development Town Hall hosted by Command Sergeant Major David Davenport. Discussion mainly focused on the intent of the badge, as well as the possible criteria for award. The feasibility of the ESB was tested at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in April of the same year, with 53 soldiers taking part in the event. The results of

1365-708: The United States) or general of the army (mainly the United States because "marshal" is used as a peace officer's designation), fleet admiral ( U.S. Navy ), Marshal of the Royal Air Force , or other national air force. These ranks have often been discontinued, such as in Germany and Canada, or limited to wartime or honorific promotion, such as in the United Kingdom and the United States. In various countries, particularly

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1430-431: The United States, these may be referred to as "star ranks" for the number of stars worn on some rank insignia: typically one-star for brigadier general or equivalent with the addition of a star for each subsequent rank. In the United States, five stars has been the highest rank regularly attainable (excluding the marines and coast guard , which have traditionally served as branches of the navy in times of war and thus under

1495-402: The aristocracy, assigned to command, organize and train the militia units raised for battle. After years of commanding a squad, an NCO could be promoted to sergeant , the highest NCO rank. While a sergeant might have commanded a squad upon promotion, he usually became a staff officer. While commissioned staff officers assisted their commander with personnel, intelligence, operations and logistics,

1560-459: The battle of Lützen 1632). It was introduced to overcome the normal army structure, consisting of regiments. The so-called " brigada " was a mixed unit, comprising infantry, cavalry and normally artillery , designated for a special task. The size of such brigada was a reinforced company up to two regiments. The brigada was a 17th-century form of the modern "task force". In some armies "brigadier general" has been shortened to " brigadier ". Around

1625-476: The civil war. Military command properly so-called was a political office in Rome. A commander needed to be equipped with imperium , a politico-religious concept. The king who possessed it (the rex sacrorum ) was strictly forbidden to have it to avoid a return to the monarchy. In the republic, commanding was confined to consuls or (seldom) to praetors , or in cases of necessity a dictator . Proconsuls , after

1690-494: The cohorts by one of their three manipulum's centurions; the most senior cohort-commanding centurions was called primus pilus . The ranks of centurions in the individual cohorts were, in descending order, pilus prior , pilus posterior , princeps prior , princeps posterior , hastatus prior , and hastatus posterior . Individual soldiers were referred to as soldiers ( milites ) or legionaries ( legionarii ). See Mongol military tactics and organization . There were no ranks in

1755-416: The coming battle—and each lord was allowed to leave after a predetermined amount of time had passed. The command structure of armies was generally loose and varied considerably. Typically, the king and high-ranking lords would call out for all lords to gather their troops for a campaign. They would appoint a renowned noble to organize the assembling forces, the marshal . The term field marshal came from

1820-497: The command of a fleet admiral). There also exists the specialty ranks of General of the Armies of the United States and Admiral of the Navy which at their inception were considered senior four star officers but came to be considered six-star rank after the creation of five star officers. To date only one officer has held a six star rank in his lifetime, John J. Pershing . George Washington

1885-400: The company commanders using the money to recruit the troops. As armies grew larger, composed of multiple companies, one captain was granted general (overall) authority over the field armies by the king. (National armies were the armies of the kings. Field armies were armies raised by the king to enter the battle field in preparation for major battles.) In French history, lieutenant du roi was

1950-464: The company was the lieutenant . Lieutenant was derived from the French language ; the lieu meaning "place" as in a position; and tenant meaning "holding" as in "holding a position"; thus a "lieutenant" is somebody who holds a position in the absence of their superior. When he was not assisting the captain, the lieutenant commanded a unit called a platoon , particularly a more specialized platoon. The word

2015-409: The different tasks associated with running a ship were delegated to different subordinates. Specifically, the kybernètès was the helmsman, the keleustēs managed the rowing speed, and the trièraulès was the flute player who maintained the strike rate for the oarsmen. Following further specialization, the naval strategos was replaced by a nauarchos , a sea officer equating to an admiral . With

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2080-532: The driver and mechanic badges. The driver and mechanic badges are not authorized for wear on utility uniforms. The order of precedence for combat and special skill badges are established only by group. There is no precedence for combat or special skill badges within the same group. For example, personnel who are authorized to wear the Parachutist and Air Assault badges may determine the order of wear between those two badges. The 21st century United States Army issues

2145-476: The duties of a corporal themselves. It was this second function that made armies increasingly regard their lancepesades as a grade of corporal rather than a grade of private. As a result, the rank of lance corporal was derived from combining lancepesade and corporal. As the post-classical came to an end, kings increasingly relied on professional soldiers to fill the bottom ranks of their armies instead of militiamen. Each of these professionals began their careers as

2210-619: The end of the 16th century, companies were grouped into regiments. The officers commissioned to lead these regiments were called " colonels " (column officers). They were first appointed in Spain by King Ferdinand II of Aragon where they were also known as " coronellos " (crown officers) since they were appointed by the Crown. Thus the English pronunciation of the word colonel . The first colonels were captains granted command of their regiments by commission of

2275-520: The establishment of the office, were used. In imperial times, each legion was commanded by the emperor, who was technically either consul or proconsul. The commander could appoint a deputy, a so-called legate ( legatus ). The association of " legatus " with "legion" is folk etymology , as the meaning of legatus is "proxy" or "envoy". Legates were typically drawn from the Roman Senate for three-year terms. The political nature of high military command

2340-530: The following military badges (listed below in order of group precedence) which are worn in conjunction with badges of rank and branch insignia . Source: Military rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces , police , intelligence agencies and other institutions organized along military lines. Responsibility for personnel, equipment and missions grow with each advancement. The military rank system defines dominance, authority and responsibility within

2405-446: The generals determined the battle plan by majority vote. Particular assignments might have been given to individual generals; inevitably there was a regular division of responsibilities. The rank that was subordinate to a top general was a taxiarchos or taxiarhos , something akin to the modern brigadier . In Sparta , however, the title was " polemarchos ". Below this was the syntagmatarchis , which can be translated as "leader of

2470-440: The king. The lieutenants of the colonel were the lieutenant colonels . In the 17th century, the sergeant of the colonel was the sergeant major . These were field officers, third in command of their regiments (after their colonels and lieutenant colonels), with a role similar to the older, army-level sergeants major (although on a smaller scale). The older position became known as sergeant major general to distinguish it. Over time,

2535-465: The legion), each consisting of three manipula , each of them of two centuries (a rather small company in modern terms), each consisting of between 60 and 160 men. Each century was led by a centurion ( centurio , traditionally translated as captain ), who was assisted by a number of junior officers, such as an optio . Centuries were further broken into ten contubernia of eight soldiers each. The manipula were commanded by one of their two centurions,

2600-431: The marshal then leading the army on the march, and being in charge of organizing camps and logistics. Tactics for an upcoming battle were often decided by councils of war among the nobles leading the largest forces. Outside of campaigns, the high constable had authority over the local constables, and commanders of the garrisons of major castles. The high constable might have authority in the army due to his role of head of

2665-475: The modern sense of a hierarchy of titles, although the army was organized into a hierarchical command. The organization of the army was based on the decimal system, employed by Modun Chanyu . The army was built upon a squad of ten ( aravt ) led by an appointed chief. Ten of these would then compose a company of a hundred ( zuut ), also led by an appointed chief. The next unit was a regiment of a thousand ( myangat ) led by an appointed noyan . The largest organic unit

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2730-445: The most senior) general , lieutenant general , major general , and brigadier general , although there are many variations like division general or (air-, ground-) force general. Flag-officer ranks, named after the traditional practice of showing the presence of such an officer with a flag on a ship and often land, typically include (from the most senior) admiral , vice admiral and rear admiral . In some navies, such as Canada's ,

2795-471: The old polemarchos ("warlord") but over time the latter figure was absorbed into the generalship: each of the ten generals would rotate as polemarch for one day, and during this day his vote would serve as tie-breaker if necessary. The ten generals were equal to one another; there was no hierarchy among them. However, a basic form of democracy was in effect: for example, at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC,

2860-410: The people"; in addition, they must not either be confused with the "military tribunes with consular authority", who in early republican times could replace the consuls. The third highest officer of a legion, above the angusticlavian tribunes, was the praefectus castrorum . He, too, would have a colonel's rank in modern armies, yet he differed much from the tribunes in that his office was not part of

2925-467: The post-classical army was the company , a band of soldiers assigned (or raised) by a vassal lord on behalf of his lord (in later times the king himself). The vassal lord in command of the company was a commissioned officer with the rank of captain . Captain was derived from the Late Latin word capitaneus (meaning "head man" or chief ). The commissioned officer assisting the captain with command of

2990-539: The rank of commodore is a flag rank . In the United Kingdom and most other Commonwealth air forces, air-officer ranks usually include air chief marshal , air marshal , air vice-marshal and air commodore . For some air forces, however, such as those of Canada , United States and many other air forces, general officer rank titles are used. In the case of the United States Air Force , that service

3055-433: The rather administrative cursus , but normally filled by former centurions. (Modern armies have a similar distinction on a lower scale—i.e., between commissioned and non-commissioned officers.) The fighting men in the legion were formed into "ranks", rows of men who fought as a unit. Under Marius's new system, legions were divided into ten cohorts ( cohortes ) (roughly equivalent to battalions and immediately subject to

3120-456: The reforms by Marius . Comparisons to modern ranks, however, can only be loose because the Roman army's command structure was very different from the organizational structure of its modern counterparts, which arose from the early modern, Thirty Years' War mercenary companies, rather than from the writings of fourth-century Roman writer Vegetius and Caesar 's commentaries on his conquest of Gaul and

3185-472: The regular cavalry. As the European and Asian Middle Ages came to an end, the rank structure of post-classical armies became more formalized. The top officers were known as commissioned officers because their rank came from a royal commission. Army commissions were usually reserved for those of high stature—the aristocracy of mainland Europe and the aristocracy and gentry of Great Britain. The basic unit of

3250-410: The ribbons does not exceed three. Only three badges (from groups 3, 4, or 5) can be worn on the pocket flap at one time. This total does not include special skill tab metal replicas. Personnel will wear the driver and mechanic badges only on the wearer's left pocket flap of service and dress uniforms, or in a similar location on uniforms without pockets. Personnel may not attach more than three clasps to

3315-414: The ribbons or pocket flap, or in a similar location for uniforms without pockets. Personnel may only wear one combat or special skill badges from either group 1 or group 2 above the ribbons. Soldiers may wear up to three badges from groups 3 and 4 above the ribbons. One badge from either group 1 or group 2 may be worn with badges from groups 3 and 4 above the ribbons so long as the total number of badges above

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3380-472: The rise of Macedonia under Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great , the Greek military became professional, tactics became more sophisticated and additional levels of ranking developed. Foot soldiers were organized into heavy infantry phalanxes called phalangites . These were among the first troops ever to be drilled, and they fought packed in a close rectangular formation, typically eight men deep, with

3445-474: The sergeant was a jack of all trades, concerning himself with all aspects of administration to maintain the enlisted men serving under his commander. Over time, sergeants were differentiated into many ranks as various levels of sergeants were used by the commanders of various levels of units. A corporal commanded a squad . Squad derived from the Italian word for a "square" or "block" of soldiers. In fact, corporal

3510-450: The structure of general staff ranks as stated before, it becomes somewhat complicated to understand when applying basic rationale. As armies grew bigger, heraldry and unit identification remained primarily a matter of the regiment. Brigades headed by brigadier generals were the units invented as a tactical unit by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus II ("Gustav II Adolf", who was killed at

3575-563: The systems of ranking became more complex. Rank is not only used to designate leadership, but to establish pay-grade as well. As rank increases, pay-grade follows, but so does the amount of responsibility. In modern armed forces, the use of ranks is almost universal. Communist states have, on several occasions, abolished the use of ranks (e.g., the Soviet Red Army 1918–1935, the Chinese People's Liberation Army 1965–1988, and

3640-407: The term: of ranks major , lieutenant colonel , colonel , and with administrative duties. They did not command a formation of their own. The term military tribune is even sometimes translated into English as "colonel"—most notably by the late classicist Robert Graves in his Claudius novels and his translation of Suetonius ' Twelve Caesars —to avoid confusion with the political " tribunes of

3705-433: The test at McChord, as well as future testing, will be used to determine if the criteria for the badge appropriately conveys the badge's intent. The NCO 2020 Strategy, including the ESB, was further discussed in 2018 at a conference held at Fort Knox . The criteria for award of the ESB is that a soldier must perform in 30 Warrior Tasks (Skill Level 1) and battle drills , and five unit–level mission essential tasks, chosen by

3770-511: Was a baivarabam and was commanded by a baivarapatis . The Greeks called such masses of troops a myrias or myriad . Among mounted troops, an asabam was a cavalry unit led by an asapatis . Historians have discovered the existence of the following ranks in Parthian and Sassanian armies: Post-classical militaries did not have a unified rank structure; while the feudal lords were in some ways equivalent to modern officers, they did not have

3835-436: Was a nobleman who was headed for the senate. The latter is called laticlavian tribune ( tribunus laticlavius ) and was second in command. If in modern divisions the deputy commander is a brigadier general , the laticlavian tribune can perhaps be translated with this rank, though he commanded no formation of his own. The other tribunes are called tribuni angusticlavii and are equivalent to staff officers in both senses of

3900-418: Was a ten thousand man unit ( tumen ) also led by an appointed noyan . The army of ancient Persia consisted of manageable military groupings under the individual commands. Starting at the bottom, a unit of 10 was called a dathabam and was led by a dathapatis . A unit of 100 men was a satabam led by a satapatis . A unit of 1,000 was a hazarabam and was commanded by a hazarapatis . A unit of 10,000

3965-460: Was a unit of one hundred led by a hekatontarchos and a khiliostys or khiliarchia was a unit of a thousand led by a khiliarchos . The cavalry, for which Alexander became most famous (in a military sense), grew more varied. There were heavy cavalry and wing cavalry ( ilè ) units, the latter commanded by an ilarchos . The use of formalized ranks came into widespread use with the Roman legions after

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4030-493: Was composed of ordinary citizens. Heavily armed foot soldiers were called hoplitès or hoplites and a hoplomachos was a drill or weapons instructor. Once Athens became a naval power, the top generals of the land armies had authority over the naval fleets as well. Under them, each warship was commanded by a trièrarchos or trierarch , a word which originally meant " trireme officer" but persisted when other types of vessels came into use. Moreover, as in modern navies,

4095-430: Was derived from the Italian caporal de squadra (head of the squad). Corporals were assisted by lancepesades . Lancepesades were veteran soldiers; lancepesade was derived from the Italian lancia spezzata meaning broken spear—the broken spear being a metaphor for combat experience, where such an occurrence was likely. The first lancepesades were simply experienced privates; who either assisted their corporal or performed

4160-441: Was even reflected here, in that legions were always subordinate to the governor , and only the second and further legions stationed in a province had their own legatus legionis . The real commanders and the legates together were, in modern terms, the general officers . Immediately beneath the commander (or his legate) were six military tribunes ( tribuni militum ), five of whom were young men of equestrian rank and one of whom

4225-408: Was once part of the U.S. Army and evolved as a separate service in 1947, carrying over its extant officer rank structure. Brazil and Argentina use a system of general officer ranks based on the term brigadier . In some forces, there may be one or more superior ranks to the common examples, above, that are given distinguishing titles, such as field marshal (most armies of the world, notably excluding

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