Captain (United States)

See "Captain " for other versions of this rank.

In the uniformed services of the United States, captain is a federal commissioned officer rank.

U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps

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In the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Air Force, captain is a company grade officer rank, with the pay grade of O-3. It ranks above first lieutenant and below major. It is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the other uniformed services. The insignia for the rank consists of two silver bars, with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Marine Corps version.

An Army and Marine captain generally commands company-sized units. When given such a command, they bear the title Company Commander. Captains also instruct at service schools and combat training centers and are often staff officers at the battalion level. Marine captains also serve as Officer Selection Officers, commanding recruiting stations for commissioned officers.

An Air Force captain's authority varies by group assignment. In an operations group, senior captains may be flight commanders while more junior captains may be heads of departments. In the maintenance or logistics and mission support groups they...
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