Origins
The rank originated in the British Royal Air Force and was adopted by several other air forces which use, or used, the RAF rank system.
On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with Royal Naval Air Service lieutenant commanders and Royal Flying Corps majors becoming majors in the RAF. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became squadron leader would have been air lieutenant commander. However, the Admiralty objected to this modification of their rank titles. The rank title squadron leader was chosen as squadrons were typically led by RAF majors and the term squadron commander had been used in the Royal Naval Air Service. The rank of squadron leader has been used continuously since 1 August 1919.
| Common anglophone military ranks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Navies | Armies | Air forces |
| Officers | ||
| Admiral of the fleet | Marshal / field marshal |
Marshal of the Air Force |
| Admiral | General | Air marshal |
| Commodore | Brigadier | Air commodore |
| Captain | Colonel | Group captain |
| Commander | Lieutenant colonel | Wing commander |
| Lieutenant commander |
Major / commandant |
Squadron leader |
| Lieutenant | Captain | Flight lieutenant |
| Sub-lieutenant | Lieutenant | Flying officer |
| Ensign | 2nd lieutenant | Pilot officer |
| Midshipman | Officer cadet | Officer cadet |
| Seamen, soldiers and airmen | ||
| Warrant officer | Sergeant major | Warrant officer |
| Petty officer | Sergeant | Sergeant |
| Leading seaman | Corporal | Corporal |
| Seaman | Private | Aircraftman |
Read more about this topic: Squadron Leader
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“Compare the history of the novel to that of rock ‘n’ roll. Both started out a minority taste, became a mass taste, and then splintered into several subgenres. Both have been the typical cultural expressions of classes and epochs. Both started out aggressively fighting for their share of attention, novels attacking the drama, the tract, and the poem, rock attacking jazz and pop and rolling over classical music.”
—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)