Why Patton is not a five-star general

Source: China National Defense Daily

Patton during the four-star admiral period

Readers often ask: Why isn't Patton a five-star general? This is a problem that is simple and simple, complex and complex.

Patton was probably the most famous American general of World War II, quite legendary, and his highest rank was general (four-star general). In fact, there is nothing surprising about this, although Patton is very famous, but the highest position in the wartime is only the commander of the army group, which does not meet the conditions for awarding five-star generals.

Before and after the Normandy landings, the rank of U.S. general was set at 4 levels, from low to high, brigadier general (one star), major general (two stars), lieutenant general (three stars), admiral (four stars), and the highest rank of general. And the British army had marshals above the admirals. The correspondence between U.S. military rank and position is usually colonel, brigadier general, major general division commander, lieutenant general commander, and general army commander. However, in wartime, officers were promoted quickly, and their ranks often could not keep up with their promotions, so there were many major generals and lieutenant generals.

Due to the emergence of a large army group of more than 250,000 people and a group of millions of people in the later stages of the war, a commander with a higher rank was needed to exercise command, and in the joint operation of the Allied forces, the Allied commander mainly determined its status and power based on rank. For example, Eisenhower's rank was general, but his deputy, Ted of England, was a marshal. As a result, the U.S. military urgently needed to add a rank of highest rank to the rank of general, on par with the British marshal. In particular, in September 1944, the British promoted Montgomery, commander of the 21st Army Group, to field marshal, a rank higher than that of the commander of the US army group. After the legislative process, the United States Congress passed a bill on December 11, 1944, formally establishing the ranks of "five-star general of the army" and "five-star general of the navy" equivalent to the rank of marshal of the British army, and awarded it to the highest general who served as a commander at or above the Allied theater level in wartime and led allied operations.

The first to be awarded the Five-Star General were the four highest-ranking men in the U.S. Army at the time: Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Arnold. Marshall was then chief of staff of the U.S. Army (promoted to general in 1939). Eisenhower was then Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe (promoted to general in 1943). MacArthur was then Supreme Allied Commander in the Southwest Pacific Theater (promoted to general in 1942). Arnold was commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps (promoted to general in 1943).

When Marshall and others were awarded five-star generals, Patton was commander of the 3rd Army, with the rank of lieutenant general, and was promoted to general in April 1945. In the late world war II, the U.S. army had 12 army groups and 3 army groups, and none of the commanders of these army groups and army groups were awarded five-star generals at that time, and only one person later received the rank of five-star general, which was the commander of the 12th Army Group, Bradley. The 12th Army group consisted of five armies, including Patton's 3rd Army, but Bradley was also a lieutenant general at the time, and his official promotion to general was in April 1947, later than Patton. Bradley's promotion to five-star general was in 1950 when he was chairman of the U.S. Military Joint Board of Staff and chairman of the NATO Military Committee.

That is to say, Clark, Stilwell, and other commanders of the army group at the same level as Patton, and even his superior army group commander Bradley, were not five-star generals at that time, and it is not surprising that Patton did not give five-star generals. In fact, Patton's fame is not entirely due to his military achievements, but also has a lot to do with his personality and style. Moreover, fame and rank are not necessarily related, just as Guderian is more famous than many German marshals. (Xu Ping)