Major
Major is a military rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces, granted to a specialized executive or operations officer commanding battallion-sized units of 300 to 1,200 soldiers. When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicators, the rank is just senior to that of an army captain and right below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is considered the most junior of the field officer ranks. In some militaries, notably France and Ireland, the rank of major is referred to as
commandant, while in others it is known as
captain-major. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures, such as the New York State Police, New Jersey State Police and several others. As a police rank, Major roughly corresponds to the UK rank of Superintendent. When used in hyphenated or combined fashion, the term can also imply seniority at other levels of rank, including
general-major or
major general, denoting a mid-level general officer, and
sergeant major, denoting the most senior NCO of a military unit.