<P> United States military seniority is the method by which the United States Armed Forces determine precedence among commissioned officers, in particular those who hold the same rank . Seniority is used to determine assignments, tactical commands, promotions and general courtesy . To a lesser extent, historical seniority is used to recognize status of honor given to early United States military leaders such as inaugural holders of certain ranks or those officers who served as leadership during major wars and armed conflicts . </P> <P> The modern - day seniority system of the United States commissioned officer corps operates on two different levels . For officers of different ranks, seniority is simply determined by who holds the highest rank . For instance, Army colonel is senior to captain and captain senior to lieutenant . Seniority extends across services as for instance major in the Army is senior to captain in the Air Force while commander in the United States Navy is senior to both . For officers in the same rank or paygrade, seniority is determined by the date of whom assumed their rank earlier . If officers of the same grade have the same date of rank, then seniority is determined in order by the officer's previous rank's date and so forth . If all promotion dates of ranks are the same, seniority is then determined on order of: previous active duty grade relative seniority (if applicable), total active commissioned service, and finally, total federal commissioned service or date of appointment as a commissioned officer . The secretaries of each service may establish further seniority rules if applicable . </P> <P> A type of "positional seniority" exists for military officers who hold top leadership positions of the armed forces . For instance, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is considered the senior most officer of the entire United States military, even though it is possible that contemporaries of the same rank may have earlier dates of rank or time in service . Likewise, heads of various armed service branches are considered senior most within their service; unified commanders are also considered senior most in their respective regions yet not necessarily to each other . </P>

Who is the highest ranking officer in the us army