Air Commodore

Air Commodore (Air Cdre in the RAF, AIRCDRE in the RNZAF and RAAF, A/C in the former RCAF) is a rank in the Royal Air Force^[1]. It ranks above Group Captain and immediately below Air Vice-Marshal, and also exists in some other Commonwealth air forces, including the Indian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Sri Lankan Air Force, Air Force of Zimbabwe, and Pakistan Air Force. Air Commodore is a 1 star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-6, equivalent to a Commodore in the Royal Navy or a Brigadier in the British Army or the Royal Marines. Unlike these two ranks, however, it has always been a substantive rank. The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) (until 1980) was Air Commandant.

Origins

On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with officers at what is now Air Commodore holding the rank of Brigadier-General. 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. Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on Navy officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that Air Officer ranks could be based on the term "Ardian", which was derived from a combination of the Gaelic words for "chief" (ard) and "bird" (eun), with the term "Flight Ardian" being used for the equivalent to Brigadier-General and Commodore. However, the rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and Air Commodore was adopted on 1 August 1919.

Insignia, command flag and star plate

The rank insignia is a light blue band on a broad black band worn on the both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. On the mess uniform, Air Commodores wear a broad gold ring on both lower sleeves. The Command Flag of an Air Commodore is rectangular with a cut-away section. It has one narrow red band running through the centre. The vehicle star plate for an Air Commodore depicts a single white star (Air Commodore is a one star rank) on an air force blue background.

Air Commodore broad pennant

Air Commodore star plate

Honorary Air Commodores

RAF flying squadrons and stations may appoint Honorary Air Commodores. For example, Prince Charles is RAF Valley's Honorary Air Commodore and Winston Churchill was 615 Squadron's Honorary Air Commodore.

Other air forces

The rank of Air Commodore is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth, including the Bangladesh Air Force, Ghana Air Force, Indian Air Force, Pakistan Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force. It is also used in the Egyptian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force, Royal Air Force of Oman and the Royal Thai Air Force. In the Indonesian Air Force the equivalent rank is Marsekal Pertama (literally "First Marshal") which is usually translated as Air Commodore in English. The Royal Canadian Air Force used the rank until the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, when Army-type rank titles were adopted. An Air Commodore then became a Brigadier-General (following the U.S. title, rather than the British Brigadier, which had been held by equivalent officers in the former Canadian Army). The Royal Netherlands Air Force's equivalent rank is Commodore which has essentially the same rank insignia.

See also

• RAF officer ranks
• Comparative military ranks

References

	Officer ranks of the British Armed Forces
	Student Officer	OF(D)	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
Royal Navy:		Mid	SLt		Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines:			2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen
Army:	OCdt		2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM
Royal Air Force:	OC		APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl	MRAF