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Glite Dictionary
field-grade officer

field-grade officer

1 7.0
An officer in the military ranked between captains and generals, such as major, lieutenant colonel, or colonel
  • noun
  • /fiːld ɡreɪd ˈɔfɪsər/
  • Jargon
translation icon : oficial de grado de campo
  • Individual performance in these units was satisfactory or better; junior officers were considered good to excellent (by Third World standards), but field-grade officers lacked the same training, experience, or orientation as their subordinates.

Examples

  • Somewhere there are three soldiers from Kichline's Riflemen, a field-grade officer under Lord Percy, and a shell-shocked corporal in homespun, all talking to the best minds the country thinks it can find.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • During the training exercise, the field-grade officer led his team with strategic precision.

  • Wealthy, ranking "old guards," most of whom had retained command since the 1950s, blocked promotions of field-grade officers, exacerbating intergenerational military tensions.

    Academic text (1992)

  • A field-grade officer must approve all significant military operations in the battalion.

  • The commander appointed a field-grade officer to oversee the planning of the upcoming mission.

Synonyms

field officer
vsfield-grade officer
  • Specialized
2 4.6

A person in the army with the rank of major, lieutenant colonel, or colonel

gives same ranks but notes position above company grade and below generals

How Senior

general officer
  • Specialized
4 5.0
field-grade officer
  • Jargon
1 7.0

Surface Forms

field-grade officer singular
field-grade officers plural

Morphology

field-grade + officer

The word 'officer' is transparent, and the compound 'field-grade' (field + grade) signals a category or level of officer so a learner can infer this refers to a particular rank class rather than a literal field. However, the specific rank range and institutional meaning (major, lieutenant colonel, colonel; distinction from company- or general-grade officers) are specialized military knowledge not predictable from the constituents alone, making the expression partially but not fully transparent.

Etymology

Field-grade officer comes from old military use: field meant the battle area where troops were active and grade meant 'rank', so the phrase named officers with middle ranks who served in the field. That's why today it refers to 'majors', 'lieutenant colonels' and 'colonels', officers above company leaders but below generals.