The military organizations of Italy are under the Italian Supreme Defense Council command, which is headed by the President of Italian Republic. The president is elected for a term of seven years by the simple vote of majority.
The president is elected by Parliament in a joint session, comprising of both Chambers of Deputies and the Senate. The president plays a chief role in maintaining various activities of the Italian military organization.
The Italian military hierarchy comprises of Generals at the highest position, which is followed by Senior Officers, Junior Officers, Marshals, Sergeants, permanent service volunteers and temporary service volunteers in an hierarchical format.
Generals
- General: This is the highest rank of the Italian military hierarchy, who manages the generals in the subsequent ranks.
- Lieutenant General: This is a military rank immediately below the General and above the Major General. A lieutenant general heads the army corps, made up of army divisions.
- Major General/ Divisional General: This is a military rank, subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the brigadier general. In the army, the major general is the commander of a division or units in a zone of the country.
- Brigadier General: A brigadier general is generally in the command of a brigade consisting of battalions.
- Colonel: The Colonel is the highest rank of the senior commissioned officers and is below the general ranks. A colonel is an officer-in charge of a regiment or a unit.
- Lieutenant Colonel: This is a military rank of the Italian military hierarchy, which lies above a major and below a colonel. A lieutenant colonel is usually in charge of a battalion in the army.
- Major: The major is a position, senior to that of a captain and junior to a lieutenant general. The position is also known as commandant or captain in the other military organizations.
- First Captain: The first captain is the senior most position in the category of junior officers and should have to complete more than nine years as a captain, in order to hold this position.
- Captain: The captain is the rank above a lieutenant, in the category of junior officers and usually commands a group of soldiers.
- Lieutenant: The lieutenant is second in command to the captain and they generally command a platoon of soldiers.
- Second Lieutenant: The second lieutenant is a position above the marshals and below the second lieutenant.
Senior Officers
Junior Officers
Marshals
The various ranks prevalent in the category of Marshals are Sergeant Major of the Army followed by Command sergeant major, Sergeant Major, First sergeant and Master sergeant.
Sergeants
The various ranks included in the ‘Sergeants’ category are Sergeant first class, Staff sergeant and Sergeant.
Permanent Service Volunteers
The permanent service volunteers include various positions such as Lance sergeant, Master Corporal, Corporal and Lance corporal.
Temporary Service Volunteers
The group of temporary service volunteers constitutes the lowest rank of the Italian military hierarchy who are assigned the tasks of lowest level.
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