5-star rank in the U.S. Marine Corps

[jrichardn2]

Suppose a general of Marines distinguishes himself mightily. They're now appointed combatant (theatre) commanders, so In some hypothetical future war might be a supreme commander or the like, eligible for 5-star rank.

What would that rank be called?

"General of the Marine Corps" would be like the Army and Air Force equivalents.

What about "Captain General", thus like the British model - and I know the Marines like to be different.

[SFMRAS]

I was thinking commandant general or general commandant, provided GotMC is out.
Or, since the USMC belonged to the Navy, perhaps Fleet Admiral....

[60bill]

Possible alternatives to accommodate another 5 star rank, both would follow the tradition of gold before silver.
As for title, Major General Commandant was previously used so why not General Commandant.

[J.T. Broderick]

When the Marine Corps was more of a subordinate service to the Navy, it might have seemed like that could never happen. It still probably won't, but with two Marine JCS Chairmen now, it has to be considered at least a theoretical possibility. I think it mostly likely that they would just go with General of the Marine Corps.

As for title, Major General Commandant was previously used so why not General Commandant.

But what if it's not the Commandant?

--Justin

[Medic_in_Uniform]

Agreed. In fact that is so obviously the solution (should it ever be even considered) that I can't imagine them going for anything else.

The bigger question is will there ever really be a need for such a rank and what will the continuing role of the USMC be in the modern world?
Will they be downsized and become a small corps of naval infantry with the army taking on many of their expeditionary roles? I assume the politics are such that it is very unlikely that the Cotps would be disbanded completely. This seems to have been muttered about every so often over the last few years but so far nothing has changed.

[dcfowler]

The Marine Corps mafia in Congress will never let it be done away with, or be reduced to a mere subunit of the Navy....

[60bill]

Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't the regular military getting smaller?

Doesn't the complex system of appointment seniority, by which individuals of the same rank having seniority over one and other alleviate the need for additional iron mongery.
Also the appointment system means that anyone falling out of favour gets a pay cut without losing their permanent grade.

This could be just individuals further up the food chain trying to justify their existence.

[dcfowler]

Yes, the military is getting smaller. The special appointments (one for each of the five services, plus twelve joint appointments) are determined by Congress and are set into law, and are not arbitrary. Typically, when a person completes a tour in one of these billets, they retire, as they have reached the ceiling for their careers.