# Commodore admiral > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Commodore_admiral > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Commodore_admiral.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_admiral > Source revision: 1356455291 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1982 US Navy rank This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Commodore admiral" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Commodore admiral Country United States Service branch United States Navy United States Coast Guard Abbreviation COMO Formation 1982 Abolished 1982 Next higher rank Rear admiral Next lower rank Captain Naval officer ranks Flag officers Admiral of the fleet Grand admiral Admiral General admiral Vice admiral Squadron admiral Lieutenant admiral Rear admiral Admiral-superintendent Port admiral Counter admiral Divisional admiral Commodore Flotilla admiral Schout-bij-nacht Senior officers Captain Captain at sea Captain of sea and war Flag captain Fleet captain Post-captain Ship-of-the-line captain Commander Frigate captain Corvette captain Junior officers Captain lieutenant Lieutenant commander Lieutenant Ship-of-the-line lieutenant Frigate lieutenant Lieutenant junior-grade Sub-lieutenant Corvette lieutenant Ensign Midshipman v t e **Commodore admiral** (COMO) was a short-lived [military rank](/source/Military_rank) of the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) and [United States Coast Guard](/source/United_States_Coast_Guard) that existed for fewer than 11 months during the year 1982.[1] ## History The rank of commodore admiral was established as the Navy's [one-star admiral](/source/Rear_Admiral_(United_States)#Rear_admiral_(lower_half)) rank, after a period of more than forty years during which all Navy and Coast Guard [captains](/source/Captain_(United_States_O-6)), during promotions, were advanced directly to the two-star position of [rear admiral](/source/Rear_admiral_(United_States)), but were still paid as one-star officers in the pay grade of O-7 while in a "rear admiral, lower half" category. This was a result of the Navy Personnel Act of 3 March 1899 that eliminated the "rank" of commodore in the US Navy.[2] The same protocol was adopted by the US Coast Guard when it was established as a military service in its current form and title in the early 1900s. In the early 1940s, commodore was briefly reconstituted as a one-star wartime rank in the US Navy and US Coast Guard, but most promoted captains were still advanced to the two-star insignia rank of rear admiral, lower half. With nearly all of the one-star commodore incumbents promoted to rear admiral by the end of World War II, the rank of commodore was again suspended. The new rank of commodore admiral was created both as a means to appease the other three branches of the [U.S. military](/source/Military_of_the_United_States), who felt that promoting USN and USCG O-6s to O-7, yet entitling them to wear the insignia of an O-8, was unfair, and also as a means of distinguishing that Navy and Coast Guard one-star admirals were in fact [flag officers](/source/Flag_officer). This had been a major problem in [World War II](/source/World_War_II), when cultural mistakes had led to several US Navy [commodores](/source/Commodore_(USN)) being regarded as senior captains by members of foreign militaries and in turn denied honors due to a U.S. flag officer. Upon its establishment, many in the leadership of the US Navy and US Coast Guard felt that the rank of Commodore Admiral violated over a century of tradition and there were numerous petitions to the [Chief of Naval Operations](/source/Chief_of_Naval_Operations) to eliminate the rank. As a compromise, the rank of commodore admiral was changed simply to "commodore" at the start of 1983. However, this change caused even further problems internal to the Navy because senior captains commanding multiple units, e.g., those in charge of air wings and air groups, destroyer squadrons, submarine squadrons, etc., had held the honorary title of "commodore" for decades. Also, many commodore admirals found that their mail was being redirected to the base officer's club, also known as the Commissioned Officer's Mess, Open (aka COMO). As a result, the "rank" of commodore in the USN and USCG was itself abolished as a rank in 1985. It was replaced by the new rank of [rear admiral (lower half)](/source/Rear_admiral_(United_States)#Rear_admiral_(lower_half)), essentially the same title as before dating back to before World War II. However, this time, officers promoted to O-7 wore one-star insignia. The rank of commodore admiral is one of the rarest ranks in the history of United States Navy and United States Coast Guard. Only a handful of officers, mainly those captains promoted to O-7 during the year 1982, have ever held the position, such as Admiral [Leon A. Edney](/source/Leon_A._Edney), who was promoted while serving as the commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. Another famous example was that of Rear Admiral [Grace Hopper](/source/Grace_Hopper).[3] ## See also - [Commodore (United States)](/source/Commodore_(United_States)) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** *United States Code*, p. 202. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Connell, CDR Royal W.; VADM William P. Mack (2004). Naval Ceremonies, Customs and Traditions (6th ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. pp. 266–267. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-55750-330-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-55750-330-3). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Cantrell, Mark (March 2014). ["Amazing Grace: Rear Adm. Grace Hopper, USN, was a pioneer in computer science"](http://www.content.yudu.com/A2qfj4/201403March/resources/index.htm). *Military Officer*. Vol. 12, no. 3. Military Officers Association of America. pp. 52–55, 106. Retrieved 2014-03-01.[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] ## Bibliography - Office of the Law Revision Counsel, United States. Congress. House. *United States Code*, Washington: The Office, 2001. v t e United States uniformed services commissioned officer and officer candidate ranks Pay grade / branch of service Officer candidate O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6 O-7 O-8 O-9 O-10 Wartime grade Special grade Insignia [1] / / / [2] Army CDT / OC 2LT 1LT CPT MAJ LTC COL BG MG LTG GEN GA[3] GAS[2] Marine Corps Midn / Cand 2ndLt 1stLt Capt Maj LtCol Col BGen MajGen LtGen Gen [5] [5] Navy MIDN / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM FADM[3] [6] Air Force Cdt / OT 2d Lt 1st Lt Capt Maj Lt Col Col Brig Gen Maj Gen Lt Gen Gen GAF[3] [5] Space Force Cdt / OT 2d Lt 1st Lt Capt Maj Lt Col Col Brig Gen Maj Gen Lt Gen Gen [5] [5] Coast Guard CDT / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM [5] [5] PHS Corps OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM [5] [5] NOAA Corps OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM [4] [5] [5] [1] No universal insignia for officer candidate rank [2] No official insignia and not currently listed by the Army as an obtainable rank. John J. Pershing's GAS insignia: (collar) (epaulettes) [3] These ranks are reserved for wartime use only, and are still listed as ranks within their respective services [4] Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created [5] Grade has never been created or authorized [6] An analogous rank may be the Admiral of the Navy (1899–1917), the highest rank in the U.S. Navy, which is no longer used --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Commodore admiral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_admiral) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_admiral?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.