The rank of Lieutenant Colonel was first created during the Revolutionary War, when the position was held by aides to Regiment Colonels, and was sometimes known as "Lieutenant to the Colonel". The rank of Lieutenant Colonel had existed in the British Army since at least the 16th century. Lieutenant Colonel is one rank about
Major and one rank below
Colonel.
During the 19th century, Lieutenant Colonel was often a terminal rank for many officers, since the rank of "full Colonel" was considered extremely prestigious reserved only for the most successful of officers. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, the rank of Lieutenant Colonel became much more common and was used as a "stepping stone" for officers who commanded small regiments or battalions and were expected, by default, to be promoted to full Colonel once the manpower of a regiment grew in strength. Such was the case of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who commanded a Maine Regiment as both a Lieutenant Colonel and later as a Colonel.
After Civil War, ended, those officers remaining in the U.S. armed forces found Lieutenant Colonel to again be a permanent terminal rank while many Lieutenant Colonels were raised to higher positions in a brevet status. Such was the case with George A. Custer, who was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Regular Army, but held the brevet rank of Major General.
The 20th century saw Lieutenant Colonel in its present day status although, during the 1930s, many officers again found the rank to be terminal as the rank of Colonel was reserved for only a select few officers. Such was not the case during World War II, when Lieutenant Colonel became one of the most commonly held officer ranks in the U.S. Army. In the modern military, Lieutenant Colonel is the rank at which most officers retire.
In the Air Force, a Lieutenant Colonel is generally a director of operations or a squadron commander in the operations group, a squadron commander in the mission support and maintenance groups, or a squadron commander or division chief in a medical group. Lieutenant colonels may also serve on general staffs and may be the heads of some wing staff departments.
