Talk:Acting rank

US Army paragraph
I found this paragraph completely incomprehensible. I can't correct it because I don't know what they're trying to say. It desperately needs some commas, and maybe even a few full stops! 203.87.57.146 (talk) 02:09, 27 May 2019 (UTC)
 * It also desperately needs links to or explanations of the jargon. e.g. no explanation of what "hard stripe" means is given, yet it's used twice in the paragraph. 104.222.115.243 (talk) 21:08, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Caps
The Wikipedia WP:MOSCAPS prefers minimizing capitalization when possible, and while there are plenty of source documents which refer to the acting designation and ranks with capital letters, that's the standard for wikipedia articles. Example: Acting Sub-Lieutenant Smith was an excellent sailor. vs. The rank acting sub-lieutenant was created in 1955.

This matches the AP and Chicago Manual of Style as well - I'm curious too WHY many printed documents do not follow this style. Maybe in the past lots of capitals were part of the style. Also, most current military documents seem to prefer capital letters for military titles.

Kirk (talk) 19:37, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

French provisional rank
In the French Army, they seem to have operated some kind of system of "provisional" rank - to take a very famous example, Charles de Gaulle was a provisional captain for a few months in WW1 before receiving the substantive promotion, and was a provisional brigadier-general in May and June 1940 (by virtue of which he wore the uniform and called himself "general" for the rest of his life, despite being technically a retired colonel). It's often translated as "acting" but I'm not entirely sure this is correct - it may have been a fairly standard probationary period, which (I'm guessing) could have been extended, or the promotion cancelled altogether, if the officer had not grown into his new responsibilities satisfactorily. Might be worth a mention if anybody knows, although I won't hold my breath as information about the French Army is hard to come by in the English-speaking world.Paulturtle (talk) 03:49, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

British/Commonwealth Armys - Acting Rank
If this is an article specific to US Army acting rank then the title should probably be changed to reflect that. If not and its a general article then its worth pointing out that the opening definition is not accurate for British or Commonwealth Nations (ie Australia, New Zealand, Canada etc). In these militaries Acting Rank is a temporary promotion normally used when the individual is in a post that is one rank up from their current rank. They receive pay of the Acting Rank and wear it but revert to their substantive rank and pay as soon as they leave the role. This differs from Local Rank where the individual wears the rank in his unit only and receives no extra pay etc.

Just to complicate things a bit further, in the British Army at least, acting rank (and pay) may be more than one rank higher. If a holder of acting rank is subsequently promoted to substantive rank whilst still acting, seniority may, on occasion, be back dated. If a higher ranked post is filled on an interim basis (for instance during sickness) only the individual may well fill it in their current rank but get the pay of the higher rank. DickyP (talk) 09:56, 31 December 2020 (UTC)