Flag Lieutenant
A Flag Lieutenant is any company-grade officer assigned as an aide-de-camp to an officer of Flag Rank. A flag lieutenant will hold a paygrade of O-1, O-2, or O-3. The occupant of this position is to be considered a junior aide-de-camp on the Flag Officer's staff. Within the Royal Manticoran Navy, Flag Officers in Echelon or Bureau command are entitled to appoint a Flag Lieutenant.
History
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, junior officers serve as aides-de-camp to certain senior officers. Flag lieutenant is the Royal Navy's equivalent. Equerries are equivalents to aides-de-camp in the Royal Household, in which aides-de-camp are restricted to senior officers with a primarily honorific role.
There are several categories of these senior aides-de-camp to the Queen. Most are serving military, naval, and RAF officers, usually of colonel or brigadier rank or equivalent. There are also specific posts for very senior officers, such as first and principal naval aide-de-camp, flag aide-de-camp, aides de camp general, and air aides-de-camp. Analogous offices include the Lieutenant of the Admiralty, the Rear Admiral of the United Kingdom, and the Gold Stick and Silver Stick.
Certain members of the Royal Family with military rank may be appointed personal aides-de-camp to the Queen. Those currently holding this appointment are HRH The Duke of Kent; HRH The Prince of Wales; HRH The Duke of Cambridge; Captain Mark Phillips; HRH The Duke of York; HRH The Earl of Wessex and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.
Aides-de-Camp and Equerries (along with certain other officers) are distinguished by the addition of aiguillettes to dress uniforms, which differ in size, colour and position of wear, depending on the appointment. In addition, ADCs to the monarch wear the monarch's royal monogram on their shoulder straps in various orders of dress. A distinctive and elaborate full-dress uniform used to be worn by army ADCs, but use of full-dress was largely discontinued after World War I.
United States
Within the United States Army, aides-de-camp are specifically appointed to general-grade officers (NATO Code OF-6 through OF-10), the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of Defense, Vice President, and President of the United States; rank and number determined by the grade. For those general officers with more than one aide, the senior-ranking aide is usually considered to be the senior aide and serves in the capacity of coordinating the other aides and the others of the general's personal staff such as the driver, orderlies, et al. In general, for the majority officers, the maximum tour of duty for aides is two years.
Lieutenant colonels and colonels commanding units (battalions and brigades, respectively) do not have aides. Occasionally, the unit's adjutant – called the S-1 – will assist the commanding officer as an aide but this is uncommon.
U.S. Army aides-de-camp wear a special device in place of the branch-of-service (i.e., infantry, artillery, quartermaster, et al.) insignia they would otherwise wear on the lapels of their service uniform. The rank of the general officer being served is indicated on the device worn by the aide-de-camp, as illustrated below. Although the Chief of Staff of the Army and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are O-10 positions, their aides-de-camp wear devices specific to those offices, rather than the normal four-star aide device. Also, an aide-de-camp wears a special aiguillette on the shoulder of his or her dress uniform.
The aide-de-camp in the United States Navy is also known as a flag aide (command ashore) or flag lieutenant (command afloat).[1]
Job Description
This position reports to the Echelon Flag Officer and works alongside the Flag's Chief of Staff.
Qualifications:
- Interest in or have already qualified as a Yeoman (A, C, or D schools), or has qualified as an Administration Department Head.
- Has been a member of TRMN for at least six months.
Major Areas of Responsibility:
- Maintaining records of note to the Flag Officer.
- Ensuring a proper schedule for the Flag Officer.
- Functioning as the Flag Officer's Chief Yeoman as pertains to daily matters.
Specific Duties:
- Ensuring that unit business is attended to in a timely fashion (gentle reminders, etc)
- The taking of minutes for all meetings involving the Flag Officer.
- Act as personal escort for the Flag Officer at Fleet or Admiralty House Events.
- Scheduling and rescheduling meetings on the Flag Officer's behalf to accommodate all parties involved.
- Setting up and running conference bridges for the Flag Officer at approved meetings.
- Responding to correspondence by direction of and on behalf of the Flag Officer when needed.
- Working with the Flag Officer's Chief of Staff on any Fleet matters deemed necessary.