A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given.

The term General is used in two ways: as the generic title for all grades of general officer; and as a specific rank. Since the late twentieth century, the rank of General is usually the highest active rank of a military not at war.

All general officer ranks

The various grades of general officer are at the top of the rank structure. Lower-ranking officers are known as field officers or field-grade officers, and below them are company-grade officers. All officers who commanded more than a single regiment came to be known as "general officers". The word "general" is used in its ordinary sense in English (and other languages) as relating to larger, general, military units, rather than smaller units in particular.

Common systems

There are two common systems of general ranks.

Variations of one form, the old European system, were once used throughout Europe. It is used in the United Kingdom (although it did not originate there), from which it eventually spread to the Commonwealth and the United States of America. The General Officer ranks are named by prefixing General, as an adjective, with field officer ranks, although in some countries the highest general officers are titled Field Marshal or Marshal.

The other is derived from the French Revolution, where generals' ranks are named according to the unit they (theoretically) command.

Old European system {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" |align="center"| Field Marshal or General Field Marshal |- |align="center"| ''Colonel General'' |- |align="center"| General or Captain General |- |align="center"| Lieutenant General |- |align="center"| Sergeant Major General or Major General |- |align="center"| ''Brigadier (General)'' |}

The system used either a ''brigadier general'' rank, or a ''colonel general'' rank (i.e. exclude one of the italicised ranks.)

The rank of field marshal was used by some countries as the highest rank, while in other countries it was used as a divisional or brigade rank. Many countries (notably pre-revolutionary France and eventually much of Latin America) actually used two brigade command ranks, which is why some countries now use two stars as their brigade general insignia. (Mexico and Argentina still use two brigade command ranks.)

In some nations (particularly in the Commonwealth), the equivalent to Brigadier General is Brigadier, which is not always considered by these armies to be a general officer rank, although it is always treated as equivalent to the rank of Brigadier General for comparative purposes. Unlike other general officers, the brigadier general rank is not derived from a ''field'' rank of brigadier.

The rank of ''major general'' is a shorter form of ''sergeant major general'', and is lower than lieutenant general as a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major, although outranked by a major.

French (Revolutionary) system {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" |align="center"| Marshal |- |align="center"| Army General |- |align="center"| Corps General |- |align="center"| Divisional General |- |align="center"| Brigade General |} More information about this system can be found on the page: Général.

Other variations

Other nomenclatures for general officers include the titles and ranks:

Adjutant General

Commandant-General

Inspector General

Captain General

General-in-Chief

General of the Army (which is distinct from the title Army General)

General of the Air Force (USA only)

General of the Armies of the United States (of America), a title created for General John J. Pershing, and subsequently granted posthumously to George Washington.

General Admiral (German Navy)

Air General and Aviation General (Chilean Air Force; roughly equivalent to Air Chief Marshal and Air Vice-Marshal respectively)

Wing General and Group General (Mexican Air Force; roughly equivalent to Air Commodore and Acting Air Commodore respectively)

Lieutenant-Colonel General (A Serb rank immediately inferior to Colonel General, and roughly equivalent to Commonwealth/US Major General)

Director General (a common administrative term sometimes used as an appointment in military services)

Director General of National Defence (most senior rank in the Mexican Armed Forces)

Director of Intelligence Bureau (senior most 4 star Indian Police Service post in India)

Controller General (general officer rank in the French National Police)

Prefect General (the most senior rank of the Argentine Naval Prefecture)

Master-General of the Ordnance

In addition to militarily educated generals, there are also generals in medicine and engineering. The rank of most senior chaplain, Chaplain General, is also considered to be a general officer rank.

The specific General rank

In the Old European system, a General, without prefix or suffix (and sometimes referred to informally as a "full general"), is usually the most senior type of general, above Lieutenant General and directly below Field Marshal. Usually it is the most senior peace-time rank, with more senior ranks (for example, Field Marshal) being used only in wartime, or as honorary titles.

In some armies, however, the rank of Captain General, General of the Army, Army General or Colonel General occupied or occupies this position. Depending on circumstances and the army in question, these ranks may be considered to be equivalent to a full General or to a Field Marshal.

The rank of General came about as a "Captain-General", the captain of an army in general (i.e., the whole army). The rank of Captain-General began appearing around the time of the organization of professional armies in the 17th century. In most countries "Captain-General" contracted to just "General".

General ranks by country

The following articles deal with the rank of General, or its equivalent, as it is or was employed in the militaries of those countries.

General (Australia)

General (Canada)

Shang Jiang (China) - People's Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan)

Kenraali (Finland)

Kindral (Estonia)

Général (France)

General (Germany)

Obergruppenführer (Nazi Germany, SS rank)

Strategos (Greece)

Aluf (Israel)

Generale (Italy)

Daejang (Korea - DPRK and ROK)

General (Mexico)

Generał (Poland)

Army General (Philippines)

Army General (Russia)

General (Sri Lanka)

General (Sweden)

General (Switzerland)

General (United Kingdom)

General (United States)

Army generals' insignia

Air force generals' insignia

Generals' insignia of disbanded armies

Air Force and Navy equivalents

Some countries (such as the United States) use the General Officer ranks for both the army and the air force; others only use the General Officer ranks for the army, while in the air force they use Air Officers as the equivalent of General Officers. They use the air force rank of Air Chief Marshal as the equivalent of the specific army rank of General. This latter group includes the British Royal Air Force and those based on it (e.g., India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Nigeria, etc.).

In most navies, Flag Officers are the equivalent of General Officers, and the naval rank of Admiral is equivalent to the specific army rank of General. A noteworthy historical exception was the Cromwellian naval rank ''General at sea''. In recent years in the American service there is a tendency to use ''Flag Officer'' and ''Flag Rank'' to refer to generals and admirals of the services collectively.

See also

Général

Generalissimo

List of comparative military ranks

List of Roman generals

Shogun

References

External links

Generals of World War II

Schema-root.org: US Generals News feeds for US Generals in the news

Marines.mil: General Officer Biographies Biographies of US Marine Corps General Officers

Bios & Information on Generals of Western History Information on 10 Generals who influenced Western History

Category:Generals Category:Military ranks

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name	Jimmy Hoffa
birth name	James Riddle Hoffa
birth date	February 14, 1913
birth place	Brazil, Indiana, United States
disappeared date
disappeared place	Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, United States
disappeared status	Declared dead in absentiaJuly 30, 1982
occupation	Labor union leader, author
spouse	Josephine Hoffa, ''nee'' Poszywak
children	James P. HoffaBarbara Ann Crancer }}

James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975, declared legally dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader and author.

Hoffa was involved with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, as an organizer from 1932 to 1975. He served as the union's General President from 1958 to 1971. He secured the first national agreement for teamsters' rates in 1964, and played a major role in the growth and development of the union, which eventually became the largest single union in the United States, with over 1.5 million members during his terms as its leader. Hoffa, who had been convicted of jury tampering, attempted bribery, and fraud in 1964, was imprisoned in 1967, sentenced to 13 years, after exhausting the appeal process. It was not until mid-1971 that he officially resigned the Teamsters' presidency, an action that was part of a pardon agreement with U.S. president Richard Nixon, in order to facilitate his release later that year. Nixon blocked Hoffa from union activities until 1980; Hoffa was attempting to overturn this order and to regain support.

Hoffa was last seen in late July 1975, outside the Machus Red Fox, a suburban Detroit restaurant.

Early life

Hoffa was born in Brazil, Indiana, on February 14, 1913. His paternal ancestors were partially "Pennsylvania Dutch" (German). His father, a coal miner, died in 1920 when Hoffa was seven years old, and the family moved to Detroit in 1924, where Hoffa was raised and lived the rest of his life. Hoffa left school at age 14, and began full-time manual labor to help support his family.

Hoffa began union organizational work at the grassroots level through his employment as a teenager with a grocery chain, which paid substandard wages and offered poor working conditions with minimal job security. The workers were displeased with this situation and tried to organize a union to better their lot. Although Hoffa was young, his bravery and approachability in this role impressed fellow workers, and he rose to a leadership position. By 1932, after being dismissed from the grocery chain—in part because of his union activities—Hoffa joined and became involved with Local 299 of the Teamsters in Detroit.

He married Josephine Poszywak in 1936, and bought a modest home in Detroit. The couple had two children: a daughter, Barbara Ann, and a son, James. The Hoffa family later had a summer property at Lake Orion, Michigan, north of Detroit.

Growth of the Teamsters

The Teamsters union, founded in 1903, had only 75,000 members in 1933. As a result of Hoffa's work with other union leaders to consolidate local union trucker groups into regional sections and then into one gigantic national body—work that Hoffa ultimately completed over a period of two decades—membership grew to 170,000 members by 1936. Three years later, there were 420,000; and the number grew steadily during World War II and through the post-war boom to top a million members by 1951.

The Teamsters organized truck drivers and warehousemen first throughout the Midwest, and then nationwide. Hoffa played a major role in the union's skillful use of "quickie strikes", secondary boycotts, and other means of leveraging union strength at one company, to then move to organize workers, and finally to win contract demands at other companies. This process, which took several years from the early 1930s, eventually brought the Teamsters to a position of being one of the most powerful unions in the United States.

Hoffa's rise to power

Hoffa worked to defend the Teamsters unions from raids by other unions, including the CIO, and extended the Teamsters' influence in the Midwestern states, from the late 1930s to the late 1940s. Although he never actually worked as a truck driver, he became president of Local 299 in December 1946. He then rose to lead the combined group of Detroit-area locals shortly afterwards, and advanced to become head of the Michigan Teamsters groups sometime later. During this time, Hoffa obtained a deferment from military service in World War II, by successfully making a case for his union leadership skills being of more value to the nation, by keeping freight running smoothly to assist the war effort.

By 1952, Hoffa rose to national vice-president of the Teamsters' IBT union, which was on its way to becoming the largest and most powerful single union in the United States. At the IBT convention in Los Angeles, he was selected by incoming president Dave Beck, successor to Daniel J. Tobin, who had been president since 1907. Hoffa quelled an internal revolt against Beck by securing Central States region support for Beck at the convention. In exchange, Beck made Hoffa a vice-president.

The IBT moved its headquarters from Indianapolis to Washington, DC, taking over a large office building in the US capital in 1955. IBT staff was also enlarged during this period, with many lawyers hired to assist with contract negotiations. Following his 1952 election as vice-president, Hoffa began spending more of his time away from Detroit; either in Washington or traveling around the US for his expanded responsibilities.

Teamsters Union Presidency

Hoffa took over the presidency of the Teamsters in 1957, at the convention in Miami Beach, Florida. His predecessor, Dave Beck, had appeared before the John Little McClellan-led US Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor or Management Field in March 1957, and took the Fifth Amendment 140 times in response to questions. Beck was under indictment when the IBT convention took place, and was convicted on fraud charges later that year at a trial held in Seattle, and imprisoned.

Teamsters union expelled

The 1957 AFL-CIO convention, held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, voted by a ratio of nearly 5-1 to expel the IBT from the larger union group. President George Meany gave an emotional speech, advocating removal of the IBT, and stating that he could only agree to further affiliation of the Teamsters if they would dismiss Hoffa as their president. Meany demanded a response from Hoffa, who replied through the press, "We'll see." At the time, IBT was bringing in over $750,000 annually to the AFL-CIO.

National Master Freight Agreement

Following his re-election as president in 1961, Hoffa worked to expand the union. In 1964, he succeeded in bringing virtually all over-the-road truck drivers in North America under a single national master-freight agreement, in what may have been his finest achievement in a lifetime of union activity. He then tried to bring the airline workers and other transport employees into the union, with limited success. During this period, he was facing immense personal strain as he was under investigation, on trial, launching appeals of convictions, or imprisoned for virtually all of the 1960s.

Prison sentence

In 1964, Hoffa was convicted in Chattanooga, Tennessee, of attempted bribery of a grand juror and was sentenced to eight years. This case resulted from an earlier matter, the Test Fleet case, which had been held in Nashville, Tennessee. Hoffa was implicated by one of his close associates, Edward Grady Partin, a Louisiana teamster, who went to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with the information that led to Hoffa's conviction. Hoffa was also convicted of fraud later that same year for improper use of the Teamsters' pension fund, in a trial held in Chicago. He received a five-year sentence to run consecutively to his bribery sentence. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who had pursued Hoffa for years—since the John Little McClellan-led U.S. Senate Labor industry hearings of 1957—stepped down as Attorney General in 1964, after the second Hoffa conviction, to run successfully for the New York seat in the November 1964 United States Senate election.

Hoffa spent the next three years unsuccessfully appealing his 1964 convictions. Appeals filed by his chief counsel, St. Louis defense attorney Morris Shenker, reached the U.S. Supreme Court. He began serving his sentences in March 1967 at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. Just before he entered prison, Hoffa appointed Frank Fitzsimmons as acting Teamsters president. Fitzsimmons was a Hoffa loyalist, fellow Detroit resident, and a longtime member (since the 1930s) of Teamsters Local 299 in Detroit, who owed his own high position in large part to Hoffa's influence. Despite this, Fitzsimmons distanced himself from Hoffa's influence and control after 1967, to Hoffa's displeasure. Fitzsimmons also decentralized power somewhat within the Teamsters' union administration structure. During the Hoffa era, Hoffa had kept most power in his own hands.

Post prison

On December 23, 1971, less than five years into his 13-year sentence, Hoffa was released from the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania prison, when President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence to time served. Hoffa had served nearly 58 months, or just over one-third of his original sentence. Following his release from prison, Hoffa was awarded a Teamsters' pension of $1.7 million, delivered in a one-time lump sum payment. This type of pension settlement had not occurred before with the Teamsters.

The IBT endorsed Richard Nixon, the Republican Party's candidate, in his presidential re-election bid in 1972; in prior elections, the IBT union had supported Democratic Party nominees. Suspicions were soon raised of a deal for Hoffa's release being connected with the IBT's support of Nixon in 1972. Following Nixon's resignation as president in disgrace over the Watergate scandal in August, 1974, Nixon avoided public life for over a year; his first public event was a charity fundraising golf tournament in California on October 9, 1975, at the La Costa Resort and Spa, which was heavily attended by Teamsters' leaders and associates, including IBT President Frank Fitzsimmons and Allen Dorfman; Hoffa had disappeared ten weeks earlier.

While glad to regain his freedom, Hoffa was displeased with the condition imposed on his release by President Nixon that restricted Hoffa from participating in union activities until 1980. He accused the Nixon administration senior figures, including Attorney General John N. Mitchell and White House Counsel Charles W. Colson, of depriving him of his rights by initiating this clause; though both Mitchell and Colson denied this. It was likely imposed upon Hoffa as the result of requests from senior Teamsters' leadership, although IBT President Frank Fitzsimmons also denied this.

Hoffa was planning to sue to invalidate the non-participation restriction, in order to reassert his power over the Teamsters; but he faced immense resistance to this course of action from many quarters, and had lost much of his earlier support, even in the Detroit area. As a result, he intended to begin his comeback at the local level, with Local 299 in Detroit, where he retained some influence.

In 1975, Hoffa was working on an autobiography titled ''Hoffa: The Real Story'', which was published a few months after his disappearance. He had earlier published a 1970 book titled ''The Trials of Jimmy Hoffa''.

Disappearance

Hoffa disappeared at, or sometime after, 2:45 pm on July 30, 1975, from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in Bloomfield Township, a suburb of Detroit. According to what he had told others, he believed he was to meet there with two Mafia leaders—Anthony Giacalone from Detroit, and Anthony Provenzano. Provenzano was also a union leader with the Teamsters in New Jersey, and had earlier been quite close to Hoffa. Provenzano was a national vice-president with IBT from 1961, Hoffa's second term as Teamsters' president.

Upon Hoffa's failure to return home from the restaurant by late that evening, his wife called police to report him missing. When police arrived at the restaurant, they found Hoffa's car, but no sign of Hoffa himself, nor any indication of what had happened to him. Extensive investigations into the disappearance began immediately, and continued over the next several years by several law enforcement groups, including the FBI. However, the investigations failed to conclusively determine Hoffa's fate. For their part, Giacolone and Provenzano were each found not to have been in the vicinity of the restaurant that afternoon, and each of them denied that they had scheduled any meeting with Hoffa.

Hoffa was declared legally dead in 1982, on the seventh anniversary of his disappearance.

Recent events

Hoffa's son, James P. Hoffa, is the Teamsters' current leader, serving since 1999 in that position. His daughter, Barbara Ann Crancer, currently serves as an associate circuit court judge in St. Louis, Missouri.

On May 17, 2006, acting on a tip, the FBI searched a farm in Milford Township, Michigan, for Hoffa's remains. Nothing was found. The farm had previously belonged to former Hoffa associate Rolland McMaster.

On June 16, 2006, the ''Detroit Free Press'' published in its entirety the so-called "Hoffex Memo", a 56-page report the FBI prepared for a January 1976 briefing on the case at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Although not claiming to conclusively establish the specifics of his disappearance, the memo indicates that law enforcement's belief is that Hoffa was murdered at the behest of organized crime figures who deemed his efforts to regain power within the Teamsters to be a threat to their control of the union's pension fund. The FBI has called the report the definitive account of what agents believe happened to Hoffa.

The television show ''MythBusters'' featured an episode involving the possible burial of Hoffa at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Ground-penetrating radar revealed no disturbances beneath the playing field. Giants Stadium has since been demolished.

Film and television

Hoffa was portrayed by Robert Blake in the 1983 TV-film ''Blood Feud'', Trey Wilson in the 1985 television miniseries ''Robert Kennedy & His Times'', and by Jack Nicholson in the 1992 film ''Hoffa''. In the 1978 film ''F.I.S.T.'', Sylvester Stallone portrays Johnny Kovak, a character based on Hoffa.

See also

American Mafia

List of people who disappeared mysteriously

References

Moldea, Dan. ''The Hoffa Wars: Teamsters, Rebels, Politicians and the Mob''. New York & London: Paddington Press, 1978. ISBN 0-448-22684-7.

Sloane, Arthur A. ''Hoffa'', MIT Press, 1991.

Further reading

''Jimmy Hoffa's Hot'', by John Bartlow Martin, 1959, Fawcett Publications, Greenwich, Conn.

''The Enemy Within: The McClellan Committee's Crusade Against Jimmy Hoffa and Corrupt Labor Unions'', by Robert F. Kennedy, 1960, Harper and Brothers, New York.

''The State of the Unions'', by Paul Jacobs, 1963, Atheneum, New York.

''Tentacles of Power'', by Clark Mollenhoff, 1965, World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York.

''Hoffa! Ten Angels Swearing'', by Jim Clay, 1965, Beaverdam Books, Beaverdam, Va.

''Hoffa and the Teamsters: A Study of Union Power'', by Ralph James and Estelle James, 1965, Van Nostrand, New York.

''The Trials of Jimmy Hoffa'', by James R. Hoffa as told to Donald I. Rogers, 1970, Henry Regnery, Chicago.

''Kennedy Justice'', by Victor Navasky, 1971, Atheneum, New York.

''The Fall and Rise of Jimmy Hoffa'', by Walter Sheridan, 1972, Saturday Review Press, New York.

''Hoffa: The Real Story'', by James R. Hoffa as told to Oscar Fraley, 1975, Stein and Day, New York.

''The Strange Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa'', by Charles Ashman and Rebecca Sobel, 1976, Manor Books, New York.

''The Teamsters'', by Steven Brill, 1978, Simon & Schuster, New York, ISBN 0-671-22771-8.

''Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy'', by John H. Davis (author), 1989, McGraw-Hill, New York.

''Hoffa'', by Arthur A. Sloane, 1991, MIT Press, Boston, ISBN 0-262-19309-4.

''The Hoffa Wars: Teamsters, Rebels, Politicians and the Mob'', second edition, by Dan Moldea, 1993, SPI, New York.

''Mob Lawyer'', by Frank Ragano and Selwyn Raab, 1994, Charles Scribner's Sons, ISBN 0-684-19568-2.

''Out of the Jungle: Jimmy Hoffa and the Remaking of the American Working Class'', by Thaddeus Russell, 2001, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, ISBN 0-375-41157-7

''Legacy of Secrecy'', by Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann, trade paperback (updated) edition, 2009, Counterpoint, Berkeley, California, ISBN 978-1-58243-535-0.

External links

Category:1913 births Category:Missing people Category:People from Clay County, Indiana Category:People from Detroit, Michigan Category:American people of German descent Category:People convicted of bribery Category:American labor leaders Category:American labor union officials convicted of crimes Category:American memoirists Category:Presidents of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Category:Recipients of American presidential pardons Category:Unsolved deaths or murders Category:People declared dead in absentia Category:American people convicted of fraud Category:Abuse of the legal system

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Ben Townley (Born December 12, 1984) is a professional motocross rider originating from Taupo, New Zealand.

After claiming multiple National championships in his native New Zealand, Townley moved to Europe and began campaigning the MX2-GP World Championships. He rode for the German PHASE Suzuki team in 2001, but after internal troubles, left the team towards the end of the season and joined the Vangani Racing team. In 2002, this team became known as the "Dream Team" as Townley and teammates Tyla Rattray and Tanel Leok, all still teenagers, scorched to top 10 results in GP after GP. Townley started the 2002 off with a second place at the GP of Valkenswaard, and after a few more podium finishes, he scored his first GP victory at the GP of Sweden at Uddevalla. He continued his good form at the Champ KTM team in 2003, and made his mark as a definite word championship contender.

In 2004, riding the prototype KTM 250-SXF four stroke, Townley won the MX2 World Championship over teammates future champ Antonio Cairoli and teammates Tyla Rattray and Marc DeReuver. Townley had reached a new level of speed and endurance, winning nearly every race when his prototype machine did not fail.

2005 saw Townley move up to the MX1-GP class aboard a 450cc KTM. Townley won several GPs in the premier division in that rookie season, and was a consistent threat for the win by the end of the year. He finished third behind champion Stefan Everts and fellow New Zealander Josh Coppins.

Townley and Coppins represented their country at the 2005 Motocross des Nations in Ernée, France. It was there that Townley first faced the premier American riders who typically contend only their National championships. Townley was superb, running faster than Kevin Windham, Mickael Pichon and Stefan Everts, and was only defeated by American champion Ricky Carmichael, who is widely considered the fastest rider in the world.

Thereafter Townley moved to the United States and settled near Carmichael's home in Tallahassee, Florida. He is a member of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit team and races a Kawasaki KX250F in the Motocross/Supercross Lites class. In 2006 Townley suffered a severe knee injury while preparing for the Supercross Lites East championship and subsequently sat out the majority of the 2006 season.

Townley returned to the Supercross championship in 2007 and won the 2007 Supercross Lites East championship over rookie Ryan Dungey and Ryan Morias. Ben Townley and teammate Ryan Villopoto kept the points race close during the 2007 Motocross series with Townley finishing a close second to his teammate.

Townley signed with Team Honda Red Bull Racing for the 2008 Supercross/Motocross season riding the Honda CR250F for the Supercross series and the CR450F for the Motocross series. Due to breaking his foot while training for the 2008 Monster Energy AMA East Coast Supercross Lites series Ben was not able to compete. Because of this, Benjamin Coisey from France, took his spot for the East Coast Lites series racing for Red Bull Honda. Townley is still scheduled to compete in the AMA Motocross series for Red Bull Honda though.

References

External links

BenTownleyMX.com - Official site

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:People from the Waikato Region Category:New Zealand motorcycle racers Category:Motocross riders

ca:Ben Townley fr:Ben Townley sv:Ben Townley