Colonel (pronounced KUR-nal) is a military rank, the equivalent of which is used by the service organizations of many civilizations. As a traditional grade, colonel is the most senior line officer rank of a fighting organization, below the flag rank of brigadier general and senior to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In comparison to naval ranking systems, this rank is equivalent to the naval captain rank, the Romulan Star Empire's riov grade, the Ferengi Alliance's daimon, or the Cardassian Union's title of gul. A colonel commands a brigade, an army unit consisting of a variable number (but not less than two) regiments.
In the Starfleet Marine Corps, these officers are the last field officer. They typically command regiments of marines. These are high ranking officers with many years of service and experience.
Some rank systems have an additional grade, lieutenant colonel, which falls between colonel and major. In Starfleet, a Colonel named West was in charge of a military briefing to the Federation President. This grade exists in some form in many cultures' rank arrangements, such as the Klingon Defense Force, and the United States armed forces of Earth. In the Bajoran Militia, a colonel wears a silver Bajoran insignia pin on the collar. In the Romulan Tal Shiar organization, a colonel (ssiebh) wears a collar insignia of a gold triangle with two crescents lined up against it.
Insignia[]
| MACO | Klingon ground troops |
Tal Shiar | Bajoran Militia |
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| Federation Marine Corps |
Kellarian Ground Forces |
UESPA | So'ja High Command |
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External links[]
- Colonel article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Colonel article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.