He never retired, but he was the only US six star Admiral.
He was an Admiral of the Navy (six stars, the same as George Washington and Black Jack Pershing).
He never held that rank. He was advanced from two stars to four stars.
Gary Roughead, he is the current Chief of Naval Operations. His rank is that of a 4 star admiral which is the highest rank that can be given during peace time.
Admiral or General.
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The highest rank in the US Navy is O-10 Admiral (4 stars). EXCEPT during wartime, when the rank of Fleet Admiral (5 stars) is attainable. A Captain in the US Navy is an O-6. Commodore is not used by the US Navy,
Quoting (Somebody) Everett, "Officers of the rank of Rear Admiral, Vice-Admiral, or Admiral are designated as flag officers. When one of them takes command of a ship, a task force or a fleet, the chief signalman is given the job of raising the Admiral's flag." The Admiral's flag is blue with white stars. A Rear-Admiral will have two stars on his flag, a vice-admiral will have three stars, and a full Admiral rates four stars. A very rare case would be five stars for a fleet admiral. "During the ceremony the flag is bunched up into a ball and hoisted up in that fashion until it gently bumps the masthead and the balled up flag breaks open to a full flag furl. When this takes place the flag officer's flag has broken open and he has taken command." To say that a Commander "Broke his flag," means that particular officer has been assigned task force or Fleet Commander.
The highest rank in the Coast Guard is the Commandant, who holds the rank of Admiral (abbreviated ADM) and is in pay grade O-10. Admiral rank insignia is four stars. Other admiral ranks include Rear Admiral Lower Half (RDML/three stars/O-9), Rear Admiral Upper Half (RADM/two stars/O-8), and Vice Admiral (VADM/one star/O-7).
Admiral is a rank exclusive to naval forces.
No, he just stars in a lot of movies.
A one star Admiral is actually called a Commodore. During peace time there are no commodores. The Navy goes from Captain to Rear Admiral with two stars.
Real Admiral (lower half) - one starRear Admiral (upper half) - two starsVice Admiral - three starsAdmiral - four starsFleet Admiral - five stars