On Thursday morning, Commissioner James Knaggs announced the following decision relating to lieutenancy received from the office of the General on 14 November 2007.Following a long period of consideration and much discussion, the General has decided that, effective 1 March 2008, the rank of lieutenant will be reinstated into the officer rank structure of The Salvation Army, as the first commissioned officer rank. Thus, on and from that date, all cadets - including those who are currently in training - will be commissioned with the rank of lieutenant.
The use of an officer rank to describe the position of a non-officer worker in The Salvation Army has long been felt by many to be confusing. Reintroducing the rank of lieutenant as a commissioned officer rank will eliminate that confusion. It will also bring other benefits in terms of clearly identifying those officers who are newly commissioned or within their initial years of service, and will also assist in enabling a clearly defined target date to be set for the completion of post-commissioning studies.
The rank of lieutenant will be held for five years from the date of commissioning, thus facilitating once again the linking of a satisfactory five-year review with the possibility of promotion to the rank of captain. The insignia for an officer holding the rank of lieutenant will be as it was prior to the elimination of the rank from the rank structure - i.e. silver 'S' on a red patch on each lapel, and one star on a red background on each epaulet.
Chief of Staff's Minutes will be issued in due course, which will establish the changes to various Orders & Regulations that reflect this decision.
Commissioner Knaggs also stated that each territory/command is to come up with a suitable title for its non-commissioned personnel, offering his assurance that our territorial leadership would ensure the lieutenants' best interests would be at the heart of any decision.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (MSG) ~ "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track."
