Admiral ( United States ) In the United States Navy , the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps , admiral ( ADM ) is a four - star flag officer rank , with the pay grade of O - 10 . Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy ; the Coast Guard and the Public Health Service do not have an established grade above admiral . Admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the other uniformed services . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps , historically to date , has never had an officer hold the grade of admiral . However , of the U . S . Code establishes the grade for the NOAA Corps in the case a position is created , temporarily or indefinitely , that merits the four - star grade . Since the five - star grade of Fleet Admiral is reserved for war - time use only , the grade of admiral is considered to be the highest appointment an officer can achieve in these three services . History . The United States Navy did not have any admirals until 1862 because many people felt the title too reminiscent of royalty , such as the British Royal Navy , to be used in the country ' s navy . Others saw the need for ranks above Captain , among them John Paul Jones , who pointed out that the Navy had to have officers who " ranked " with Army generals . He also felt there must be ranks above captain to avoid disputes among senior captains . The various secretaries of the Navy repeatedly recommended to Congress that admiral ranks be created because the other navies of the world used them and American senior officers were " often subjected to serious difficulties and embarrassments in the interchange of civilities with those of other nations . " Congress finally authorized nine rear admirals on July 16 , 1862 , although that was probably more for the needs of the rapidly expanding Navy during the American Civil War than any international considerations . Two years later Congress authorized the appointment of a vice admiral from among the nine rear admirals : David Farragut . Another bill allowed the President of the United States to appoint Farragut to admiral on July 25 , 1866 , and David Dixon Porter to vice admiral . When Farragut died in 1870 , Porter became admiral and Stephen C . Rowan was promoted to vice admiral . Even after they died , Congress did not allow the promotion of any of the rear admirals to succeed them , so there were no more admirals or vice admirals by promotion until 1915 when Congress authorized an admiral and a vice admiral each for the Atlantic , Pacific and Asiatic fleets . There was one admiral in the interim , however . In 1899 , Congress recognized George Dewey ' s accomplishments during the Spanish - American War by authorizing the President to appoint him Admiral of the Navy . He held that rank until he died in 1917 . Nobody has since held that title . In 1944 , Congress approved the five - star grade of Fleet Admiral . The first to hold it were William D . Leahy , Ernest J . King , and Chester W . Nimitz . The Senate confirmed their appointments December 15 , 1944 . The fourth Fleet Admiral , William F . Halsey , got his fifth star in December 1945 . None has been appointed since . The sleeve stripes now used by admirals and vice admirals in the United States date from March 11 , 1869 , when the Secretary of the Navy ' s General Order Number 90 specified that for their " undress " uniforms admirals would wear a two - inch stripe with three half - inch stripes above it and vice admirals the two - inch stripe with two half - inch stripes above it . The rear admiral got his two - inch stripe and one half - inch stripe in 1866 . The sleeve stripes had been more elaborate . When the rear admiral rank started in 1862 the sleeve arrangement was three stripes of three - quarter - inch lace alternating with three stripes of quarter - inch lace . It was some ten inches from top to bottom . The vice admiral , of course , had even more stripes and when Farragut became admiral in 1866 , he had so many stripes they reached from his cuffs almost to his elbow . On their dress uniforms the admirals wore bands of gold embroidery of live oak leaves and acorns . The admirals of the 1860s wore the same number of stars on their shoulders as admirals of corresponding grades do today . In 1899 , the Navy ' s one admiral ( Dewey ) and 18 rear admirals put on the new shoulder marks , as did the other officers when wearing their white uniforms , but kept their stars instead of repeating the sleeve cuff stripes . During the 20th century , the ranks of the modern U . S . Admiralty were firmly established . An oddity that did exist was that the Navy did not have a one - star rank except briefly during the Second World War when Congress established a temporary war rank of commodore . The one - star rank was later established permanently in 1986 . Statutory limits . U . S . Code of law explicitly limits the total number of admirals that may be on active duty at any given time . The total number of active duty flag officers is capped at 216 for the Navy . For the Navy , no more than 16 . 3 % of the service ' s active duty flag officers may have more than two stars , and no more than 25 % of those may have four stars . This corresponds to 9 admirals . Some of these slots are reserved by statute . For the Navy , the Chief of Naval Operations and the Vice Chief of Naval Operations are both admirals . In addition , the Commandant of the Coast Guard is an admiral ; for the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps , the Assistant Secretary for Health is an admiral if he or she holds an appointment to the regular corps . There are several exceptions to these limits allowing more than allotted within the statute . A navy admiral serving as Chief of Staff to the President , or as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff does not count against the navy ' s flag officer cap . A navy admiral serving in one of several joint positions does not count against his service ' s four - star limit , but he does count against his service ' s limit on officers with more than two stars ; these positions include the commander of a unified combatant command , the commander of U . S . Forces Korea , and the deputy commander of U . S . European Command but only if the commander of that command is also the Supreme Allied Commander , Europe . Officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit , including the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency . The President may also add admirals to the navy if they are offset by removing an equivalent number of four - stars from other services . Finally , all statutory limits may be waived at the President ' s discretion during time of war or national emergency . Appointment and tour length . Four - star grades go hand - in - hand with the positions of office they are linked to , so these ranks are temporary . Officers may only achieve four - star grade if they are appointed to positions that require the officer to hold such a rank . Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office , which is usually set by statute . Admirals are nominated for appointment by the President from any eligible officers holding the rank of rear admiral ( lower half ) or above , whom also meets the requirements for the position , under the advice and / or suggestion of their respective department secretary , service secretary , and if applicable the joint chiefs . For some specific positions , statute allows the President to waive those requirements for a nominee whom he deems would serve national interests . The nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank . The standard tour length for most four - star positions is three years , bundled as a two - year term plus a one - year extension , with the following exceptions : Note : Extensions of the standard tour length can be approved , within statutory limits , by their respective service secretaries , the Secretary of Defense , the President , and / or Congress but these are rare , as they block other officers from being promoted . Some statutory limits under the U . S . Code can be waived in times of national emergency or war . Admiral ranks may also be given by act of Congress but this is extremely rare . Retirement . Other than voluntary retirement , statute sets a number of mandates for retirement . Four - star officers must retire after 40 years of service unless he or she is reappointed to grade to serve longer . Otherwise all flag officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday . However , the Secretary of Defense can defer a four - star officer ' s retirement until the officer ' s 66th birthday and the President can defer it until the officer ' s 68th birthday . Flag officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits , so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors . Since there is a limited number of four - star slots available to each service , typically one officer must leave office before another can be promoted . Maintaining a four - star rank is a game of musical chairs ; once an officer vacates a position bearing that rank , he or she has no more than 60 days to be appointed or reappointed to a position of equal importance before he or she must involuntarily retire . Historically , officers leaving four - star positions were allowed to revert to their permanent two - star ranks to mark time in lesser jobs until statutory retirement , but now such officers are expected to retire immediately to avoid obstructing the promotion flow .