Major general ( United States ) In the United States Army , United States Marine Corps , and United States Air Force , major general is a two - star general officer rank , with the pay grade of O - 8 . Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general . Major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services , and is the highest permanent rank during peacetime in the uniformed services . ( The higher ranks are temporary ranks linked to specific positions , although virtually all officers who have been promoted to those ranks are approved to retire at their highest earned rank . ) Statutory limits . U . S . Code of law explicitly limits the total number of general officers that may be on active duty at any given time . The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 302 for the Army , 279 for the Air Force , and 80 for the Marine Corps . Some of these slots are reserved or finitely set by statute . For example the Deputy Judge Advocates General of the Army is a major general in the army ; also the Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Air Force is a major general ; the Army ' s Chief of Engineers is also a major general . Promotion , appointment , and tour length . To be promoted to the permanent grade of major general , officers who are eligible for promotion to this rank are screened by an in - service promotion board comprising other general officers from their branch of service . This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank . This list is then sent to the service secretary and the joint chiefs for review before it can be sent to the President , through the defense secretary for consideration . The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense , the service secretary , and if applicable , the service ' s chief of staff or commandant . The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation , but this is extremely rare . The Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted . Once confirmed , the nominee is promoted to that rank on assuming a position of office that requires an officer to hold the rank . For positions of office that are reserved by statute , the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position . For all three uniformed services , because grade of major general is a permanent rank , the nominee may still be screened by an in - service promotion board to add their input on the nominee before the nomination can be sent to the Senate for approval . Since the grade of major general is permanent , the rank does not expire when the officer vacates a two - star position . Tour length varies depending on the position , by statute , and / or when the officer receives a new assignment but the average tour length per two - star billet is two to four years . Retirement . Other than voluntary retirement , statute sets a number of mandates for retirement . All major generals must retire after five years in grade or 35 years of service , whichever is later , unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer . Otherwise all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday . However , the Secretary of Defense can defer a general officer ' s retirement until the officer ' s 66th birthday and the President can defer it until the officer ' s 68th birthday . General 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 . History . The rank of Major General was abolished in the U . S . Army by the Act of March 16 , 1802 and restored by the Act of January 11 , 1812 as preparations were being made for the War of 1812 . Major General has been a rank in the U . S . Army ever since . Until the American Civil War , Major General was the highest rank that could be attained by an officer in the U . S . Army , though Winfield Scott had been given the brevet rank of Lieutenant General in 1855 . This was a consequence of the fact that at his death George Washington was officially listed as holding the rank of Lieutenant General , rather than full general , and it was regarded as improper for an officer to hold a rank equal to or superior to Washington ' s . To address this anomaly , Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States in 1976 . The position of " Major General Commanding the Army " was entitled to wear three stars according to General Order No . 6 of March 13 , 1861 . When Ulysses S . Grant was appointed Lieutenant General on March 9 , 1864 and took command of the Union forces , he used the three star insignia formerly assigned to that position . The Confederate States Army maintained a similar rank of major general , usually associated with the command of a division , while lieutenant generals often commanded corps and full generals led armies as a general convention . There was no Major General in the U . S . Marine Corps until Commandant Charles Heywood was specially promoted by Act of Congress in July 1902 . From his retirement on October 3 , 1903 , Brigadier General was again the highest rank in the Marine Corps until May 21 , 1908 when the office of Commandant was raised to the rank of Major General . It remained the highest rank in the Marine Corps until January 20 , 1942 when the office of Commandant was raised to the rank of Lieutenant General .