Lieutenant (
Lt) (pronounced
Lef-tenant) is a junior officer rank of the
British Army and
Royal Marines. It ranks above
second lieutenant and below
captain and has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and it is the senior
subaltern rank. Unlike some armed forces which use
first lieutenant, the British rank is simply
lieutenant, with no ordinal attached. The rank is equivalent to that of a
flying officer in the
Royal Air Force. Although formerly considered senior to a
Royal Navy sub-lieutenant, the Army and Navy ranks of lieutenant and sub-lieutenant are now considered to be of equivalent status. The Army rank of lieutenant has always been junior to the Navy's rank of
lieutenant. In the 21st-century British Army, the rank is ordinarily held for up to three years. A typical appointment for a lieutenant might be the command of a
platoon or
troop of approximately thirty soldiers.