Who Is higher military wise?

Who is higher a 5 star general or the President.The reason i ask this is because me and my brother was arguing who is higher and i say a 5 start general because he calls all the shots.Also there was only about 2 in the whole american history.But my brother keeps saying that the president is chief of command and calls the shots for the army.Also he says the president has the power to fire them.So my question is who is in higher level military wise?

[edit on 3-2-2006 by Hkilla_02]

i heard the only force that the president can use WITHOUT congresses's ok is the marines

everything else he needs congresses's ok


not sure on that been a long time since i touched on this subject

The USA is run by civilians, elected officials, not military personnel. The military works for us, civilians, the American people. So, the President is higher.

The President is higher in theory. All military and government officials answer to him.

A 5 star general still takes his orders from the President and does what the President tells him to do. He may be effectively in charge of the military forces, but the President is in command over all.

there is a reason the president is called "commander in chief." mainly because he is the chief commander of all military forces. in fact, there was a time when the president was actually expected to lead military forces on the field of battle. george washington did this during the whiskey rebellion.

The president also holds the billet of "commander and chief" of the armed forces. Curme pretty much covered the rest.

The president can use the Marines for pretty much whatever he wants, this doesnt mean he can tell the commandant to go invade Zambia or anything like that.

Yes the POTUS is in charge of the Military, as for what he can do, well W has in many ways redfined this, but the War Powers Act gives the POTUS, Authority to deploy the Military for 90 days without Congressional Approval. This is all branches and not limited to the Marine Corps. Also remember that the Marine Corps (A Corps is made up of 3 divisions) is a part of the Dept. of the Navy. While the USMC are treated like a seperate branch, the fact is they are a part of the Navy and get their funds from the Navy.

I am a Vet with 4 years Exp. in the Navy and 2 in the Army reserve.