Throughout the entire movie, when they refer to Maverick by his civillian name, they call him Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, but if you look at his dress uniform, he's wearing Captain's bars.
The US Navy and Coast guard use a different rank structure. Lieutenant Pete Mitchell is correct. Refer to http://www.uniforminsignia.net/index.php?p=show&id=65&sid=1289
Very true, I was confused by this at first but my grandfather was a Lietenant in the Navy and flew Wildcats and later on Hellcats, and in the picture of him that I have, he is wearing Capt. bars but he was a Lt. He was telling me about how the rank structure is different from the Marines and Army
Yes in the Navy it's not just LT that is different. A navy LT is a Captain in the other land based services Marines included. Then a Captain in the Navy is equal to a Colonel in the other 3 services as well. Can be confusing to a civilian. I spent some time in the US Army. Got out as an E-7, which is different in all four services. Army - Sergeant First Class, Marines - Gunnery Sergeant, Navy - Chief Petty Officer and Air Force - Master Sergeant or First Sergeant depending on your assignment.
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