the.com/wing commander
the middle child of military ranks: too senior to fly recklessly, too junior to avoid paperwork.
means a commissioned officer rank in the royal air force and commonwealth air forces, above squadron leader and below group captain, roughly equivalent to a lieutenant colonel.
from created in 1918 when the raf split from the army and navy and needed its own rank system instead of borrowing colonels and captains; the name literally described the job, commanding a wing of squadrons.
nato equivalentos-4, same tier as lieutenant colonel
insigniathree thin gold rings on the sleeve
fictional fameeclipsed real usage via a 1990s video game
typical commandleads a squadron or a wing of aircraft
for instance
guy gibson — led the 1943 dambusters raid as a wing commander
douglas bader — legless wwii ace, raf wing commander and legend
wing commander game — 1990 origin franchise, sold millions, spawned a film