Ranks in the Wonderbolts

[Forlong 1,726]

Okay, ranks in the Wonderbolts are just confusing.  Spitfire, the current commanding officer of the Wonderbolts is a Captain (O3).  But the forth commanding officer, Purple Dart, was a Colonel (O6).  And two of the other former commanders, Firefly and Flash (no relation), were Generals (O7).  Just because that wasn't silly enough, Fairy Flight--an Admiral, was in the seventh squadron.  AN ADMIRAL.  I think most of us know that an Admiral would command the whole of the military.

 

I suppose the ranks could have been changed over the years.  The rank "Master Chief" was changed to "Chief Master Sargent".  General and Colonel could have been dropped over time.  As for the admiral...I'm still wrapping my head around that one.  Fluttershy did say "from the seventh squadron", so maybe that's where Fairy Flight was best known and promoted to Admiral because of her actions therein.

[WOBBUFFET 38]

Spitfire is at the top of the ranks

[Scootalove 10,689]

I tried wrapping my mind around it too. I would believe that the Wonderbolts rank system has something to it, with how the ranks are set up.

[Nature's Spell 526]

Yes the writers are making no attempt to have it make any sense or reflect real military structure. Even the Royal Guard is confusing, but somewhat less so because they've said so little.

 

We know Shinning Armor is the Captain but that is more a position than a rank. We also know there are Officers as per Princess Twilight 1, but we don't know their exact rank. Likely average guards are called Trooper.

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

It is also likely that as the Wonderbolts became separated from the military, their ranks changed, hence Spitfire being a Captain. As for previous leaders, it is possible that they led the team because they had the necessary skill, and that demonstrations and shows were separate from normal military actions, so they would be leading the parade, so to speak. As for Fairy Flight being an Admiral, I have no idea.

[CT-1138 3,184]

Well, if we take the new info from 'Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3' into account, we get some new info on ranks: 

-Generals have the power to NAME new branches of the Equestrian Guard. That would suggest they're very high up. General Firefly not only named the Wonderbolts, but led it's original squad of 7.  

-Colonels lead an unspecified number of the Wonderbolts. From taking Twilight's words at face value, it is suggested that Colonels lead the entirety of the Wonderbolts. Meaning Colonels are outranked by Generals, but not by very much. 

-A Commander acted in the role as a choreographer, suggesting Commanders may not be very highly ranked, possibly less so than Captains, which lead contemporary squadrons of 'Bolts. 

-Admiral is made mention of, but given little context. Apparently, Admiral Fairy Flight was from the 7th Squadron (a USAF squadron usually consists of 12-24 planes), but that doesn't tell us if she was originally assigned to that squadron or if she led it. Since the context is in regards to leaders, I'll assume she led it. That would imply Admirals aren't as highly ranked in Equestria as they are in the human world. 

 

So here's my own perceived list of ranks in the Wonderbolts (this is taking into account the idea of the Wonderbolts as an elite aerial acrobatics teams as well as an actual military branch dispatched to protect Equestria from threats - like they were in 'Secret of My Excess'). 

 

-Celestia/Luna as Royal Commanders of the Equestrian Pony Guard = Command the Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn forces of the Equestrian Royal Guard, Equestrian Army, and Wonderbolts.

-General = commands every Colonel in the Wonderbolts.

-Colonel = Commands every squadron and squadron leader in the Wonderbolts. 

-Admiral = Commands specific squadrons of an unspecified number of ponies within the Wonderbolts. 

-Captain = Commands specific squads (possibly more than 7, but less than the number of a squadron) within the Wonderbolts. 

-Commander = (?) second in command within a squad? 

-Airpony(?) = (?) Rank and position in contention. 

-Reserve Wonderbolt = A pony who has passed both basic training at the Cadet camp and the written exam. 

-Cadet = potential Wonderbolt. Goes through basic training, but is not an active Wonderbolt or reserve member. Must pass at least a written exam to enter reserves.