Idiom
iron eagle
Meaning
An American military officer who has attained the rank of colonel but will not be promoted to the rank of general.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He is an iron eagle who retired after thirty years of service.”
“After failing to secure a promotion to general, the colonel accepted his status as an iron eagle and focused on mentoring junior officers.”
“The career officer eventually reconciled with his position as an iron eagle, finding satisfaction in his command rather than pursuing the elusive star of a general.”
Examples
simple
“He is an iron eagle who retired after thirty years of service.”
contextual
“After failing to secure a promotion to general, the colonel accepted his status as an iron eagle and focused on mentoring junior officers.”
complex
“The career officer eventually reconciled with his position as an iron eagle, finding satisfaction in his command rather than pursuing the elusive star of a general.”
Origin
The term is a reference to the rank insignia of a colonel, which takes the form of an eagle.
Key words
Related idioms
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