Squadron leader
OF-3 rank in the Royal Air Force and other air forces
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence.
Squadron leader is immediately senior to flight lieutenant and immediately below wing commander. It is usually equivalent to the rank of lieutenant commander in the navy and of the rank of major in other services.
The equivalent rank in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Women's Royal Air Force (until 1968) and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (until 1980) was "squadron officer".
Squadron leader has also been used as a cavalry command appointment (UK) and rank (France) since at least the nineteenth century. In Argentina it is used as a command appointment by both the army's cavalry and by the air force's flying units. The cavalry rank of squadron leader in France is equivalent to a major, and the cavalry appointment of squadron leader in the UK generally corresponds to this rank as well.
Canada
The rank was used in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1920 until the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Canadian squadron leaders then became majors.
The public source identifies “Squadron leader” as oF-3 rank in the Royal Air Force and other air forces. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Squadron, leader and OF-3.
Why this record matters
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11912077. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1968, 1980 and 1920.
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This entry incorporates text from “Squadron leader” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.