What is "iron eagle"

n. (context idiomatic US military English) An American military officer who has attained the rank of colonel but will not be promoted to the rank of general.

Iron Eagle is a 1986 American- Canadian action film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett, Jr. While it received mixed reviews, the film earned US$24,159,872 at the U.S. box office. Iron Eagle was followed by three sequels: Iron Eagle II, Aces: Iron Eagle III and Iron Eagle on the Attack, with Gossett being the only actor to have appeared in all four films.

The basis of the fictional story in the film relates to real life attacks by the United States against Libya over the Gulf of Sidra, in particular the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident.

An Iron Eagle is an American military officer who has attained the rank of Colonel but will not be promoted to the rank of General. The term refers to the rank insignia a colonel wears, which resembles an eagle.

There are several reasons an officer may become an Iron Eagle. Administratively, certain occupational specialities are not structured to permit promotion to General without changing to a different career path. Other officers, for political or disciplinary reasons, shall never be promoted to General. Such officers sometimes retire, but others remain in the military for the full thirty years, until the service limitations of their current rank force their retirement.

Iron Eagle may refer to:

• Iron Eagle, a 1986 motion picture
• Iron Eagle II 1988
• Aces: Iron Eagle III 1992
• Iron Eagle IV 1995
• Iron Eagle (soundtrack), the soundtrack of the 1986 movie
• Iron Eagle (military slang)
• A symbol used by Nazi Germany

Iron Eagle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the TriStar Pictures film Iron Eagle, released on July 23, 1986 by Capitol Records. A separate film score by Basil Poledouris titled Iron Eagle: Original Motion Picture Score was released on July 9, 2008 by Varèse Sarabande.