Question about ranks and authority over other nations' soldiers

I could have sworn he was an American Lieutenant but either way it's a good question. When individual countries go to war even as allies they do so under their own respective national commands. They aren't obliged to relate to the status of their ally's ranking but often do so out of mutual courtesy. Were he French he would have been under the command of the French military not the US. So to answer your question no Dick had no official authority but the French guy may have observed it as courtesy.

Now that being said if a joint US British mission were carried out then ordinarily the superior officer wherever he was from was normally agreed to be recognised as in command.


We have to show the world that not all of us are like him: Henning von Tresckow.

I think you missed the underlying point of the Winters in Paris scenes. The people jostling him weren't doing it on purpose or to be rude, they were just people in a crowded big city. The point was that Winters felt out of place and was wondering what he was doing there. It was almost like there was no war going on just a short distance away, and to him the people in the city seemed oblivious. If you'll remember, he wasn't even going to take a pass and go to Paris he got talked into it. He was also suffering from combat stress and having flashbacks, particularly of that young German soldier who had made eye contact with Winters him just before Winters shot him in the attack on the German troop concentration.

To answer your question OP, the answer is yes and also no. Whenever there are other nations of military working around the same area as you, more than likely you are briefed or informed on rank equivalency. Or should at least take the time to distinguish ranks.

Say you are an American Captain and you are with a British Lietenant, you would have higher authority and vice versa.

Those were other American soldiers, not French. And he didn't "ram" Winters, he just bumped into him. It's natural enough for that to occur, in that kind of a crowd, but the offender should have offered an "Excuse me" or "Pardon me", for courtesy's sake.

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

Depends really. I'm ex-Army (British) and worked with US, Danish and Afghan troops. During operations you'd be working with your own unit, alongside a US/Danish/Afghan unit. So never found myself in a position where another countries officer/NCO was commanding our unit. If we were in a position where another countries officer was trying to call the shots above my own officer, I'd probably ignore them in truth.

Around camp it's easy, a captain is a captain regardless of country, unless they were an Afghan officer, in which case I'd pay no attention to them at all. We were never briefed to adhere to other forces commands/orders, but you paid the same respect you would to one of your own officers/NCO's. Reality is you don't really get other forces officers telling each other what to do, you just get along. Unless someone is misbehaving of course. If a US senior NCO/officer asked you to leave their cookhouse, you done it. If the same person asked me to leave a British cookhouse without good reason, I'd probably ignore them.