He was promoted to colonel in his forties.
He was promoted to colonel in the army.
海軍では大佐は艦長を務めることが多い。
In the navy, a captain often serves as the commanding officer of a ship.
The rank of colonel is one level below general officer.
大佐 and 少佐 look similar in writing, but 大佐 outranks 少佐, which corresponds to major/lieutenant commander.
Standard kanji spelling for the rank of colonel or navy captain.
From Chinese-derived terms 大 (great) and 佐 (assistant, help), originally used in ancient Chinese official titles and later adopted for modern military ranks in Japan.