From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlieutenant colonel/general/governor etclieutenant colonel/general/governor etcPGOan officer or official with the rank just below colonel, general2, governor etc → lieutenant
Examples from the Corpus
lieutenant colonel/general/governor etc• One 12-year-old boy arrived, claiming to be a lieutenant colonel.• He had been a lieutenant colonel in public relations in Baltimore.• He landed at night, and was met at base ops by a lieutenant colonel.• She is a nice enough lady whose husband is a lieutenant colonel, U. S. Army, retired.• He retired, still a lieutenant general, in 1972.• Three years as a legislative liaison, six years in the state senate, four tedious years as lieutenant governor.• Short was a three-star lieutenant general commanding the Army in Hawaii.• He found the lieutenant colonel, although only touching fifty, almost impossibly grand. 