society > armed hostility > military organization > enlistment or recruitment > appointment to rank > appoint to rank [verb (transitive)] > attain rank of (2)
to win one's epaulettes1875
A shoulder-piece; an ornament worn on the shoulder as part of a military, naval, or sometimes of a civil uniform. to win one's epaulettes: (of a…
make1918
transitive. colloquial (originally Navy). Without article preceding the object: to attain the rank of.