BREVET (a diminutive of the Fr. bref)  , a short writing, originally an official writing or letter, with the particular meaning of a papal indulgence . The use of the word is mainly confined to a commission, or official document, giving to an officer in the army a permanent, as opposed to a local and temporary, rank in the service higher than that he holds substantively in his corps . In the British army " brevet rank " exists only above the rank of captain, but in the United States army it is possible to obtain a brevet as first lieutenant . In France the termbrevete is particularly used with respect to the General Staff, to express the equivalent of the English " passed Staff College " (p.s.c.) .