Officer (armed forces)

A platoon from the Australian 29th Battalion being addressed by their commanding officer in August 1918

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in an armed forces environment, able to act as the commanding officer (according to the most technical definition of the word) of a military unit. A superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior.

Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se; the use of the word "command" to describe any use of authority is often unofficial.

Having officers is one requirement for combatant status under the laws of war, though these officers need not have obtained an official commission or warrant. In such case, those persons holding offices of responsibility within the organization are deemed to be the officers, and the presence of these officers connotes a level of organization sufficient to designate a group as being combatant.

Commissioned officers

Commissioned officers generally receive training as leadership and management generalists, in addition to training relating to their specific military occupational specialty or function in the military. Many advanced militaries require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. Others, including the Australian Defence Force, the British Armed Forces, Nepal Army, the Pakistani Armed Forces (except the Pakistan Air Force), the Swiss Army, the Singapore Armed Forces, the Israel Defense Forces, Swedish Armed Forces and the New Zealand Defence Force, are different in not requiring a university degree for commissioning, although a significant number of officers in these countries are graduates. In the Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel. The IDF often sponsors the studies for its majors.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, officers are commissioned both directly into the officer corps or from junior ranks as what are known as 'Direct Entry' or DE officers, or commissioned from senior ranks as 'Late Entry' or LE officers. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queen's Commission, generally work in different roles from the DE officers. In the infantry a number of warrant officers - class 1 are commissioned as LE officers.

Commissioning for DE officers occurs after a 1 year course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for regular officers or the Territorial Army Commissioning Course for Territorial Army officers, or for Royal Navy and Royal Air Force candidates, an equivalent period at either Britannia Royal Naval College or the RAF College Cranwell respectively. Royal Marines officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines. The courses consist of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management and international affairs training.

United States

Newly commissioned U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officers celebrate their new positions by throwing their midshipmen covers into the air as part of the U.S. Naval Academy class of 2005 graduation and commissioning ceremony.

In the U.S. armed forces, officers without a university degree may under certain circumstances be commissioned, but are required to earn one before being promoted to captain (USA, USMC, USAF) or lieutenant (USN, USCG) (pay grade O-3). Officers without a degree are usually Officer Candidate School graduates from the enlisted ranks and comprise less than 2% of all officers. Officers may also be commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps, which is composed of small training programs at several hundred American universities. Graduates from the service academies are commissioned immediately upon graduation and comprise around 20% of the officer corps. An officer may also be commissioned at a federal or state based Officer Candidate School. These schools train and commission college graduates and enlisted personnel toward being promoted to officer ranks.

Another route to becoming a commissioned officer is through direct commission. Credentialed civilian professionals such as scientists, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, clergy, and attorneys are directly commissioned upon entry into the military or another federal uniformed service. However, these direct commission officers normally do not have command authority outside their specific branches (e.g., US Army Medical Corps or Judge Advocate General's Corps).

Such commissioning of civilians was widely used in World War II to bring industrial management expertise (for materiel production) and medical and surgical skills into the U.S. armed forces. William S. Knudsen, with the highest-ranking such commission, is possibly the most famous example.

Promotions of most commissioned officers in the U.S. is based on an "up or out" system based on performance, time served in the current rank, as well as length of cumulative service. The Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980 established uniform rules governing officer promotions for all of the services.

Commonwealth

In countries whose ranking systems are based upon the models of the British Armed Forces, officers from the rank of second lieutenant (army), sub-lieutenant (navy) or pilot officer (air force) to the rank of general, admiral or air chief marshal respectively are holders of a commission granted to them by the awarding authority. In Britain and other Commonwealth realms, the awarding authority is the monarch (or a Governor General representing the monarch) as head of state. The head of state often is granted the power to award commissions, or has commissions awarded in his or her name.

In Commonwealth nations, commissioned officers are given commissioning scrolls (also known as commissioning scripts) signed by the Sovereign or the Governor General acting on the monarch's behalf. Upon receipt, this is an official legal document that binds the mentioned officer to the commitment stated on the scroll.

Non-commissioned members rise from the lowest ranks in most nations. Education standards for non-commissioned members are typically lower than for officers (with the exception of specialised-military and highly-technical trades). Enlisted members only receive leadership training as they are promoted to positions of responsibility, or as a prerequisite for such. In the past (and in some countries today but to a lesser extent) non-commissioned members were almost exclusively conscripts, whereas officers were volunteers.

Non-commissioned officers

Main article: Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted member of the armed forces holding a position of some degree of authority who has (usually) obtained it by promotion from within the non-officer ranks. Non-commissioned officers usually receive some leadership training, but their function is to serve as supervisors within their area of trade speciality and, at lower NCO grades, they are not generally considered management specialists. Senior non-commissioned officers serve as advisors and leaders from the duty section level to the highest levels of the armed forces establishment. The duties of an NCO can vary greatly in scope, so that an NCO in one country may hold almost no authority, while others such as the United States and the United Kingdom consider their NCOs to be "the backbone of the military."

In most maritime forces (navies and coast guards), the NCO ranks are called petty officers and chief petty officers, with enlisted ranks prior to attaining NCO/petty officer status typically being called seaman, or some derivation thereof. In most traditional infantry, marine and air forces, the NCO ranks are known as sergeants and corporals, with non-NCO enlisted ranks referred to as privates and airmen.

However, some countries use the term commission to describe the promotion of enlisted soldiers. Especially in countries with mandatory service in the armed forces, NCOs are referred to as professional soldiers, not officers.

Warrant officers

Main article: Warrant officer

In some branches of many armed forces there exists a third grade of officer known as a warrant officer. In the armed forces of the United States, warrant officers are initially appointed by the Secretary of the service and then commissioned by the President of the United States upon promotion to chief warrant officer. In many other countries (as in the armed forces of the Commonwealth nations), warrant officers fill the role of very senior non-commissioned officers. Their position is affirmed by warrant from the bureaucracy directing the force - for example, the position of regimental sergeant major in regiments of the British Army is held by a warrant officer appointed by the British Government.

In the US military, a warrant officer is a technically focused, single specialty officer - helicopter pilots and IT specialists of the US Army, for example. They are given salutes and they are addressed as "Mr", "Ms", "Mrs", "Sir", or "Ma'am". There are no warrant officers in the U.S. Air Force (the ranks exist, but go permanently and completely unfilled), but each of the other U.S. Armed Forces have warrant officers — though each warrant accession program is unique to the individual service's needs. Because warrant officers normally have more years in service than regular commissioned officer counterparts, their pay is often slightly more than regular commissioned officers. In the United States armed forces, commissioned officers and commissioned warrant officers are the only officers allowed to command units.

Officer ranks and accommodation

Officers in nearly every country of the world are segregated from the enlisted soldiers in many facets of military life. Facilities accommodating needs such as the mess hall, bunks and domiciles, and general recreation are separated between officers and enlisted personnel. This class system, historically correlated to socioeconomic status is focused on discouraging fraternization and encouraging professional and ethical relations between military personnel.

Officers do not routinely perform physical labor; they typically supervise enlisted soldiers/other ranks, either directly or via NCOs. Officers will and do perform physical labour when operationally required to do so, e.g. in combat, however it would be very unusual for an officer to perform physical labour in garrison.

See also

• Officer (disambiguation page)
• Direct commission officer
• Exchange officer
• List of comparative military ranks
• Mustang officer
• Staff officer
• Roving commission
• STA-21
• Brevet
• Foreign service officer

External links

• U.S. DoD Officer Rank Insignia