Officer (armed forces)

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An officer is a member of a military or naval service who holds a position of responsibility.

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 a military environment able to exercise command (according to the most technical definition of the word) over a military unit.

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

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.

1 Commissioned officers
2 Subordinate officers
3 Non-commissioned officers
4 Warrant Officers
5 Officer ranks and accommodation
6 See also
7 External links

Commissioned officers

According to the Canadian system of ranks, officers from the rank of Second Lieutenant (or Acting Sub-Lieutenant) to the rank of General (or Admiral) are the commissioned officers. This allocation is comparable in other countries.

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. Most developed nations have set the goal of having their officer corps university-educated, although exceptions exist in some nations to accommodate officers who have risen from the non-commissioned ranks. Most advanced militaries, however, require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. The Australian Defence Force, the British Armed Forces, the Swiss Army, the Israel Defense Forces and the New Zealand Defence Force are different in not requiring a university degree for commissioning. They emphasise military, technical and leadership training and skills over academic qualifications (although a majority of officers are now graduates).

Among the Armed Forces of the United States, only the U.S. Coast Guard regularly commissions officers without a university degree from the enlisted ranks. These officers must have served on active duty as enlisted members or warrant officers for at least two years, and have ninety or more semester hours (approximately three years towards a bachelor's degree). Coast Guard Officer Candidate School (OCS) is located at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut (though OCS should not be confused with the academic program for the enrolled cadets of the Academy, who themselves complete Bachelor of Science degrees on campus before commissioning). The other services also commission officers without a university degree but in small numbers. In the Army, the soldier may be selected for and graduate from the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) or may be directly commissioned. Army OCS is maintained to facilitate rapid expansion of the U.S. Army officer corps in the event of war, and commissions approximately 700 second lieutenants each year during peacetime. Direct commission is typical with civilian professionals, such as doctors and lawyers.

In the UK officers are commissioned both from the ranks and directly into the officer corps as what are known as 'Direct Entry' or DE officers, and commissioned from the ranks as 'Late Entry' or LE officers. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queens Commission, generally work in different roles to the DE officers. In the infantry only those Warrant Officers who achieve the appointment of Regimental Sergeant Major are commissioned as LE officers, ensuring that British infantry LE officers are in the top 1% of their peers. DE Officers require Secondary Education to A Level standard and generally speaking 80% of officers have a degree. Commissioning for DE officers occurs after a 1 year course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The course consists of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management and international affairs training.

By contrast, 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) and 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.

In Commonwealth nations, Commissioned Officers are given commissioning scrolls (a.k.a. commissioning scripts) signed by the Sovereign or the Governor General acting on her behalf. Upon receipt, this is an official legal document that binds the mentioned officer to the commitment stated on the scroll.

Subordinate officers

In some armed forces, a further category of officers under training known as subordinate officers may also exist. Subordinate officers, though not yet commissioned, are accorded many of the privileges of commissioned officers.

Non-commissioned officers

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military member holding a position of authority who has obtained it by promotion from within the non-officer ranks. They usually receive some leadership training, but their function is to serve as leaders within their area of trade speciality and, at lower NCO grades, they are not generally considered management generalists. Senior non-commissioned officers serve as advisers and leaders from the duty section level to the highest levels of the military 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 in the United States) consider their NCOs to be "the backbone of the military."

In many navies, the NCO ranks are called Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers (Chiefs).

Warrant Officers

Main article: Warrant Officer

In some branches of some militaries there exists a third grade of officer known as a Warrant Officer. A Warrant Officer may be a high-ranking non-commissioned officer whose position has been affirmed by warrant from the bureaucracy directing the force (as in the armed forces of the Commonwealth), or may be a separate cadre altogether (as in the United States armed forces). Sometimes a warrant officer will actually hold a commission (known as a "Commissioned Warrant Officer"). In the United States military, Warrant Officers are officers who, instead of being at the command position of a given unit, are usually instead focused on their technical expertise in a given field - helicopter pilots and IT specialists, for example. In the United States military they usually do not exercise the same political power that 'normal' officers do, and are paid somewhat less than commissioned officers, but are given the same military courtesies (such as salutes). There are no Warrant Officers in the U.S. Air Force.

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 recreational are separated between officers and enlisted personnel. This system is most efficient at ensuring completely professional and ethical relations between military personnel.