Officer (armed forces)

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(Redirected from Commissioned officer)

In military organizations, an officer is a member of the 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 able to exercise command (according to the most technical definition of the word) over a military unit. Non-commissioned officers 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 and warrant officers
4 Officer ranks and accommodation
5 See also
6 External links

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Commissioned officers

Commissioned officers generally receive training as leadership and management generalists, in addition to training relating to their specific trade or function in the military. Most developed nations have set the goal of having their officer corps university-educated, though exceptions exist to accommodate officers who have risen from the non-commissioned ranks. By contrast, non-commissioned members tend to receive relatively little training prior to the commencement of their active service in the military and much of their training is done on-the-job. Education standards for non-commissioned members are typically lower than for officers (with the exception of highly technical trades) and members only receive leadership training as they are promoted to positions of responsibility. In the past (and in some countries today, to a lesser extent) non-commissioned members were almost exclusively conscripts, whereas officers were volunteers. Senior commissioned officers, normally Captains at the very lowest, may have the use of a staff car.

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Subordinate officers

In many 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.

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Non-commissioned and warrant officers

A non-commissioned officer is a military member holding a position of authority who has obtained it by promotion from within the enlisted ranks. They will have received some leadership training, but their function is to serve as leaders within their area of trade speciality and they are not generally considered management generalists.

In some branches of some militaries there exists a third grade of officer known as a Warrant Officer. A Warrant Officer may be simply a high-ranking non-commissioned officer whose position has been affirmed by warrant from the bureaucracy directing the force, or may be a separate grade altogether, sometimes actually holding a commission (known as a "Commissioned Warrant Officer").

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Officer ranks and accommodation

Officers, non-commissioned officers, and junior ranks in almost every country of the world are segregated along the lines of the Prussian system of messing, where eating facilities, accommodation, and social facilities are kept separate to ensure relations between various ranks stay strictly professional.

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