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A senior officer is an officer of a more senior grade in military or other uniformed services. In military organisations, the term may refer to any officer above junior officer rank, but usually specifically refers to the middle-ranking group of commissioned officers above junior officer ranks but below flag, general or air rank. [1] In most countries, this includes the ranks of lieutenant commander/major/squadron leader, commander/lieutenant colonel/wing commander and naval captain/colonel/group captain, or their equivalents. In some countries, it also includes brigadiers and commodores.
Sometimes, particularly in the army, this grade is referred to as field-grade officers, field officers or officers of field rank. Historically, a regiment or battalion's field officers made up its command element.
In the Canadian Armed Forces, the term "senior officer" (French : officier supérieur [2] ) is used in all three services. It includes the army and air force ranks of major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, and the naval ranks of lieutenant-commander, commander, and captain. [3]
In the French Armed Forces, senior officers are called officiers supérieurs. They include the army and air force ranks of commandant , lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and the naval ranks of capitaine de corvette , capitaine de frégate and capitaine de vaisseau .
In the German Bundeswehr , officers of the rank of Major, Oberstleutnant and Oberst in the Heer (army) and Luftwaffe (air force), and Korvettenkapitän , Fregattenkapitän and Kapitän zur See in the German Navy are traditionally known as Stabsoffiziere (English: staff officers).
Shtabofitser (Russian : Штаб-офицер), derived from the German stabsoffizier, was the designation of the following officers of the Russian Imperial Army and Navy until 1917.
Rank group | Field officers (Russian : Штаб-офицеры, romanized: Shtabofitsery) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nevsky 1st Infantry Regiment | |||||||||
Ivanogorodsky 99th IR | |||||||||
Полковник Polkovnik | Подполко́вник Podpolkovnik | Майо́р Major | Капитан Kapitan | Штабс-капитан Stabs-kapitan |
The British Army and Royal Marines use the terms "officers of field rank" or "field officers" to refer to the ranks of major, lieutenant colonel, colonel and brigadier. The term "senior officer" is used for the ranks of lieutenant commander, commander, captain and commodore in the Royal Navy, and squadron leader, wing commander and group captain in the Royal Air Force. An RAF air commodore, however, is considered to be an air officer.
A number of other armed forces in the Commonwealth, including Australia and New Zealand, also follow this pattern.
This officer group in the United States Armed Forces has two different names depending on the branch. In the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force the rank group is called field grade and consists of Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel. In the Navy and Coast Guard the rank group is called senior officers and consists of Commander and Captain. [4]
Commodore is a senior naval rank used in many navies which is equivalent to brigadier or brigadier general and air commodore. It is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. It is either regarded as the most junior of the flag officers rank or may not hold the jurisdiction of a flag officer at all depending on the officer's appointment. Non-English-speaking nations commonly use the rank of flotilla admiral, counter admiral, or senior captain as an equivalent, although counter admiral may also correspond to rear admiral lower half abbreviated as RDML.
Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies and other institutions organized along military lines. Responsibility for personnel, equipment and missions grow with each advancement. The military rank system defines dominance, authority and responsibility within a military hierarchy. It incorporates the principles of exercising power and authority into the military chain of command—the succession of commanders superior to subordinates through which command is exercised. The military chain of command is an important component for organized collective action.
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who does not hold a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. In contrast, commissioned officers usually enter directly from a military academy, officer training corps (OTC) or reserve officer training corps (ROTC), or officer candidate school (OCS) or officer training school (OTS), after receiving a post-secondary degree.
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank in most armies and air forces is major, and in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces is squadron leader. It is roughly equivalent to the Corvette Captain rank in central European countries and the Captain 3rd rank rank in eastern European/CIS countries.
Brigadier general or brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops.
Commander is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries, this naval rank is termed as a frigate captain.
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant or secretary to a person of high rank, usually a senior military, police or government officer, or to a member of a royal family or a head of state.
Modern Russian military ranks trace their roots to the Table of Ranks established by Peter the Great. Most of the rank names were borrowed from existing German/Prussian, French, English, Dutch, and Polish ranks upon the formation of the Russian regular army in the late 17th century.
Commandant is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police rank. It is also often used to refer to the commander of a military prison or prison camp.
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command.
Oberst is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti and the Icelandic rank ofursti.
Senior captain is a rank which is used in some countries' armed forces, navies, merchant marines, civil aviation and in the airline industry.
In the uniformed services of the United States, captain is a commissioned-officer rank. In keeping with the traditions of the militaries of most nations, the rank varies between the services, being a senior rank in the naval services and a junior rank in the ground and air forces. Many fire departments and police departments in the United States also use the rank of captain as an officer in a specific unit.
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain.
Scrambled eggs or scrambled egg is a slang term for the typically leaf-shaped embellishments found on the visors of peaked caps worn by military officers and for the senior officers who wear them. The phrase is derived from the resemblance that the emblems have to scrambled eggs, particularly when the embellishments are gold in color.
In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of commander is a naval rank equal to a lieutenant-colonel of the army or air force. A commander is senior to a lieutenant-commander or an army or air force major, and junior to a captain or colonel.
In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of lieutenant-commander (LCdr) is the naval rank equal to major in the army or air force and is the first rank of senior officer. Lieutenant-commanders are senior to lieutenants (N) and to army and air force captains, and are junior to commanders and lieutenant colonels.
Commandant is a military rank used in many - typically Francophone or Hispanophone - countries, where it is usually equivalent to the rank of major.
The system of Vietnamese military ranks was originally introduced on 22 March 1946 by President Ho Chi Minh, originally based on the military ranks system of Japanese military. Reference designs to the military ranks system of the French military. In 1958, the Vietnam People's Army military ranks system was changed, and has no Marshal or General of the Army or Brigadier General. In contrast, the Colonel General, Senior Colonel or Senior Lieutenant in Vietnam at present do not exist in many countries.
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, etc. In militaries, the captain is typically at the level of an officer commanding a company or battalion of infantry, a ship, or a battery of artillery, or another distinct unit. It can also be a rank of command in an air force. The term also may be used as an informal or honorary title for persons in similar commanding roles.