I’ve read several explanations but they all go over my head. I can’t seem to find an actually decent explanation as to what a “commission” is in a military setting.
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So many walls of texts that don’t answer the actual question:
Basic answer: It’s all about who gets to say ‘you are in charge of these things’. A commissioned officer gets their authority to lead from the head of state, a non-commissioned officer gets their authority to lead from the chief of the military service they serve in. The former generally comes with legal responsibilities, management of government resources (specifically money), and ultimate responsibility for actions of their unit under their governments laws and the Geneva Conventions. The latter comes with specific standards of behavior and usage of government resources (typically personnel and equipment).
A commission is a letter or specific authorization that appoints an individual to a specific office, generally authorized in advance as part of the formal rank structure of a military organization. This office is more commonly known as the ‘rank’, which specifies the level of the office and the relative power within the heirarchy of the organization. These ranks are generally set in advance, and they are limited in the number of people that can hold them at any one time – generally due to the size of the organization or the budget for wages. A commissioned officer derives their authority directly from the head of state or supreme military commander (in the US, this is the head of the Executive branch of government – typically the President).
Example: The US Army is only allowed to have ‘X’ Captains. It cannot appoint more captains until some are appointed to a higher office or otherwise leave service. An individual only stays a Captain while they are specifically authorized by their letter of commission – hence a ‘Commisioned Officer’. If their letter of authorization is withdrawn or they resign their commission by returning the letter, they then stop being a Captain.
An NCO does not have a formal letter of appointment. They are a Soldier under a traditional work contract who is specifically and formally charged with the oversight of more junior Soldiers under the authority of the head of the military department. The department head is limited by the department budgetary office on how many individuals they are allowed to promote to these managerial positions, as well as the specific needs of the military department. Unlike a commissioned officer who derives their authority from the head of state, an NCO derives their authority from the most senior member of the military department (for the US, this is generally the Secretary of the Army/Navy/Air Force).
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