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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NCOs work downwards, controlling any enlisted lower rank than them. Like supervisors alongside workers.
COs work upwards, taking information from the important NCOs and giving it to higher COs until it’s high enough for orders to be issued with a firm grasp of the ‘big picture’ . Like store managers or regional/district managers.
Technically any CO “outranks” any NCO, leading to the need to salute officers and do special ceremonies for the important ones. In reality the command structure is highly contextual and wouldn’t fit into any ELI5 in a way that covers every possibility. My rank as an E-4 was below any NCO or CO, but my job was important enough that I was regularly the one ‘informing’ high ranking COs when they needed to do things, so there are plenty of outliers where things get complicated.
>Specifically ELI5 : ‘What is a commission’
A Commissioned officer is like the structure of a building; established with purpose directly by the people running the show. A Non-Commissioned officer is like the furniture and equipment, absolutely necessary for the building to serve its purpose but interchangeable and varies quite often. The general Enlisted soldiers are the employees that use everything provided but both the building (COs command and control) and the equipment (NCOs leadership and education) make all the orders happen.
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