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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Some of these responses are freaking novels, it’s not that complicated.
NCO – Enlisted individuals that are ranked E4-E9. They can be put in charge of enlisted that are of lower or equal rank than them. They usually have names like Sergeant, Corporal, Petty Officer 2nd Class, Gunnery Sergeant. They don’t have college degrees, or if they do it isn’t applied to their enlisted job.
Commissioned Officer – someone possessing a bachelors degree or higher than signs a commissioned officer contract. They go to Officer training school and are the ranks like lieutenant, colonel, admiral, general etc… These are doctors, lawyers, engineers and other college-trained professions, but you can also join with like a communications degree and be put in charge of infantry companies or work your way up to be in command of a ship or something.
Basically NCO = no college degree, Officer = College degree. An officer is always going to be in charge of a base, a ship, a battalion etc… they are the high command. A Senior NCO can have a top chair in command but they are usually just the officers 2nd hand man.
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So many long winded explanations.
A commissioned officer is an agent of the government who has received a commission from the head of state (Or equivalent). You can complete all the necessary training and assessments but until you receive the Letter of Commission you’re not a commissioned officer.
An NCO, doesn’t have said letter of commission.
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).
In the UK a commission is a formal letter of appointment from the royal family. You either have one, or don’t.
If you don’t, your job title *can* include the word officer. So in the Royal Navy for example, Petty Officer contains that word, but they don’t hold a commission.
Generally speaking once an enlisted person (IE, non commissioned) reaches a certain rate (it’s not called rank if you don’t have a commission) they are deemed as senior. Again in the Navy they’re called a Senior Rate.
From that point onwards they’re an NCO, and their equivalents around the world by rate are also seen as such – NATO OR6.
Top fact, when you salute a commissioned officer you’re not saluting the person. You’re saluting their cap badge, which comes with the commission, and therefore you’re saluting the boss man (the king now the queen died). So if some random officer is rocking a hard hat without a cap badge on it, technically you don’t need to salute. Same if they just remove their cap – it’s a sign they don’t *want* to be saluted, or they want to be more informal.
This is also why in the forces it is traditional to remove your beret / cap when smoking. So you don’t salute / get saluted. An alternative to this is smartly coming to attention.
I’m an NCO and was once in an army officer training base. They had no idea of my rank as they had never seen a sailor before, and in the Army an epaulette with a crown on it is quite senior. I have a crown on my epaulette but the design is unrelated to the Army rank structure.
The amount of people that snapped to attention or saluted me while I was just shopping was wierd.
Source, 21 years in the British military.
Commissioned = salaried management and execs
NCO = hourly supervisors
Enlisted = hourly workers
In layman’s terms an NCO is an enlisted man who worked his way up from Private and got promoted a few times all the way to Sargent (I’m glossing over some detail I know). He is an experienced soldier who can lead a group of men.
A Commissioned officer is a graduate of some kind of Officer training program. A junior CO is trained in tactics, leadership, etc but lacks the practical experienced of a career soldier.
A Lieutenant (CO) outranks a Sargent (NCO), but the NCO’s practical “Here’s how things work in the real world and not in books” knowledge and experience are invaluable resources to Commanding officers.
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