From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Commander
Commander
Common anglophone military ranks several years.[2] The equivalent American rank master
commandant remained in use until changed to comman-
Navies Armies Air forces der in 1838. A corresponding rank in some navies is
Officers frigate captain. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank
has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4.
Admiral of the Marshal / Marshal of
fleet field marshal the Air Force
Royal Navy
Admiral General Air marshal
Main article: Commander (Royal Navy)
Commodore Brigadier Air commodore
Captain Colonel Group captain
Commander Lieutenant Wing
colonel commander
Lieutenant Major / Squadron
commander commandant leader
Lieutenant Captain Flight lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant Lieutenant Flying officer
Ensign 2nd lieutenant Pilot officer
Midshipman Officer cadet Officer cadet
Seamen,
Seamen, soldiers and airmen
Warrant officer Sergeant major Warrant officer
Petty officer Sergeant Sergeant
Leading seaman Corporal Corporal
Seaman Private Aircraftman
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used
as a military title depending on the individual customs
of a given military service. Commander is also used as a
rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed
forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.
Commander as a naval rank
Commander is a rank used in navies but is very rarely
used as a rank in armies (except in special forces where
it designates the team leader). The title (originally "mas-
ter and commander")[1] originated in the 18th century
to describe naval officers who commanded ships of war
too large to be commanded by a Lieutenant but too small Insignia of a Royal Navy commander
to warrant the assignment of a post-captain, or (before
about 1770) a sailing-master; the commanding officer A commander in the Royal Navy is above the rank of
served as his own Master. In practice, these were usually lieutenant commander, below the rank of captain, and is
unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns. The Roy- equivalent in rank to a lieutenant colonel in the army.
al Navy shortened "master and commander" to "com- A commander may command a frigate, destroyer, sub-
mander" in 1794; however, the term "master and com- marine, aviation squadron or shore installation, or may
mander" remained (unofficially) in common parlance for serve on a staff.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Commander
Royal Australian Navy Commander as a military ap-
A commander in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is iden-
tical in description to a commander in the British Royal pointment
Navy. RAN chaplains who are Division 1, 2 and 3 (of 5 divi-
sions) have the equivalent rank standing of commanders. British Army
This means that to officers and NCOs below the rank of In the British Army, the term "commander" is officially
commander, lieutenant colonel or wing commander, the applied to the non-commissioned officer in charge of a
chaplain is a superior. To those officers ranked higher section (section commander), vehicle (vehicle comman-
than commander, the chaplain is subordinate. Although der) or gun (gun commander), to the subaltern or captain
this equivalency exists, RAN chaplains who are Division commanding a platoon (platoon commander), or to the
1, 2 and 3 do not actually wear the rank of commander, brigadier commanding a brigade (brigade commander).
and they hold no command privilege. Other officers commanding units are usually referred to
as the officer commanding (OC), commanding officer
Royal Air Force (CO), general officer commanding (GOC), or general of-
Since the British Royal Air Force’s middle-ranking offi- ficer commanding-in-chief (GOC-C), depending on rank
cers’ designations are modelled after the Royal Navy’s, and position, although the term "commander" may be
the term wing commander is used as a rank and is equiv- applied to them informally.
alent to a lieutenant colonel in the army or commander In the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry commander is a
in the navy. The rank is above squadron leader and below rank equivalent to major.
group captain.
In the now defunct Royal Naval Air Service, which New Zealand Army
amalgamated with the Royal Flying Corps to form the The usage is similar to the United States Army, with the
Royal Air Force in 1918, pilots held appointments as well term "commander" usually applying to very senior offi-
as their normal Royal Navy ranks, and wore insignia ap- cers only, typically at divisional level (major general).
propriate to the appointment instead of the rank. A flight
commander wore a star above a lieutenant’s two rank Spanish Armed Forces and Guardia Civil
stripes, squadron commander wore two stars above two In the Spanish Army, the Spanish Air Force and the
rank stripes (less than eight years’ seniority) or two-and- Marine Infantry, the term commander is the literal trans-
a-half rank stripes (over eight years seniority), and wing lation of "comandante", the Spanish equivalent of a Com-
commander wore three rank stripes. The rank stripes monwealth major. The Guardia Civil shares the Army
had the usual Royal Navy curl, and were surmounted by ranks, and the officer commanding a house-garrison
an eagle. (usually a NCO or a lieutenant, depending on the size) is
addressed as the "comandante de puesto" (post comman-
Royal Canadian Navy der).
Main article: Commander (Canada)
United States Army
United States In the United States Army, the term "commander" is of-
Main article: Commander (United States) ficially applied to the commanding officer of army units;
hence, there are company commanders, battalion com-
Russia manders, brigade commanders, and so forth. At the high-
In the Russian Navy the equivalent rank to commander is est levels of U.S. military command structure, "comman-
"captain of the second rank" (Russian: капитан 2-го ран- der" also refers to what used to be called commander-in-
га). chief, or CINC, until October 24, 2002, although the term
CINC is still used in casual speech.
Polish Navy
The corresponding rank in the Polish Navy is komandor
United States Air Force
porucznik. In the Air Force, the term "commander" (abbreviated
"CC" in office symbols, i.e. "OG/CC" for "operations group
commander") is officially applied to the commanding of-
ficer of an Air Force unit; hence, there are flight com-
manders, squadron commanders, group commanders,
wing commanders, and so forth. In rank, a flight com-
mander is typically a lieutanant or captain, a squadron
commander is typically a major or lieutenant colonel, a
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Commander
group commander is typically a colonel, and a wing com- mander". However, such officers do not hold the actual
mander is typically a senior colonel or a brigadier gener- rank of commander but instead hold the rank of chief su-
al. perintendent. An exception to this is the Borough Com-
An "aircraft commander" is also designated for all mander of Westminster, who is actually a commander
flights of United States Air Force aircraft. This individual and not a chief superintendent due to the size, complexi-
must be a pilot and an officer that has graduated from a ty and high-profile nature of the borough.
formal aircraft commander course and is designated on
flight orders by the unit commander for that particular Australian police rank
flight. This individual is in command of all military per- In Australia, commander is a rank used by the Victo-
sonnel on the aircraft regardless of rank (even individu- rian,[3] Tasmanian, Western Australian,[4] South Aus-
als that out-rank the aircraft commander). tralian, and Australian Federal police forces. The insignia
consists of a crown over three Bath Stars in a triangular
Commander as a non-military formation, equivalent to a brigadier in the army. In all
four forces, it is junior to the rank of assistant commis-
rank or title sioner, and senior to the rank of chief superintendent,
with the exception of Western Australia and Victoria
NASA rank where it is senior to the rank of superintendent.
In NASA spacecraft missions since the beginning of Pro- In New South Wales the position of commander is in-
ject Gemini, one crew member on each spacecraft is des- stated to officers (usually superintendents) in charge of a
ignated as mission commander. The commander is the command or unit.
captain of the ship, and makes all real-time critical deci-
sions on behalf of the crew and in coordination with the United States police rank
Mission Control Center (MCC). The Los Angeles Police Department and the San Francisco
Police Department are two of the few American police
Aviation rank departments which use this rank. A commander in the
In aviation the flight captain is also known as the com- LAPD is equivalent to an inspector in other US depart-
mander. ments (such as the NYPD); the LAPD rank was originally
called inspector as well, but was changed in 1974 to com-
British police rank mander after senior officers voiced a preference for the
more military-sounding rank.
Commander is also utilized by larger Sheriff’s Depart-
ments in the United States. The rank usually falls be-
tween Chief Deputy and Captain, which is three positions
removed from the sheriff. The Clark County Sheriff’s Of-
fice in southwest Washington state uses the rank of com-
mander. It falls between the rank of sergeant and the
rank of branch chief. The insignia worn by a Clark County
Sheriff’s Office commander is a gold oak leaf, the same in-
Within the British police, commander is a chief officer signia worn by a major in the Army, Air Force, or Marine
rank in the two police forces responsible for law enforce- Corps.
ment within London, the Metropolitan Police and City of The Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Depart-
London Police. In both forces, the rank is senior to chief ment (MPDC) also uses the rank of commander. The rank
superintendent, in the Metropolitan Police it is junior to falls between those of inspector and assistant chief.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner and in the City of Lon- The Rochester, NY, Police Department (RPD) uses the
don Police it is junior to assistant commissioner. In forces rank of commander. Higher than captain and below
outside of London, the rank equates to assistant chief deputy chief, the rank is achieved by appointment. Com-
constable. mander is the rank held by the two patrol division heads
The Metropolitan Police introduced the rank in 1946, and other commanders fill various administrative roles.
after they split the rank of deputy assistant commission- The St Paul Police Department (MN) is another police
er with senior DACs keeping the rank and title with ju- force that uses the rank of commander. In the St Paul Po-
nior ones being regraded as commanders. The Metro- lice Department, commanders serve as the chief of the
politan Police also had the rank of deputy commander, district/unit that they oversee.
ranking just below that of commander, between 1946 and Many police departments in the midwest (including
1968. In addition, officers in charge of policing each of the Chicago Police Department) use the rank of comman-
the London’s boroughs are given the title "borough com- der. It is equivalent to a lieutenant in most other depart-
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Commander
ments, being above a sergeant and below a deputy chief mander. In the British Order of St John, a commander
or captain. ranks below a knight. (However, knights of the Order of
Commander is also used as a title in certain circum- St John are not called "Sir".)
stances, such as the commander of a squad of detectives,
who would usually be of the rank of lieutenant. In common usage
"Commander" may sometimes be used by laymen, usu-
Canadian police rank ally applied to the person who is accountable for and
The Montreal police force, Service de police de la Ville de holds authority over a group or the attempts of a group
Montréal, uses the rank of commander.[5] to achieve a common goal.
Incident Command System See also
In the Incident Command System the incident comman-
der is in charge of the response to an emergency. The ti- • Comparative military ranks
tle may pass from person to person as the incident devel- Unit command:
ops. • Company commander
• Brigade commander
Military and chivalric orders
The title of commander is used in the military orders, References
such as the Knights Hospitaller, for a member senior to [1] See also: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the
a knight. The title of knight commander is often used to World.
denote an even higher rank. These conventions are also [2] Why is the Colonel called a ’Kernal?’. Naval Historical
used by most of the continental orders of chivalry. The Center. 1998. http://www.history.navy.mil/trivia/
United Kingdom uses different classifications. triv4-5h.htm
In most of the British Orders of Knighthood, the grade [3] Victoria Police Website
of knight (or dame) commander is the lowest grade of [4] Western Australia Police Website
knighthood, but is above the grade of companion (which [5] "Positions". Service de police de la Ville de Montréal.
does not carry a knighthood). In the Royal Victorian http://www.spvm.qc.ca/en/carrieres/
Order and the Order of the British Empire, the grade of 5_1_1_1_fonctions.asp. Retrieved 30 December
commander is senior to the grade of lieutenant or officer 2009.
respectively, but junior to that of knight or dame com-
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commander&oldid=464901639"
Categories:
• Military ranks
• Police ranks
• Military ranks of Australia
• Military ranks of Canada
• Military ranks of the Royal Navy
• Military ranks of the United States Navy
• Military ranks of the United States Coast Guard
• Police ranks in the United Kingdom
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