Sub-Officer, or the equivalent in other languages, is a term used in many

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

used to indicate ranks below

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

s. Sub-officer is equivalent to the term

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

in the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Historically armed forces using the term sub-officer have used it to refer to more senior non-commissioned ranks, typically from

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

upwards, but the term often covers all ranks that other forces designate non-commissioned. In navies the term is comparable to

petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be superior ...

. There is a specific rank of "sub-officer" in some armed forces, in the UK Fire and Rescue Services, and in the Irish Fire Services.

Fire service rank

Ireland

Sub-Station-Officer (usually addressed as "Sub" or "Subbo") is a rank in the Irish Fire Services, below the rank of Station Officer. A Sub-Station-Officer usually performs a command function in support of the Station Officer's role on the fireground, and occasionally may take command role at less-serious incidents and takes command when the Station Officer is absent. The badge of rank is two white or silver bars on the

epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of military rank, rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''sh ...

s (or the collar of the firefighting uniform), the helmet is yellow with two black 12.5mm bands on it.

United Kingdom

Sub-Officer (usually addressed as "Sub") is a rank in the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...

and formerly all the British

fire services A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

, between Leading Firefighter and Station Officer. A Sub-Officer was usually in charge of a small one-

pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...

fire station or a watch in a larger station. In some brigades they may be in charge of multi-pump stations. The badge of rank is two white or silver bars on the

s (or the collar of the firefighting uniform), the helmet was yellow with two 12.5mm bands on it. With the transition from a rank based structure to a role based structure, the rank of Sub Officer has disappeared and is now replaced by the role of Watch Manager A. The role of Crew Commander /

Crew Manager A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tas ...

now wear the markings of two silver bars.http://www.firesafe.org.uk/html/geninfo/ranks.htm UK Firesafe Organisation In 2019 The London Fire Brigade changed back to the rank system which resulted in Watch Commander A being reverted to Sub Officer (with Watch Commander B being reverted to Station Officer). The female equivalent in the days when women in the fire services performed administrative and control room roles only was Senior Leading Firewoman. With the advent of mixed-sex control rooms, the title was changed to Senior Fire Control Operator (SFCOp).

Military rank

Argentina

In Argentina the term sub-officer (''suboficial'') formerly applied only to the more senior non-commissioned ranks. Now these ranks are known as "superior sub-officers" and lower ranks as "junior sub-officers". Each branch of the

Argentine Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, in es, Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina, are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the Army, Navy and Air Force, there are ...

use Chief Sub-Officer (''suboficial principal'') and Senior Sub-Officer (''suboficial mayor'') as the second highest and highest non-commissioned ranks respectively. The Navy and Air Force also use other "superior sub-officer" ranks. Argentine Superior Sub-Officer Ranks:

Chile

In all three services of the Chilean Armed Forces, in the

Carabineros de Chile ( en, Carabiniers of Chile) are the Chilean national law enforcement police, who have jurisdiction over the entire national territory of the Republic of Chile. Created in 1927, their mission is to maintain order and enforce the laws of Chile. Th ...

and in the Chilean Gendarmerie, only two sub-officer ranks are used: * ''Suboficial'' (Sub-Officer) * ''Suboficial Mayor'' (Senior Sub-Officer) These sub-officer ranks are the same in all the military and police services.

France

In France a sub-officer is sergeant (or equivalent) and above as well as the rank of student sub-officer. (The equivalents to sergeant are 2nd Master in the French navy, and Maréchal-des-logis in some army units (often abbreviated to "margi"), mostly cavalry and logistics arms, and most

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

units.) Lower non-commissioned ranks, such as

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

and

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

, are not considered sub-officers. Traditionally, French sub-officers are often recruited directly as sub-officers rather than rising from more junior ranks.

References

{{reflist Titles Firefighter ranks pt:Suboficial