Subordinate officer is a term used in some
armed forces for a grade of officer above a
non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
but still not actually
commissioned, usually still in training. Such officers are treated for most intents and purposes as commissioned officers.
Canada
In the
Canadian Forces
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The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
...
, subordinate officers (french: officiers subordonnés) as a group consist of the Army and Air Force ranks of
Officer Cadet (OCdt) and the Navy's
Naval Cadet (NCdt); the
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...
equivalents are ''Élève-officier (élof)'' and ''Aspirant de marine (aspm)'', respectively.
The subordinate officer's rank insignia is a single narrow strip of gold braid worn on the cuff of the Service Dress jacket, or on
slip-ons on the shoulders of other uniforms. Unlike that of
commissioned officers, the peak of the
service dress cap (if worn) is plain, identical to that of
non-commissioned members (NCMs). However, cap badges and other accoutrements are those of commissioned officers which are different from those of NCMs. In the
Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack subma ...
,
Elliot's Eye (the Executive Curl) is absent from the visible rank.
Subordinate officers are addressed as "Sir" or "Ma'am" by
non-commissioned members A non-commissioned member (NCM), in the Canadian Armed Forces, is defined in the Queen's Regulations and Orders as: "... any person, other than an officer, who is enrolled in, or who pursuant to law is attached or seconded otherwise than as an offi ...
, and by rank and name by superior officers. As they do not hold commissions they are not required to be saluted. They may however hold positions of authority, either in an acting capacity or for training purposes, such as second-in-command of a platoon, under the close supervision of a superior officer.
United Kingdom
In the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
,
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...
, subordinate officers included
Acting Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces.
In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...
s,
Midshipmen and
Naval Cadets, as well as Probationary
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...
s of the
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...
. They held their ranks by
Admiralty Board orders. They were officers for the purposes of the
Naval Discipline Act 1957 and the
Queen's Regulations for the Royal Navy, and were entitled to be saluted and to be addressed as "Sir" by
rating
A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both.
Rating or ratings may also refer to:
Business and economics
* Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, ...
s and addressed as "Mr" by superior officers. They also wore officer uniform, although with a smaller
cap badge
A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...
until April 1927, when it was made the same size as that of commissioned officers. In 1972, all cadets became midshipmen when the rank of cadet was abolished.
From 1925, all masters, mates and engineers 1st and 2nd class of the
Admiralty Yard Craft Service held the courtesy status of subordinate officer.
Subordinate Officer was also the most junior rank in
HM Prison Service.
Until late 1922,
it was divided into Divisions II and I.
It is now simply called
Prison Officer.
In France the rank of Aspirant given to cadets finishing their training is a subordinate officer rank.
See also
*
Comparative military ranks
*
Officer Designate
*
Warrant officer (United States)
Footnotes
References
*{{citation , title=The Royal Naval College Dartmouth: Seventy-five years in Pictures , last1=Davies , first1=E. L. , last2=Grove , first2=E. J. , year=1980 , publisher=Gieves & Hawkes Limited , location=Portsmouth , isbn=0-85997-462-6
Military ranks
Royal Navy