Non-commissioned officer

A sergeant of the Coldstream Guards addressing through the ranks during the rehearsal for the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
Comparative military ranks
Armies,
air forces
(non-Commonwealth)		 Navies,
coast guards		 Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Flag commissioned officers
Field marshal or Marshal or Captain general Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force
General or
colonel general or
army general		 Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general or
army corps general		 Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general or
divisional general		 Rear admiral or
Counter admiral		 Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore or
flotilla admiral		 Air commodore
Senior commissioned officers
Colonel (Ship-of-the-line)
Captain		 Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Frigate captain or
Commander		 Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Corvette captain or Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Junior commissioned officers
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
First lieutenant or
lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant or
junior lieutenant		 Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Non-commissioned officers
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Enlisted ranks
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Lance corporal or
Lance bombardier or
Specialist		 Able seaman Leading aircraftman or
Air specialist
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
sapper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who does not hold a commission.[1][2][3] Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks.[4] In contrast, commissioned officers usually enter directly from a military academy, officer training corps (OTC) or reserve officer training corps (ROTC), or officer candidate school (OCS) or officer training school (OTS), after receiving a post-secondary degree.[5]

The NCO corps usually includes many grades of enlisted, corporal and sergeant; in some countries, warrant officers also carry out the duties of NCOs. The naval equivalent includes some or all grades of petty officer. There are different classes of non-commissioned officers, including junior (lower ranked) non-commissioned officers (JNCO) and senior/staff (higher ranked) non-commissioned officers (SNCO).[6] All non-commissioned officers are considered junior to any commissioned (or warrant) officer, although there are rare instances where an NCO may hold a varying level of authority over a commissioned officer.

  1. ^ "non-commissioned officer – definition of non-commissioned officer by Macmillan Dictionary". Macmillandictionary.com. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  2. ^ "NCO – Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online". Ldoceonline.com. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Definition of non-commissioned – Oxford Dictionaries (British & World English)". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Chambers | Free English Dictionary". Chambersharrap.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  5. ^ "America's Navy". navy.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Bundeswehr". Bundeswehr.de. Retrieved 1 April 2022.