Commander
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Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common
Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example "platoon commander", "brigade commander" and "squadron commander". In the police, terms such as "borough commander" and "incident commander" are used.
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Commander is a rank used in
The title, originally "master and commander", 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 to warrant the assignment of a
A corresponding rank in some navies is frigate captain. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4.
Various functions of commanding officers were also styled commander. In the navy of the Dutch Republic, anyone who commanded a ship or a fleet without having an appropriate rank to do so could be called a Commandeur. This included ad hoc fleet commanders and acting captains (Luitenant-Commandeur). In the fleet of the Admiralty of Zeeland however, commandeur was a formal rank, the equivalent of Schout-bij-nacht (rear-admiral) in the other Dutch admiralties. The Dutch use of the title as a rank lives on in the Royal Netherlands Navy, as the equivalent of commodore. In the Royal Netherlands Air Force, however, this rank is known by the English spelling of commodore which is the Dutch equivalent of the British air commodore.
Australia
The rank of commander in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is identical in description to that of a commander in the British Royal Navy. RAN chaplains who are in divisions 1, 2 or 3 (of five divisions) have the equivalent rank standing of commanders. This means that to officers and NCOs below the rank of commander, lieutenant colonel, or wing commander, the chaplain is a superior.
To those officers ranked higher than commander, the chaplain is subordinate. Although this equivalency exists, RAN chaplains who are in divisions 1, 2 or 3 do not actually wear the rank of commander, and they hold no command privilege.
Canada
Commander is a naval rank in Scandinavia (Kommandør in Danish and Norwegian, Kommendör in Swedish) equivalent to the Anglo-American naval rank of captain. The Scandinavian rank of commander is immediately above "commander-captain" (Norwegian: Kommandørkaptein, Swedish: Kommendörkapten, Danish: Kommandørkaptajn), which is equivalent to the Anglo-American naval rank of commander.[2]
Denmark
In Denmark, the rank of commander exists as kommandørkaptajn (commander captain or commanding captain), which is senior to orlogskaptajn (captain) and kommandør (commander), which is senior to kommandørkaptajn. Kommandørkaptajn is officially translated into Englis as "Commander, Senior Grade", while orlogskaptajn is officially translated as '"Commander."[3]
United Kingdom
A commander in the Royal Navy is above the rank of lieutenant commander, below the rank of captain, and is equivalent in rank to a lieutenant colonel in the army. A commander may command a frigate, destroyer, submarine, aviation squadron or shore installation, or may serve on a staff.
Royal Air Force
Since the British
United States
In the
Promotion to commander in the U.S. Navy is governed by United States Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) of 1980 or its companion Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act (ROPMA). DOPMA/ROPMA guidelines suggest that 70% of lieutenant commanders should be promoted to commander after serving a minimum of three years at their present rank and after attaining 15 to 17 years of cumulative commissioned service, although this percentage may vary and be appreciably less for certain officer designators (i.e., primary "specialties") depending on defense budgets, force structure, and the needs of the service.
Gallery
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(Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard)[30]
Commander as a military appointment
For instance, as in various small colonial settlements (such as various
British Army
In the
In the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry commander is a rank equivalent to major.
Netherlands
Commandeur as title of colonial office was the case on the island of
New Zealand Army
The usage is similar/identical to the British Army, with the term "commander" having been applied to the colonel who was Commander, 2 Land Force Group, Linton Camp, and now to Commander, 1 Brigade.
Spanish Armed Forces and Guardia Civil
In the
United States Army
In the
United States Air Force
In the
United States Space Force
In the United States Space Force, the term "commander" is applied officially to the commanding officer of a Space Force unit; hence, there are squadron commanders, delta commanders, and commanders of field commands. In rank, a squadron commander is a lieutenant colonel, a delta commander is a colonel, and the commander of a field command is a major general or lieutenant general.
Commander as a non-military rank or title
NASA rank
In NASA spacecraft missions since the beginning of Project Gemini, one crew member on each spacecraft is designated as mission commander. The commander is the captain of the ship, and makes all real-time critical decisions on behalf of the crew and in coordination with the Mission Control Center (MCC).
Use in aviation
The title of aircraft commander is used in civil aviation to refer to the pilot in command (commonly referred to as "captain", which is technically an airline rank and not related to the commander's role on board the aircraft).
British police rank
Within the
The Metropolitan Police introduced the rank in 1946, after the rank of deputy assistant commissioner was split in two, with senior DACs keeping that rank and title and junior DACs being regraded as commanders. The Metropolitan Police also used the rank of deputy commander, ranking just below that of commander, between 1946 and 1968.
Officers in charge of the twelve geographical
The Metropolitan Police Service announced that by summer 2018 the rank would be phased out, along with that of chief inspector.[33] However, in August 2017 it was announced that the new Commissioner Cressida Dick had cancelled the plan to phase them out.[34]
The rank badge worn by a commander or an assistant chief constable consists of crossed tipstaves within a wreath. Within the Metropolitan Police Service, the tips of the tipstaves are blue and not red, unlike other forces. Until the abolition of the rank of deputy commander in 1968, however, a commander wore the same badge of rank as a deputy assistant commissioner.
Australian police rank
In Australia, commander is a rank used by the Victorian,
In New South Wales the position of commander is instated to officers (usually superintendents) in charge of a command or unit.
American police rank
Some large police departments and sheriff's offices in the US have a commander rank. Most commonly, this is the next rank above captain. Examples of this include the Chicago Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department, San Francisco Police Department, Portland Police Bureau and Rochester Police Department. In others, such as the Phoenix Police Department and Saint Paul Police Department, a commander rank is the next rank above lieutenant, and is equivalent to captain. In the Northport, Florida's police department, however, commanders are below captains.
A commander in the LAPD is equivalent to an
The insignia worn is commonly every insignia between major and major general, depending on the police or sheriff's department. Albuquerque Police Department commanders are captain equivalents, however, with the brass version of the captain's insignia. In some other police or sheriff's departments where the captains have brass insignias instead of silver, such as Florida's Lee County Sheriff's Department, commanders are above captains, and below majors, with the insignia being brass captain's bars with wreathes around. Northport's police commanders have the insignia of second lieutenants. Commander is also used as a title in certain circumstances, such as the commander of a squad of detectives, who would usually be of the rank of lieutenant, and in some police or sheriff's departments where commanders are ranks, officers or deputies of separate ranks are also referred to as commander by title.
Canadian police rank
The Montreal police force, Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, uses the rank of commander (Commandant).[37]
Incident Command System
In the Incident Command System the incident commander is in charge of the response to an emergency. The title may pass from person to person as the incident develops.
Chivalric orders
The title of commander is used in chivalric orders such as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for a member senior to a knight. The title of knight commander is often used to denote an even higher rank. These conventions are also used by most of the continental orders of chivalry. The United Kingdom uses different classifications.
In most of the British orders of knighthood, the grade of knight (or dame) commander is the lowest grade of knighthood, but is above the grade of companion (which does not carry a knighthood). In the
See also
- Comparative military ranks
Notes
References
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- ^ "NATO grades / national ranks: Navy" (PDF). Hellenic Multinational Peace Support Operations Training Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
- ^ STANAG 2116. 2022-04-16.
- ^ Antigua & Barbuda Defence Force. "Paratus" (PDF). Regional Publications Ltd. pp. 12–13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Badges of rank" (PDF). defence.gov.au. Department of Defence (Australia). Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- ^ "OFFICER RANKS". rbdf.gov.bs. Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ "Ranks and appointment". canada.ca. Government of Canada. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ "Sotilasarvot Puolustusvoimissa". puolustusvoimat.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Defence Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ "BADGES OF RANK". Official Jamaica Defence Force Website. 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ "Defense Act of 2008" (PDF). 3 September 2008. p. 8. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
- ^ "Karių laipsnių ženklai". kariuomene.kam.lt (in Lithuanian). Ministry of National Defence (Lithuania). Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ "Pangkat". mafhq.mil.my (in Malay). Malaysian Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "Government Notice" (PDF). Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia. Vol. 4547. 20 August 2010. pp. 99–102. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
- ^ "De rangonderscheidingstekens van de krijgsmacht" (PDF) (in Dutch). Ministry of Defence (Netherlands). 19 December 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "Badges of Rank". nzdf.mil.nz. New Zealand Defence Force. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
- LCCN 92009026. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
- ^ "Militære grader". forsvaret.no (in Norwegian). Norwegian Armed Forces. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ "Grade militare (Military ranks)". defense.ro (in Romanian). Romanian Defence Staff. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "Nya gradbeteckningar införs". Försvarsmakten. 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
- ^ "Tonga Defence Services (Amendment) Regulations 2009" (PDF). Tonga Government Gazette Supplement Extraordinary. 5: 151–153. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ "Rank Chart (Commissioned Officers)". 69.0.195.188. Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. Retrieved 27 May 2021.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "U.S. Military Rank Insignia". defense.gov. Department of Defense. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ ""Met police to modernise its rank structure", MPS website". Archived from the original on 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
- ^ "Met cancels plan to abolish two ranks". Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
- ^ "Victoria Police Website". Archived from the original on 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
- ^ "Western Australia Police Website". Archived from the original on 2008-01-06. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ "Positions". Service de police de la Ville de Montréal. Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 30 December 2009.