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A non-commissioned officer ( NCO) is an enlisted rank, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the .
In contrast, commissioned officers usually enter directly from a military academy, officer training corps (OTC) or Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), or officer candidate school (OCS) or officer training school (OTS), after receiving a post-secondary degree.
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).
Senior NCOs are considered the primary link between enlisted personnel and the commissioned officers in a military organization. Their advice and guidance are considered particularly important for junior officers and in many cases to officers of all senior ranks.
In the New South Wales Police Force, NCOs perform supervisory and coordination roles. The ranks of probationary constable through to leading senior constable are referred to as "constables". All NCOs within the NSW Police are given a warrant of appointment under the Commissioner's hand and seal.
All officers within the Australian Defence Force Cadets are non-commissioned, with ADFC officers appointed by the Director-General of their respective branch.
By definition, with the unification of the Canadian Forces into one service, the rank of sergeant included the naval rank of petty officer 2nd class, and corporal includes the naval rank of sailor first class; corporal also includes the appointment of Master Corporal (naval master sailor).
NCOs are officially divided into two categories: junior non-commissioned officers, consisting of corporals/sailors first class and master corporals/master sailors; and senior non-commissioned officers, consisting of sergeants and petty officers 2nd class. In the Royal Canadian Navy, however, the accepted definition of "NCO" reflects the international use of the term (i.e. all grades of petty officer).
Junior non-commissioned officers mess and billet with privates and seamen; their mess is usually referred to as the junior ranks mess. Conversely, senior non-commissioned officers mess and billet with warrant officers; their mess is normally referred to as the warrant officers and sergeants mess (army and air force establishments) or the chiefs and petty officers mess (naval establishments).
As a group, NCOs rank above Private Recruit and below warrant officers. The term "non-commissioned members" includes these ranks.
JCOs are entrusted with supervisory roles and the three JCO ranks are Subedar Major, Subedar and Naib Subedar. JCOs are equivalent in status to Group B (Gazetted) of Government of India.
JCOs are currently enrolled as jawans and few of them get promoted to officers over a period of time-based on their performance and on their ability to clear promotion examinations. A few JCOs are directly enrolled as religious teachers and in certain technical arms such as the Corps of Engineers. As of 2021, the Indian Army is discussing a proposal to directly enrol Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) in all arms of the service to address the shortage of commissioned officers. According to the proposal, the Indian Army will directly induct JCOs who have cleared the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview. The Union Public Service Commission will conduct an entrance examination, which would be followed by an SSB interview and a medical examination. Selected candidates would then be trained for one and a half years before joining the units as JCOs. Subsequently, they would be promoted to officers up to the rank of Colonels based on their length of service and qualifications.
In the Irish Naval Service the NCO ranks rise from Leading Hand or Leading Rate (OR-4) to Warrant Officer (OR-9). In Irish Naval Service parlance the rate or rating is the service members specialisation. Therefore, L/S refers to Leading Seaman, L/RRT refers to Leading Radio Radar Technician and so on.
Further to the distinctions within the Irish Defence Forces you have Junior and Senior NCOs. Junior NCOs are Corporals and Sergeants, (OR-4 and OR-5), and Senior NCOs are Company Sergeant and Company Quartermaster Sergeants to Regimental Sergeant Majors and Regimental Quartermaster Sergeants (OR-7 to OR-9). In the Irish Naval Service, this is further complicated by having Junior and Senior Ratings. Junior ratings from Ordinary Rate (OR-1) to Leading Rate (OR-4), and Senior Ratings are from Petty Officer (OR-5) to Warrant Officer (OR-9). Therefore, it can occur that a person incorrectly describes themselves as a Senior NCO when in fact they mean a Senior Rating.
The NCOs are in charge of military training, discipline, practical leadership, role modelling, unit standards and mentoring officers, especially juniors. Officers commanding and above are assigned a chief or master sergeant, which is the unit's highest ranking specialist, although chief and master sergeants are functions and not ranks in themselves.
Norway took a top-down approach to establishing the Specialist Corps. Since August 2015, volunteer commissioned officers have converted into sergeant majors, command sergeants and first sergeants.
In addition to these, there are also company/battalion appointments held by senior Havildars, such as Company Quartermaster Havildar, Company Havildar Major, Battalion Quartermaster Havildar, and Battalion Havildar Major.
NCOs display their rank insignias on mid sleeves, and in combat uniforms, all individuals wear rank insignias on their chest. They are responsible for the training, discipline, and welfare of the troops under their command.
Warrant officers are often included in the senior NCO category, but actually form a separate class of their own, similar in many ways to NCOs but with a royal warrant. Senior NCOs and WOs have their own messes, which are similar to officers' messes (and are usually known as sergeants' messes), whereas junior NCOs live and eat with the unranked personnel, although they may have a separate corporals' club to give them some separate socialising space.
The Royal Navy does not refer to its petty officers and chief petty officers as NCOs, but calls them senior ratings (or senior rates). and below are junior ratings.
NCOs serving in the top three enlisted grades (E-7, E-8, and E-9) are termed senior non-commissioned officers (chief petty officers in the Navy and Coast Guard). Senior NCOs are expected to exercise leadership at a more general level. They lead larger groups of service members, mentor junior officers, and advise senior officers on matters pertaining to their areas of responsibility.
Within the Marine Corps, senior NCOs are referred to as staff noncommissioned officers (SNCOs) and also include the rank of staff sergeant (E-6). SNCOs are those career Marines serving in grades E-6 through E-9 and serve as unit leaders and supervisors, primary assistants and technical advisors to officers, and senior enlisted advisors to commanding officers, commanding generals, and other higher-level commanders. The ranks include staff sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant (E-7), master sergeant / first sergeant (E-8), and master gunnery sergeant / sergeant major (E-9).
The title of superintendent is used by the Air Force as the title of the non-commissioned officer in charge (NCOIC) of a section, flight, squadron, group, staff agency, directorate, or similar organization. These positions are assigned to senior non-commissioned officers (SNCOs), as opposed to the titles "NCOIC" and "chief" (which are held by junior NCOs). The titles of commander and director are used for commissioned officers assigned as commanding officer of a unit or the head of a staff agency, directorate, or similar organization, respectively.
A select few senior NCOs in paygrade E-9 serve as "senior enlisted advisors" to senior commanders in each service (e.g., major command, fleet, force, etc.) and in DoD unified commands, e.g., United States Strategic Command, United States European Command, United States Pacific Command, etc., and DoD agencies, e.g. the Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. One senior E-9, selected by the service chief of staff, is the ranking NCO/PO in that service, holds the highest enlisted rank for that service, and is responsible for advising their service secretary and chief of staff.
One E-9 holds a similar position as the SEA to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Senior enlisted advisors, service enlisted advisors and the SEA to the Chairman (SEAC) advise senior officer and civilian leaders on all issues affecting operational missions and the readiness, utilization, morale, technical and professional development, and quality of life of the enlisted force.
Warrant officers in the United States Armed Forces are considered specialty officers and fall in between enlisted and commissioned officers. US warrant officers also have their own tier and paygrade. However, when US warrant officers achieve the rank of chief warrant officer (CWO2) or higher, they are commissioned 10 U.S. Code § 571. Warrant officers: grades and are considered commissioned US officers just like any other commissioned officer, but are still held in a different paygrade tier.
Based loosely on the Officer Candidate School (OCS), NCOC was a new concept (at the time) where high performing trainees attending basic infantry combat training were nominated to attend a two-phased course of focused instruction on jungle warfare, and included a hands-on portion of intense training, promotion to sergeant, and then a 12-week assignment leading trainees going through advanced training.Israr Choudhri, The Noncommissioned Officer Course (PDF),
Regular Army soldiers who had received their promotion through traditional methods (and others) used derisive terms for these draftees (typically)Dan Elder, Shake and Bake: The True Story of the Noncommissioned Officer Candidate Course, pgs.7,14–15 PDF who were promoted quicker, such as "Instant NCOs", "Shake 'n' Bake", and "Whip n' Chills".Bud Russell, A Brief History of the Noncommissioned Officer Candidate CourseJerry Horton, Shake & Bake NCO's
The program proved to be so successful that as the war began to wind down they elected to institutionalize training noncommissioned officers and created the NCO Education System (NCOES), which was based around the NCO candidate course. The NCO candidate course generally ended in 1971–1972.
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