Non-commissioned officer

A sergeant of the Coldstream Guards addressing through the ranks during the rehearsal for the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

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]

  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.

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