military officer?

Question

what is the defination of officer?
only generals? i thought anyone in military service is officers.
so when i speak with them what would be the right
honorific? (if i didnt know their titles?)

Answer 1

First and foremost, an officer is a leader. The officer plans the work of the organization, assigns tasks to subordinates, and sees that the work is accomplished to the highest standard. In that regard, an officer is similar to a manager in a corporation. But that is where any comparison to the corporate world ends. Officers lead by example. An officer must be willing to personally undertake any task that is assigned to a soldier.

Even the most junior officer routinely has forty or more soldiers working directly under his or her control. In the corporate world it could take decades for an individual to achieve that level of responsibility.

The level of integrity and personal conduct required of an officer are quite high --- with very good reason. Officers daily make decisions that involve millions of dollars of resources. Their judgment and skill can mean the difference between life and death for the soldiers they command.

Over the years, three words have become the hallmark of what it is to be an Officer. Those words are Duty, Honor and Country. No matter what their specific duties are, or where they serve, these three words embody what it is to be an officer.

Answer 2

Generally, officers are the high level military people, rather than the low level military people. You usually need a college degree to be a (commissioned) officer, and officers get additional training. Specifically it gets kind of confusing. It's poorly defined. The definitions overlap.

At the bottom you have people who aren't Officers of any type. That includes Privates in the Army and Marines, Airmen in the Air Force, and Seamen in the Navy.

Then above them you have Non Commissioned Officers (aka Noncoms or NCOs). That includes Corporals and Sergeants in the Army and Marines (just Sergeants in the Air Force). In the Navy they're called Petty Officers. Note that there are multiple different ranks of Sergeants (like Staff Sergeant vs. Sergeant First Class), but I won't get into differences like those, because they're all Non Commissioned Officers, so it doesn't matter for this discussion.

And at the top you have Commissioned Officers. In the Army, Marines, and Air Force that includes Lieutenants, Captains, Majors, Colonels, and Generals. In the Navy they're called Ensigns, Lieutenants, Commanders, Captains, and Admirals. Note that in some countries, the Air Force ranks have different names.

In between you have Warrant Officers. The low level Warrant Officers do not have a commission, and the high level Warrant Officers do have a commission.

But a lot of times people say Officers or Commissioned Officers, and they're only referring to Lieutenant through General, and they don't mean to include Non Commissioned Officers or any of the Warrant Officers.

The term Enlisted means the lowest level military people, who aren't any kind of officer, plus the Non Commissioned Officers (but not any of the Warrant Officers).

If someone is in the Army, you can refer to them as a Soldier, regardless of whether or not they're an officer. If they're in the Navy, you can refer to them as a Sailor. If they're in the Marines, you can refer to them as a Marine. And if they're in the Air Force, you can refer to them as an Airman (which is also kind of confusing, since the lowest level members of the Air Force are also called Airman).

Answer 3

My father was an officer, but had prior service and also it was a different time. I inquired about becoming an officer. I have prior service and an MBA, but I only have a 10% chance of being accepted to OTS because I have what they refer to as a general degree. What they are looking for, at least in the Air Force, are technical degrees. This would include doctors, nurses, engineers...etc. I know the cut off for the Air Force is that you can not turn 35 before your graduate from Officer Training School. I do not know for sure if you have to have prior service. A great deal of officers are either from the academy, or prior service. I do know that you will have to take an exam, have a thorough back ground check, which includes a look into your finances, you will have to write an essay about why you would make a good officer and you would have to go before a board. After all is done, you will be selected from the best.

Answer 4

no there are two different rank sections in the military,commissioned officer and enlisted. Officers are those who have a college degree and went through either officers training/candidate school, ROTC or a military academy and received a commission. the title of the ranks of an officer are different depending on the branch of the military. But if you don't know their title but you know they are a commissioned officer you may just call them officer. usually its starts 1st lieutenant then 2nd lieutenant after that I don't know and it heavily depends on the branch... and the navy is way different than all the other branches when it comes to titles. Now enlisted folk may or may not have a college degree they go through basic training or boot camp, and are the titles depend on the branch. In the enlisted ranks there are noncommissioned officers or NCO, you don't have to salute these officers, but they have a very important role as leaders. Those are the sergeants staff sergeants, Tech sergeants, master sergents, and so on all the way up to Chief. there are ways to tell if someone is an officer because enlisted typically have a patch with stripes on their arm denoting rank while officers typically have a a thing that buckles on to their shoulder on their uniform with some type of insignia denoting rank

Answer 5

There are two types of officers. These ranks are for the Marine Corps.

There are enlisted Non-Commissioned Officers (E-4 & E-5).
Corporal: 2 Chevrons up
Sergeant: 3 Chevrons up

The other is Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (E-6 to E-9).
Staff Sergeant: 3 Chevrons up w/1 Rocker down
Gunnery Sergeant: 3 Chevrons up w/2 Rockers down
Master Sergeant: 3 Chevrons up w/3 Rockers down or First Sergeant: 3 Chevrons up, 3 Rockers down w/Diamond in the middle
Master Gunnery Sergeant: 3 Chevrons up, 4 Rockers down w/Bursting Bomb in the middle or Sgt. Maj: 3 Chevrons, 4 Rockers down w/Star in the middle or Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps: 3 Chevrons up, 4 Rockers down w/Star and Eagle, Globe, and Anchor in the middle

The other type of officer is a Commissioned Officer. These officers all have some kind of 4 year college degree that's been appointed to their position by the President.

2nd Lt: Gold Bar
1st Lt: Silver Bar
Captain: Two Silver Bars
Major: Gold Oak Leaf
Lt. Colonel: Silver Oak Leaf
Colonel: Silver Eagle
Brig. Gen: 1 Silver Star
Maj. Gen: 2 Silver Stars
Lt. Gen: 3 Silver Stars
General: 4 Silver Stars

Answer 6

There are two classes of officers. Commissioned officers are those who receive a commission from the President of the United States and serve at the pleasure of the President. Warrant Officers are those who are issued a warrant by the Secretary of their military branch. In the Army and Marine Corps, commissioned officers are divided into three groups: junior officers (2nd Lieutenant through Captain), field grade officers (Major through Colonel) and General officers (Brigadier General through General). In the Navy the three groups are junior officers (Ensign through Lieutenant) senior officers (Lieutenant Commmander through Captain) and flag grade officers (Commodore through Admiral).
Officers are referred to by rank as an honorific, but in the Navy it is permissible to call those between the ranks of Ensign to Lieutenant Commander "Mister___" or "Miss___", depending on gender.

Answer 7

Officers hold a Commission from Congress. The rank structure varies from Branch to branch, but the paygrade is the same: O1 to O10. Only the Navy and CG calls O6 Captain.. to everybody else, O3s are Captain. O6s are Colonel. (and for the first answerer, Navy O1s are Ensigns. LTjg is O2)

Enlsited personnell are paygrades E1 through E9.

Warrant Officers hold a warrant from Congress (WO1-WO4)

Answer 8

there are two types of officers. comissioned officers and non-comissioned officers. comissioned officers wear bars on their shoulders and or collars. their rank runs from lieutenant to general. non comissioned officers are enlisted men wearing stripes on their sleeves. ranks runs from sergeant to chief master sergeant. when talking to any military person always listen to your introduction to this person as they are always introduced as ei(Sergeant Jones, or Major Jones, etc)

Answer 9

Depends on the branch of service. Navy starts with Lt. Junior grade, or Lt. JG, then Lt., then LtCdr., then commander then captain, then a few admirals. Others have Lt. capt., major, Lt. Col., Col. and some generals.

Answer 10

if you don't know their rank, just refer to them as "sir".