Non-commissioned officer

[1][2][3] Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks.

[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.

[6] The non-commissioned officer corps has been referred to as "the backbone" of the armed services,[7][8] as they are the primary and most visible leaders for most military personnel.

Senior NCOs are considered the primary link between enlisted personnel and the commissioned officers in a military organization.

In the New South Wales Police Force, NCOs perform supervisory and coordination roles.

"[9] In the 1990s, the term "non-commissioned member" (NCM) was introduced to indicate all ranks in the Canadian Forces from recruit to chief warrant officer.

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).

In the Finnish Defence Force, NCO's (aliupseeristo) includes all ranks from corporal (alikersantti, lit.

Sous-officiers include two subclasses: "subalternes" (sergents and sergents-chefs) and "supérieurs" (adjudants, adjudants-chefs and majors).

"Sous-officiers supérieurs" can perform various functions within a regiment or battalion, including commanding a platoon or section.

A few JCOs are directly enrolled as religious teachers and in certain technical arms such as the Corps of Engineers.

According to the proposal, the Indian Army will directly induct JCOs who have cleared the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview.

Subsequently, they would be promoted to officers up to the rank of Colonels based on their length of service and qualifications.

In the New Zealand Defence Force, a non-commissioned officer is defined as: On 1 January 2016, the Norwegian Armed Forces reintroduced non-commissioned officers in all service branches, having had a single rank tier since 1930, except for certain technical and maintenance units from 1945 to 1975.

The NCOs are in charge of military training, discipline, practical leadership, role modelling, unit standards and mentoring officers, especially juniors.

Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) in the Pakistan Army hold important positions and are responsible for the supervision and management of the enlisted soldiers.

In 2009 a similar system as the NCO corps was re-established, called "specialist officers".

However the rank of Specialist in the US Army, also with an E-4 pay grade, is not authorized to command troops and as such is not considered an NCO.

These positions are assigned to senior non-commissioned officers (SNCOs), as opposed to the titles "NCOIC" and "chief" (which are held by junior NCOs).

One E-9 holds a similar position as the SEA to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Beginning in 1967 at Fort Benning, Georgia, the US Army Noncommissioned officer candidate course (NCOCC) was a Vietnam-war era program developed to alleviate shortages of enlisted leaders at squad and platoon level assignments, training enlisted personnel to assume jobs as squad leaders in combat.

[14] 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.

[16] Within the U.S. Navy there are different ways that a sailor can earn accelerated advancement to the rank of petty officer third class.

Another way for a sailor to earn accelerated advancement is by graduating in the top 10% of their class within their "A" school.