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28-412: The gunnery officer of a warship was the officer responsible for operation and maintenance of the ship's guns and for safe storage of the ship's ammunition inventory. The gunnery officer was usually the line officer next in rank to the executive officer . As shipboard guided missiles and torpedoes became more effective than naval artillery , guns were included within a weapons department replacing

56-416: A Navy Staff Corps . The term line officer is also used by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard to indicate that an officer is eligible for command of operational, viz., tactical or combat units. The term is not generally used by officers of the U.S. Army – the roughly corresponding Army terms are basic branch (e.g, Infantry) and special branch (e.g., Medical Corps) qualified officers, although

84-1277: A non-line officer of higher rank by the nature of their assignment or appointment/succession to command, but is otherwise expected to observe normal customs and courtesies outside that role. In the United States Navy (and USN Reserve), line officers are divided into unrestricted line officers , limited duty officers , and restricted line officers . Unrestricted Line (URL) officers hold combat warfare specialties as Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers , Surface Warfare Officers , Submarine Warfare Officers, and Naval Special Warfare/Naval Special Operations (NSW/NSO) officers (consisting of SEALs , Special Warfare Combatant-Craft (SWCC) Warrant Officers, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers, and Navy diving officers), and are eligible for operational combatant command at sea, as well as command of major installations and commands ashore. Restricted Line officers command only within their particular specialty, and are normally in fields such as intelligence, cryptology, oceanography/meteorology, engineering duty, aeronautical engineering duty, aircraft maintenance, public affairs, etc. Navy Limited Duty Officers and Warrant Officers whose technical specialties fall within

112-456: A silver metallic thread anchor and one, two, three, or four silver metallic thread stars below the anchor. When wearing khakis or utility/working uniforms, they wear their rank insignia on both collar points. The Navy refers to non-line officers as Staff Corps officers . (Both line and staff corps officers may be assigned as "staff officers" serving on the command staff of a senior officer.) Staff corps officers wear their corps insignia, rather than

140-450: A staff corps are considered staff corps officers, while all others are classed of the Line. Line officers wear an inverted gold star above their rank stripes on their dress blue uniforms and, in the case of Captains (US pay grade O-6/NATO OF-5) and below, on their shoulder boards in whites. Line officer flag officers (admirals O-7 to O-10/NATO OF-6 to OF-9) will wear solid gold shoulder boards with

168-740: Is in the public domain . List of United States Navy staff corps The eight staff corps fall under different organizations throughout the Navy. The four medicine-related corps ( Medical Corps , Dental Corps , Nurse Corps , and Medical Service Corps ) all fall under the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED). The Civil Engineer Corps and Supply Corps fall under two of the Navy's systems commands , respectively Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and Naval Supply Systems Command . The Judge Advocate General's Corps and Chaplain Corps are directly under

196-584: Is no longer current in the Royal Navy and Commonwealth affiliates. Officers trained in the "Executive Department" of a warship are the only ones trained for command. In the Royal Canadian Navy , officers in the Naval Warfare Officer (NWO) occupation hold a similar function but are not distinguished by any identifiable badge. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from this source, which

224-480: The Judge Advocate General's Corps , in 1967. In 1918, the uniforms for all staff corps became identical to those of line officers, except for the distinguishing staff corps insignia. This was in response to complaints of inequality from staff corps officers. Prior to this, staff corps were distinguished by colored bands between the rank stripes, with a different color for each corps. As of January 2015,

252-549: The Early modern warfare tactics of fighting in a line, either as an infantry or naval formation . In the United States Armed Forces , a line officer or officer of the line is a U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps commissioned officer or warrant officer who exercises general command authority and is eligible for operational command positions, as opposed to officers who normally exercise command authority only within

280-490: The Navy Secretariat . Staff Corps officers wear their specialty insignia on the sleeve of the dress blue uniforms and on their shoulder boards, in place of the star worn by line officers. On winter blue and khaki working uniforms, the specialty insignia is a collar device worn on the left collar, while the rank device is worn on the right. The office of Purveyor of Public Supplies, which would eventually evolve into

308-521: The Coast Guard does have line officers serving as judge advocates, but has no officers serving as chaplains or in the health-care fields. Therefore, US Navy staff corps officers (from the chaplain, medical, dental, and nurse corps) may be detailed to serve at Coast Guard units, and are not Coast Guard line officers. These individuals do wear the Coast Guard uniform, albeit with some differences. Additionally, US Public Health Service commissioned officers are

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336-644: The Line of the Air Force (LAF). The Air Force has no warrant officers. All commissioned and warrant officers of the United States Coast Guard and United States Coast Guard Reserve are considered line officers. They wear the US Coast Guard shield in lieu of the inverted star of US Navy line officers on their shoulder boards and above the sleeve braid on dress uniforms. Like the US Marine Corps ,

364-705: The Navy. Unlike the Navy, the Marine Corps does not have any staff corps, consequently all Marine engineer and supply officers, and judge advocates, are line officers. The Marine Corps has no medical corps officers, dental corps officers, nurse corps officers, or chaplain corps officers. Because the Marine Corps is a service within the Department of the Navy , these staff corps billets in the Marine Corps are normally filled by US Navy staff corps officers in those specialties, serving alongside Marines in Marine units, although officers of

392-611: The chiefs of five of the eight staff corps were women, including the Medical and Nurse Corps. The chiefs of the Civil Engineer, Chaplain, and Judge Advocate General's Corps were the first women to hold those posts. The Engineer Corps was established in 1842, and they were conferred relative rank in 1859. From 1861 their insignia was four silver oak leaves in the form of a cross. The corps was disestablished in 1899 when its officers became line officers. The absorption of ship engineers into

420-638: The commissioned corps of the Public Health Service may be detailed, as well. In the United States Air Force (and USAF Reserve), officers assigned to the medical, nurse, dental, medical services (healthcare administration), biosciences, Judge Advocates and chaplain corps are professional officers. In addition to being professional officers, Judge Advocates in the Air Force are also considered line officers and, like all other officers in operational/combat and combat support specialties, belong to

448-497: The concepts are not entirely synonymous, as some Army special branch officers (e.g., Judge Advocate General's Corps) are eligible to hold command outside their branch specialty. Officers who are not line officers are those whose primary duties are generally in non-combat specialties including (depending upon the service) attorneys , chaplains , civil engineers , health services professionals , and logistics and financial management specialists . A line officer may hold authority over

476-586: The line officer star, placed over their sleeve/shoulder board stripes on their dress blue and dress white uniforms, and on their left collar point on khakis and utility/working uniforms in lieu of matching pin-on rank insignia on the right collar point. In the United States Marine Corps (and USMC Reserve), all officers – including warrant officers and limited duty officers (LDOs) – are line officers, trained to command combat units, although Marine officers cannot command ships or shore organizations of

504-413: The line was the result of conflicts in the chain of command ; as staff officers, engineers were not authorized to command ships, but when in battle the engineer was in charge of maneuvering the ship while under steam power, which occurred usually during battle. An exchange of open letters in 1878 voiced line officers' concerns that discipline was suffering because engineers were sometimes of higher rank than

532-597: The modern Supply Corps , was the first staff corps established, in 1795. The insignia of an oak leaf and acorn was adopted in 1830 to signify members of all staff corps then in existence, which included doctors and pursers. The Medical Corps originally additionally used a rod of Asclepius , while the Pay Corps (renamed the Supply Corps in 1919) used a cornucopia . The Medical Corps was formally founded in 1871, and after several design changes, in 1894 symbols resembling

560-641: The modern insignia were adopted. The Chaplain Corps was established and conferred relative rank in 1863. Chaplains had been appointed to the Navy since at least 1799. The staff corps insignia has evolved to include, as of 2019, four faith symbols: the Christian (Latin) cross, the Jewish Star of David and tablets, the Muslim crescent moon, and the Buddhist wheel of law. The Civil Engineer Corps came into existence and

588-481: The older gunnery department. The weapons department is supervised by a weapons officer who may have a subordinate gunnery officer supervising the ship's guns. This naval article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Line officer A line officer or officer of the line is, opposed to staff officers or reserve officers , a military officer who is eligible for command of operational, tactical or combat units. The name most likely stems from

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616-611: The primary source of health care officers in the Coast Guard, serving alongside U.S. Navy staff corps officers and Coast Guardsmen in Coast Guard units. They too will wear the Coast Guard uniform, albeit with some differences. Health services officers in the USPHS commissioned corps detailed to the Coast Guard represent many disciplines, including the biological, physical, environmental, and social sciences ; medical technology; health care administration; and other public health specialties such as physician assistant . The expression "line officer"

644-643: The ship's second-in-command executive officer. The assimilation of engineers as line officers was a compromise that clarified the chain of command and elevated the status of engineers. This move made the United States Navy unusual, as other modern navies such as the Royal Navy still have a separate engineering corps. Due to the increasing complexity of ships' engineering systems after World War II, commanding officers were themselves required to undergo basic engineering training. The Corps of Professors of Mathematics

672-502: Was adopted the following year. The Medical Service Corps was established in 1947; from 1941 until 1947, these officers had been part of the Hospital Corps, which previously had contained only warrant officers and enlisted men. Its current insignia was adopted the following year. Although there had been a Judge Advocate General of the Navy since 1865, naval lawyers were line officers until they were split into their own staff corps,

700-439: Was conferred relative rank in 1881, despite the fact that civil engineers had been employed by the Navy at least since 1827. The insignia of two crossed silver sprigs was adopted in 1905. The Nurse Corps was established in 1908, and was granted relative rank in 1942. In 1948, female Naval officer uniforms were standardized using the current corps insignia. The Dental Corps was established in 1912, and its current insignia

728-479: Was defined as a silver live oak leaf and an acorn. In 1916 it was provided that no further appointments would be made to the Corps of Professors of Mathematics, but that existing members would retain their appointment until all such members had died, resigned, or been dismissed. The corps' dissolution was the result of their own efforts in training line officers who would replace them, making civilian appointments as professors unnecessary. The Naval Construction Corps

756-424: Was established and assigned relative rank in 1863, before which they were civilians. Their insignia was two silver leaves of live oak arranged vertically. In 1940, the corps was abolished and naval constructors became line officers. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] An officer designator describes their general community or profession. The (fourth) digit (X) denotes whether

784-600: Was established in 1848, consisting of schoolmasters responsible for instructing midshipman at the Naval Academy , Naval Observatory , and aboard ships. Although they were civilians, discipline at the Naval Academy required that they be commissioned officers. Despite the name, their specialties were not limited to mathematics, but included astronomy, engineering, justice, and the teaching of foreign languages. They were conferred relative rank in 1863, and in 1866 their insignia

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