Junior officer , company officer or company grade officer refers to the lowest operational commissioned officer category of ranks in a military or paramilitary organization, ranking above non-commissioned officers and below senior officers .
31-505: Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest commissioned officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank , and in Spain, it is the second highest non-commissioned rank. As a naval rank, a sub-lieutenant ranks below a lieutenant . In France, a sub-lieutenant ( sous-lieutenant )
62-399: A commission. Over time, however, service as a master's mate became a normal part of the path to a commission. The situation caused some confusion during the last part of the 18th century, when two parallel roles—master's mates trying to become masters, and former midshipmen working toward a commission—held the same title and responsibilities aboard ship. By the first years of the 19th century,
93-416: A master's mate, normally an experienced petty officer who assisted the sailing master . Though formally the rating did not lead to promotion to lieutenant, master's mates were paid more than any other rating and were the only ratings allowed to command any sort of vessel. A midshipman who became a master's mate got an increase in pay from £ 1 13 s 6 d to £3 16s per month, but initially reduced his chances at
124-524: A member of the Board of Admiralty in 1800 and 1801. It may perhaps best be explained as the simplest-possible form of the various loops, trefoils, Austrian knots and Hungarian knots that were popular embellishments on Service uniforms at the time. Lord Anson 's Board of Admiralty issued the first uniform regulations in 1748 to set a distinction between naval and other officers and lay down precise rules of rank and precedence among naval officers. Distinctive lace on
155-454: A single silver sun on each shoulder, Brazilian sub-lieutenants are the most senior non-commissioned rank (called Sub-Officer in the Navy and Air force), wearing a golden lozenge . In Mexico, the sub-lieutenant is the most junior officer in the rank scale, and wears a single gold bar. Thai sub-lieutenants and acting sub-lieutenants wear a single star on each shoulder. The British Army briefly used
186-449: Is a designation, both acting and substantive ranks should be addressed as "sub-lieutenant"; the full designation including "acting" should be used in written documents, however. Indeed, when someone is addressed as "acting sub-lieutenant", it can be seen as a way of patronising an individual in a derogatory manner due to the emphasis of their "acting" rank. The Royal New Zealand Navy , Republic of Fiji Navy and South African Navy follows
217-586: Is greater than 12 months. In the Royal Canadian Navy, all undergoing basic officer training join as naval cadets , but upon graduation, those who joined with a bachelor's degree receive an immediate promotion to acting sub-lieutenant, while those who do not retain their rank as naval cadet until such time as they finish more career-related training. In the Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy and
248-519: Is the junior commissioned officer in the army or the air force. He wears a band in the colour of his corps (e.g. gold for infantry, silver for armoured cavalry, etc.). During the 18th century a rank of sous-lieutenant de vaisseau existed in the French Navy. It was the equivalent of the master's mate rank of the Royal Navy. It is now replaced by the rank of "first ensign" ( enseigne de vaisseau de première classe ). An Argentinian sub-lieutenant wears
279-776: The 1931-1939 Spanish Republic ), Sri Lanka , Sweden , Thailand , Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago , Tunisia , Turkey , United Kingdom , Uruguay , Venezuela and Vietnam . The navies that do not use the curl may replace it with a star, as in the cases of the Chilean Navy , the German Navy , the Russian Navy , the United States Navy , and winter uniforms of the Chinese Navy and the Indonesian Navy ; or with other devices, as in
310-472: The Royal Navy the curl is now common to all officers (less those of its associated cadet forces ), some other navies who copied the custom have restricted its use to their deck officers . While some navies placed insignia above the braid to indicate specialist branches, Commonwealth navies used coloured cloth beneath the gold lace. Coloured branch distinction, first introduced in 1863, went out of use except for
341-703: The Royal Navy . The precise origin of "Elliot's eye" is somewhat of a mystery. One story is that it is in memory of Captain George Elliot , who, when wounded in the arm in the Crimean War , used the gold on his sleeve as a sling. There are also theories that the Elliott’s eye refers to the method of making an eye in a hemp cable and is said to have been introduced into the Service by the Honourable William Elliot,
SECTION 10
#1732848183422372-706: The Royal New Zealand Navy , the insignia of both sub-lieutenants and acting sub-lieutenants consists of one medium gold braid stripe with an executive curl . The size of this stripe should not be confused with the narrow stripe, colloquially referred to as "spaghetti strap", used on the Royal New Zealand Navy rank of ensign and the Royal Canadian Navy 's naval cadets . The Royal Air Force also followed this example of braiding when developing their rank system (see flying officer ). The insignia of sub-lieutenants in most commonwealth countries are identical to
403-486: The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard grade of ensign (although US ranks do not use the executive curl), even though its equivalent grade in the USN is actually lieutenant junior grade . In the Royal Canadian Navy , acting sub-lieutenants display one medium stripe. A sub-lieutenant adds a narrow stripe below the medium stripe to maintain the executive curl on the top. The equivalent air force lieutenant rank has
434-612: The US precedent in titling its lowest commissioned officer ensign . In the Royal Thai Army , Army Reserve Force Students who complete grade 5 and their B.D. are promoted to the rank of acting second lieutenant (ว่าที่ ร้อยตรี). Junior officer The terms company officer or company-grade officer are used more in the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps as the ranks of captain , lieutenant grades and other subaltern ranks originated from
465-783: The cases of the Finnish Navy , the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , the Republic of Korea Navy and shoulder boards of the French Navy . Prior to 1910, the Royal Navy provided maritime defence of British North America and for the Dominion of Canada from 1867. In the early 20th century, Britain redistributed the British fleet and reduced its stations in Halifax and Esquimalt. As a result,
496-616: The date when they were appointed acting sub-lieutenants. The rank of acting sub-lieutenant was abolished in the Royal Navy around 1993 but remained in the Royal Naval Reserve until 2013; officers in both the RN and RNR now commission into the rank of midshipman . The rank of acting sub-lieutenant remains in the Royal Navy only within the University Royal Naval Unit where training officers enter at this rank. Before its abolition,
527-596: The distinctive wavy gold braid of the reserves gave way to the straight braided executive curl of the regular force until 1968. With the integration of the Canadian Armed Forces , unembellished straight braid became the common rank insignia for all officers of both the regular and reserve forces. The executive curl rank insignia was reserved for navy mess dress from 1968 to 2010 and used historical, rather than standard, rank structures, having both acting sub-lieutenants and sub-lieutenants wear one single bar of rank on
558-559: The executive curl for the permanent navy and subsequently the “wavy” shaped rings for the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) and the rings of narrow interwoven gold lace for the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve. Sea Cadet Corps officers had a small anchor in place of the executive curl. Following World War II , the Royal Canadian Navy was reorganized with a single reserve component. In 1946,
589-533: The government of Canada on May 4, 1910, under the authority of the Naval Services Act, created the Naval Service of Canada. On August 29, 1911, it was designated the Royal Canadian Navy by King George V until 1968 when Canada’s navy became Maritime Command within the Canadian Armed Forces . When it was created in 1910, it was natural for the emerging Canadian Navy to adopt the same unwavering rings with
620-814: The medical, nursing, medical administration and technical branches, on 31 December 1959. Although 19 of 22 Commonwealth of Nations navies use the executive curl, according to Jane's Fighting Ships , 55 of the world's navies use the insignia on officer’s uniform in their naval forces; Argentina , Australia , Bahamas , Bangladesh , Barbados , Belgium , Brazil , Brunei , Canada , Colombia , Congo (DRC), Cyprus , Denmark , Estonia , Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Greece , Iceland , India , Iran , Italy , Jamaica , Kenya , Latvia , Lithuania , Malaysia , Mauritania, Mexico , Myanmar , Morocco , Mozambique, Netherlands , New Zealand , Nigeria , Norway , Pakistan , Papua New Guinea, Panama , Poland , Portugal , Qatar , Romania , Slovenia , South Africa , Spain (except during
651-623: The narrow stripe above the medium stripe since these elements do not need to maintain spacing on top due to the lack of an executive curl; the Royal Canadian Navy followed this pattern before the addition of the curl in 2010. In 1955, the Royal Navy created the rank of acting sub-lieutenant, although it had existed intermittently in the world wars. Unlike their substantive counterparts, acting sub-lieutenants are subordinate officers , as they hold their ranks by order and not by commission. Upon passing fleet board , acting sub-lieutenants were confirmed as sub-lieutenants and issued commissions backdated to
SECTION 20
#1732848183422682-566: The officers in command of a company or equivalent ( cavalry squadron / troop and artillery battery ). In many armed forces, a junior officer is specifically a commissioned officer holding rank equivalent to a naval lieutenant , an army captain or a flight lieutenant or below. In the United States Armed Forces , the term junior officer is used by the Navy , Coast Guard , Public Health Service , and NOAA Corps for officers in
713-561: The other with a six-pointed star in place of the curl. In 1903, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was instituted and the officers were distinguished with waved stripes worn parallel to each other, surmounted by a squared waved “curl”. Officers of the Women’s Royal Naval Service wore sky-blue lace with a diamond-shaped loop. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary also employs a diamond in lieu of the curl. Although in
744-445: The prefix "master's" was dropped for passed midshipmen, to distinguish them from master's mates in the navigator's branch. In 1824 two further grades were also introduced, consisting of master's assistants and second-class volunteers. These corresponded to midshipmen and first-class volunteers respectively in the executive line. From this point, passed midshipmen had the rating master's mate, abbreviated as mate, and prospective masters had
775-409: The rank of acting sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy corresponded with, but was junior to, the ranks of lieutenant (Army) and flying officer (RAF). In many Commonwealth navies (e.g. Canada and Australia), the rank of acting sub-lieutenant still exists as a commissioned rank equivalent to second lieutenant, while the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to that of an army lieutenant. As the term " acting "
806-517: The rank of sub-lieutenant from 1871 to 1877, replacing the ranks of ensign in the infantry and cornet in the cavalry. In 1877, it was replaced in turn by the rank of second lieutenant , although this had always been used by the Royal Artillery , Royal Engineers , and rifle and fusilier regiments. In the British Royal Navy, a passed midshipman awaiting promotion often elected to become
837-445: The ranks of chief warrant officer (W-2 to W-4), ensign (O-1), lieutenant (junior grade) (O-2), lieutenant (O-3), and lieutenant commander (O-4). This article on a military rank or appointment is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Executive curl The executive curl , or the "Elliot's Eye" , is the name given to the ring above a naval officer 's gold lace or braid insignia. It originated with
868-518: The rating master's assistant. These changes helped eliminate the confusion caused by the mingling of midshipmen in the navigator's branch. In 1861 the rank of mate was renamed sub-lieutenant. In the modern Royal Navy, all officer cadets now commission as midshipmen , regardless of whether they are a graduate or a school leaver. They are subsequently promoted to sub-lieutenant one year after entering Britannia Royal Naval College . Upper yardsmen commission as sub-lieutenants assuming their seniority date
899-475: The sleeve with the executive curl. On March 5, 2010, the House of Commons unanimously passed a private members' motion recommending, "That the government should consider reinstating the navy executive curl on its uniforms." Guy Lauzon , member of Parliament for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry , explained that the insignia is common to most nations that have a monarch as a head of state. Subsequently, in recognition of
930-403: The sleeves of flag officers was introduced in 1783 and was extended to other officers in 1856 with the addition of the curl in the uppermost row of lace for officers of the executive branch only. From 1879 to 1891, Royal Navy officers wore three brass buttons between the lace. In January 1915, the use of the curl was extended to engineer officers and to other officers in 1918. The naval pattern lace
961-406: Was different in that it followed a straight line with a round loop while British Army uniforms were decorated on the sleeve with a loop that rose to a peak in the form of a “crow’s foot” or “Austrian knot”. When the Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1859, its officers were differentiated from regular officers with rank braid that was half the width and formed two waved lines, one superimposed upon