What are the differences between an officer and a non-commissioned officer?
In UK an Officer holds the Queens commission. Senior NCOs are warrant officers & they have a Royal Warrant. NCOs are non-commissioned Officers, they do not have a commission. Privates do what they are told ! Other than very junior Officers who may well be ‘advised’ by senior NCOs, the Commissioned Officer is the one who makes the executive decision. He is there to give the orders & provide the leadership. The senior NCO however is the one who has time-served his position. More so in times gone by than now this was very much part of the British Class system. The commissioned ranks would be only an option if you had the’ breeding’ !
