Posted on Oct 17, 2023
Does any military force in any nation NOT have separate officer and enlisted corps?
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Wikipedia says, "Officers in nearly every country of the world are segregated from the enlisted," but there's no citation to pursue this further. I'm not counting paramilitary organizations, noncombatant organizations, non-governmental agencies, or non-state entities. I'm referring to navies, armies, air and space forces, marine corps, coast guards, and equivalent armed forces. Thanks!
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Posted 7 mo ago
Responses: 4
Dang. I'd like to know this too. Closest I found was a Quora question:
https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-military-services-which-do-not-have-the-enlisted-officer-distinction-Everyone-starts-at-the-bottom-and-moves-up-according-to-ability
https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-military-services-which-do-not-have-the-enlisted-officer-distinction-Everyone-starts-at-the-bottom-and-moves-up-according-to-ability
Are there any military services which do not have the enlisted/officer distinction? Everyone...
Answer (1 of 6): No. According to the laws of war, the definition of a military unit requires that it be led by an officer, commissioned or non-commissioned. Any and every standing army of every nation-state must draw the officer-enlisted distinction. Otherwise, it cannot be considered a militar...
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CAPT Michael Toleno
Thanks! Yes, that Quora question and its answers are helpful and almost on point. The top answer declares that there is no such military force in the world, but it is more of a "there can't possibly be" answer based on speculation rather than based on actual, known data. I wouldn't be surprised if there are truly NO such military forces that are run by sovereign nation-states, but I'm still curious to know for certain. I'm also interested in knowing what such a system would look like. The IDF (Israel) system sheds some light on that, as the Quora answer mentioned.
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In the 1980's and early 1990's I worked at US Army Field Artillery Detachments with The German, Netherlands, and Italian Armies directly and observed a few British exercises as well. To that end all of them had a segregation between Officers, NCO's, and enlisted. With the vast majority of lower enlisted being drafted. Drafts were still in affect during that time period. So for those countries (Except the Brits, because i am not sure if they still had a draft in that time frame) that was the case.
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CAPT Michael Toleno
Yes, I imagine that any modern, large military force that has significant interactions with other large nations' forces would have the officer–enlisted distinction. If there is any country that does not, it would probably be a relatively small nation and/or one that does not have many or any significant interactions with sophisticated military forces.
I do know that many countries don't have well-developed NCO corps, and that most Western countries do employ that concept, to great advantage. I understand that Ukraine didn't use that concept until the last nine years or so, and then developed it under the guidance of Western partners. I don't think that Russia and its partners use NCOs in any way that's similar to the West.
I do know that many countries don't have well-developed NCO corps, and that most Western countries do employ that concept, to great advantage. I understand that Ukraine didn't use that concept until the last nine years or so, and then developed it under the guidance of Western partners. I don't think that Russia and its partners use NCOs in any way that's similar to the West.
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CAPT Michael Toleno
If there had been a source for that statement, then perhaps that source would mention any exceptions to the rule. My original question stands—see the post title.
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