Tag: senior officer

A senior officer is a member of the middle echelons among commissioned officers, ranking above junior officers and below flag officers. Commissioned officers are the senior portion of a military force, whose authority stems from a commission received from the head of state. Strictly speaking, only commissioned officers are actual officers, but the term "commissioned officer" is used to distinguish them from lower ranks to whom the term "officer" may also be applied; those are warrant officers, who are designated by warrant, and non-commissioned officers, senior enlisted who have received authority through promotion.

For tagging purposes, a senior officer holds any of the following three ranks, or their equivalents:

• Imperial Japanese 少佐 (shousa), Japanese SDF 3佐 / 三佐 (sansa), North Atlantic Treaty Organization code OF-3.
• Imperial Japanese 中佐 (chuusa), Japanese SDF 2佐 / 二佐 (nisa), North Atlantic Treaty Organization code OF-4.
• Imperial Japanese 大佐 (taisa), Japanese SDF 1佐 / 一佐 (issa), North Atlantic Treaty Organization code OF-5.

Their English-language equivalents include:

• Shousa/sansa: lieutenant commander (navy), major or commandant (army), major or squadron leader (air force).
• Chuusa/nisa: commander (navy), lieutenant colonel (army), lieutenant colonel or wing commander (air force).
• Taisa/issa: captain (navy), colonel (army), colonel or group captain (air force).

Please note that, due to overlap in meanings for the names of certain ranks in English (such as different forces using the same names for different ranks, or the words also holding meanings that are unrelated to the ranks themselves), foreign dubs and subs are generally not considered valid sources on military ranks; please refer to the original audio instead.