Line officer

In the United States armed forces, the term line officer or officer of the line refers to an officer who is trained for command — that is, to be the commanding officer of a warship, ground combat unit, combat aviation unit, or combat support unit.

Officers who are not line officers are those whose primary duties are in non-combat specialties including chaplains, attorneys, supply officers and medical officers. Line officers may also be assigned non-combat roles. Non-line officers are often assigned to tasks normally given to line officers. Also, non-line officers at the squadron or Group level (and higher) are also issued "G-Series" orders which gives them the same relative power of 'line officers' of equivalent rank. In operational circumstances line officers may hold positional authority over non-line officers of higher rank given the circumstance but is often ignored in modern wartime symbiotic military relationships.

History

The expression "officer of the line" is possibly rooted in the 18th- and 19th-century Royal Navy practice of employing sail-powered warships in line formations to maximize the effectiveness of side-mounted cannons.^{[citation needed]} The ships were called ships of the line and their officers were termed line officers. The term also derives from "walking the line" and in many military circles is believed to have come from a "line in the sand" which two groups of officers once used in a political argument to gain power.^{[citation needed]}

United States forces

In the United States Navy, line officers are divided into unrestricted line officers and restricted line officers. Line officers wear an inverted gold star above their rank stripes on their dress blue uniforms and on their shoulder boards in whites. When wearing khakis, winter working blues or coveralls they wear their rank insignia on both collars. 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 staff of a senior officer. Staff Corps officers wear their corps insignia, rather than the line officer's star, placed over their sleeve/shoulder board stripes and on their left collar.^{[citation needed]}

In the United States Marine Corps, all officers including warrant officers and limited duty officers (LDOs) are line officers, trained to command combat units. Unlike the Navy, the Marine Corps does not have Staff Corps, consequently all Marine Engineer, Supply, and Judge Advocates are line officers.^{[citation needed]}

Except for medical officers and chaplains, all other officers of the United States Air Force are line officers.

All officers of the United States Coast Guard are considered line officers and wear the Coast Guard shield in lieu of the inverted star.

Other forces

The expression "line officer" 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 Canadian Navy, officers in the Maritime Surface/Sub-Surface (MARS) occupation hold a similar function, but are not distinguished by any identifiable badge.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Staff officer