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OFFICERS . Historically the employment of the word " officer " to denote a See also:person holding a military or See also:naval command as representative of the See also:state, and not as deriving his authority from his own See also:powers or privileges, marks an entire See also:change in the See also:character of the armed forces of civilized nations. Originally signifying an See also:official, one who performs an assigned See also:duty (See also:Lat. officium), an See also:agent, and in the 15th See also:century actually meaning the subordinate of such an official (even to-See also:day a See also:constable is so called), the word seems to have acquired a military significance See also:late in the 16th century? It was at this See also:time that armies, though not yet " See also:standing," came to be constituted almost exclusively of professional soldiers in the See also: Under this the See also:colonel was the proprietor of his See also:regiment, the captain the proprietor of his See also:company. The king accepted them as his officers, and armed them with authority to raise men, but they themselves raised the men as a See also:rule from experienced soldiers who were in See also:search of employment, although, like
' This See also:section also disqualifies colonial See also:governors and See also:deputy governors and holders of certain other offices.
2 At See also:sea the relatively clear See also:partition of actual duties amongst the authorities of a See also:ship brought about the See also:adoption of the See also:term " officer " somewhat earlier.
Falstaff, some captains and colonels " misused the King's See also:press damnably." All alike were most rigorously watched lest by showing imaginary men on their pay-sheets they should make undue profits. A " See also:muster " was the See also:production of a number of living men on See also:parade corresponding to the number shown on the pay-See also:roll. An inspection was an inspection not so much of the efficiency as of the numbers and the accounts of See also:units. A full See also:account of these practices, which were neither more nor less prevalent in See also:England than elsewhere, will be found in J. W. See also:Fortescue's History of the See also:British Army, vol. i. So faithfully was the See also:custom observed of requiring the showing of a man for a man's pay, that the See also: Thus, the profits of military See also:office without its earlier burdens were in time of See also:peace considerable, and an officer's commission had therefore a " surrender value." The practice of buying and selling commissions was a natural consequence, and this continued See also:long after the system of proprietary regiments and companies had disappeared. In England " See also:purchase " endured until 1873, nearly a See also:hundred years after it had ceased on the See also:continent of See also:Europe and more than fifty after the clothing, feeding and See also:payment of the soldiers had been taken out of the colonels' hands. The purchase system, it should be mentioned, did not affect See also:artillery and engineer officers, either in England or in the See also:rest of Europe. These officers, who were rather semi-See also:civil than military officials until about 1715, executed an office rather than a command—superintended See also:gun-making, built fortresses and so on. As late as 1780 the right of a See also:general officer promoted from the Royal Artillery to command troops of other arms was challenged. In its See also:original form, therefore, the proprietary system was a most serious See also:bar to efficiency. So long as See also:war was chronic, and self-trained recruits were forthcoming, it had been a See also:good working method of devolving responsibility. But when See also:drill' and the handling of arms became more complicated, and, above all, when the See also:supply of trained men died away, the state took recruiting out of the colonels' and captains' hands, and, as the individual officer had now nothing to offer the crown but his own potential military capacity (See also:part of which resided in his social status, but by no means all), the crown was able to make him, in the full sense of the word, an officer of itself. This was most fully seen in the reorganization of the See also:French army by See also: But they were expected to be the influential figure-heads of their regiments and to pay large sums for the See also:privilege of being proprietors. This See also:classification of officers into two bodies, the poorer which did the whole of the See also:work, and the richer upon which the holding of a commission conferred an See also:honour that See also:birth or See also:wealth did not confer, marks two very notable advances in the history of army organization, the professionalization of the officer and the creation of the See also:prestige attaching to the holder of a commission because he holds it and not for any extraneous See also:reason. The distinction between working and quasi-honorary officers was much older, of course, than Louvois's reorganization. Moreover it extended to the highest ranks. About 1600 the " general " of a European army' was always a king, See also:prince or nobleman. The See also:lieutenant-general, by custom the See also:commander of the See also:cavalry, was also, as a rule, a See also:noble, in 1 Except in the See also:Italian republics. virtue of his command of the aristocratic See also:arm. But the commander of the foot, the " sergeant-See also:major-general " or " major-general," was invariably a professional soldier. It was his duty to draw up the army (not merely the foot) for See also:battle, and in other respects to See also:act as See also:chief of See also:staff to the general. In the See also:infantry regiment, the " sergeant-major " or " major was second-in-command and See also:adjutant combined. Often, if not always, he was promoted from amongst the lieutenants and not the (proprietary) captains. The lieutenants were the back-See also:bone of the army. Seventy years later, on the organization of the first great standing army by Louvois, the " proprietors," as mentioned above, were reduced to a minimum both in numbers and in military importance. The word " major " in its various meanings had come, in the French service, to imply staff functions. Thus the sergeant-major of infantry became the " adjudant-major." The sergeant-major-general, as commander of the foot, had disappeared and given See also:place to numerous lieutenant-generals and " brigadiers," but as chief of the staff he survived for two hundred years. As late as 1870 the chief of staff of a French army See also:bore the See also:title of " the major-general."
Moreover a new title had come into prominence, that of " See also:marshal " or " See also: Thus fresh grades of general arose. The next rank below that of marshal, in France, was that of lieutenant-general, which had formerly implied the second-in-command of an army, and a little further back in history the king's lieutenant-general or military See also:viceroy.3 Below the lieutenant-general was the marechal de See also:camp, the See also:heir of the sergeant-major-general. In the imperial service the ranks were field marshal and lieutenant field marshal (both of which survive to the See also:present day) and major-general. A further grade of general officer was created by Louis XIV., that of brigadier, and this completes the See also:process of evolution, for the regimental system had already provided the See also:lower titles. The ranks of a See also:modern army, with slight See also:variations in title, are therefore as follows: (a) Field marshal: in See also:Germany, Generalfeldmarschall; in See also:Spain " captain-general "; in France (though the rank is in See also:abeyance) " marshal." The marshals of France, however, were neither so few in number nor so restricted to the highest commands as are marshals elsewhere. In Germany a new rank, " colonel-general " 2 The title was, of course, far older. 2In England, until after See also:Marlborough's See also:death, rank followed command and not See also:vice versa. The first field marshals were the See also:duke of See also:Argyll and the See also:earl of See also:Cadogan. Marlborough's title, or rather office, was that of captain-general. (Generaloberst), has come into existence—or rather has been revived' —of late years. Most of the holders of this rank have the honorary See also:style of general-field-marshal? (b) General: in Germany and See also:Russia, " general of infantry," " general of cavalry," " general of artillery." In See also:Austria generals of artillery and infantry were known by the historic title of Feldzeugmeister (See also:ordnance-See also:master) up to 1909, but the grade of general of infantry was created in that See also:year, the old title being now restricted to generals of artillery. In France the highest grade of general officer is the " general of See also:division." In the See also:United States army the grade of full " general " has only been held by See also:Washington, Grant, See also:Sherman and See also:Sheridan. (c) Lieutenant-general (except in France) : in Austria the old title of lieutenant field marshal is retained. In the United States army the title " lieutenant-general," except within See also:recent years, has been almost as rare as " general." See also:Winfield See also:Scott was a See also:brevet lieutenant-general. The substantive rank was revived for Grant when he was placed in command of the See also:Union Army in 1864. It was abolished as an See also:American rank in 1907. (d) Major-general (in France, general of See also:brigade) : this is the highest grade normally found in the United States Army, generals and lieutenant-generals being promoted for special service only.3 (e) Brigadier-general, in the United States and (as a temporary rank only) in the British services. The above are the five grades of higher officers. To all intents and purposes, no nation has more than four of these five ranks, while France and the United States, the great republics, have only two. The See also:correspondence between rank and functions cannot be exactly laid down, but in general an officer of the rank of lieutenant-general commands an army See also:corps and a major-general a division. Brigades are commanded by major-generals, brigadier-generals or colonels. Armies are as a rule commanded by field marshals or full generals. In France generals of division command divisions, corps, armies and See also:groups of armies. The above are classed as general officers. The " field officers " (French officiers superieurs, See also:German Stabsoffiziere) are as follows: (a) Colonel.—This rank exists in its See also:primitive significance in every army. It denotes a regimental commander, or an officer of corresponding status on the staff. In Great See also:Britain, with the " linked See also:battalion " system, regiments of infantry do not work as units, and the executive command of battalions, regiments of cavalry and brigades of field artillery is in the hands of lieutenant-colonels. Colonels of British regiments who are quasi-honorary (though no longer proprietary) chiefs are royal personages or general officers. Colonels in active employment as such are either on the staff, commanders of brigades or corresponding units, or otherwise extra-regimentally employed. (b) Lieutenant-colonel: in Great Britain " the commanding officer " of a unit. Elsewhere, where the regiment and not the battalion is the executive unit, the lieutenant-colonel sometimes acts as second in command, sometimes commands one of the battalions. In Russia all the battalion leaders are lieutenant-colonels. (c) Major.—This rank does not exist in Russia, and in France is replaced by chef de bataillon or chef d'escadron, colloquially commandant. In the British infantry he preserves some of the characteristics of the See also:ancient " sergeant-major, as a second in command with certain administrative duties. The junior majors command companies. In the cavalry the majors, other than the second-incommand, command squadrons; in the artillery they command batteries. In armies which have the regiment as the executive unit, majors command battalions (" wings " of cavalry, " groups" of artillery). Lastly the " company officers " (called in France and Germany subaltern officers) are as follows: (a) Captain (Germany and Austria, Hauplmann, cavalry Riltmeister) : in the infantry of all countries, the company commander. In Russia there is a lower grade of captain called " staff-captain," and in See also:Belgium there is the rank of " second-captain." In all countries except Great Britain captains command squadrons and batteries. Under the captain, with such commands and powers as are delegated to them, are the subalterns, usually graded as The 16th-century " colonel-general " was the commander of a whole section of the armed forces. In France there were several colonels-general, each of whom controlled several regiments, or indeed the whole of an " arm." Their functions were rather those of a war office than those of a See also:troop-See also:leader. If they held high commands in a field army, it was by special appointment ad hoc. Colonels-general were also proprietors in France of one company in each regiment, whose services they accepted. 2 In Russia the rank of marshal has been long in abeyance. In the Confederate service the grades were general for army commanders, lieutenant-general for corps commanders, major-general for divisional commanders and brigadier-general for brigade commanders. (b) Lieutenant (first lieutenant in U.S.A., Oberleutnant in Germany and Austria). (c) Sub-lieutenant (second-lieutenant in Great Britain and U.S.A., Leutnant in Germany and Austria). (d) Aspirants, or probationary See also:young officers, not of full commissioned status. The See also:continental officer is on an See also:average considerably older, rank for rank, than the British; but he is neither younger nor older in respect of command. In the huge " universal service " armies of to-day, the regimental officer of France or Germany commands, in war, on an average twice the number of men that are placed under the British officer of equal rank. Thus a German or French major of infantry has about goo rifles to See also:direct, while a British major may have either See also:half a battalion, 450, or a See also:double company, 220; a German captain commands a company of 250 rifles as against an See also:English captain's r ro and so on. At the same time it must be remembered that at peace strength the continental battalion and company are maintained at little more than half their war strength, and the under-officering of European armies only makes itself seriously See also:felt on mobilization. It is different with the questions of pay and promotion, which chiefly affect the See also:life of an army in peace. As to the former (see also See also:PENSIONS) the Continental officer is paid at a lower rate than the British, as shown by the table of See also:ordinary pay per annum (without special pay or allowances) below: Great France. Germany. Britain. Lieutenant-colonel' . . 328 263 292 Major ' 248 224 292 Captain ' . 210 139 to 200 150 to 195 Oberleutnant (Lieutenant) ' . 118 101 to 120 78 Second Lieutenant (Leutnant, 94 93 45 to 6o Sous-lieutenant) ' . . . ' Infantry, lowest See also:scale, other arms and branches higher, often considerably higher. It must be noted that in France and Germany the major is a battalion commander, corresponding to the British lieutenant-colonel. But the significance of this table can only be realized when it is remembered that promotion is rapid in the British army and very slow in the others. The See also:senior Oberleutnants bf the German army are men of 37 to 38 years of See also:age; the senior captains 47 to 48. In 1908 the youngest captains were 36, the youngest majors 45 years of age. As another See also:illustration, the captain's maximum pay in the French army, £ro per annum less than a British captain's, is only given after 12 years' service' in that rank, i.e. to a man of at least twenty years' service. The corresponding times for British See also:regular officers in 1905 (when the effects of rapid promotions during the See also:South See also:African War were still felt) were 6 to 72 years from first commission to promotion to captain, and 14 to 19 years from first commission to promotion to major. In 1908, under more normal conditions, the times were 7 to 82 years to captain, 15 to 20 to major. In the Royal See also:Engineers and the See also:Indian army a subaltern is automatically promoted captain on completing 9 years' commissioned service, and a captain similarly promoted major after 18. The process of development in the case of naval officers (seeNAvv) presents many points of similarity, but also considerable See also:differences. For from the first the naval officer could only offer to serve on the king's ship: he did not build a ship as a colonel raised a regiment, and thus there was no proprietary system. On the other See also:hand the naval officer was even more of a See also:simple office-holder than his comrade ashore. He had no rank apart from that which he held in the See also:economy of the ship, and when the ship went out of commission the officers as well as the See also:crew were disbanded. One feature of the proprietary system, however, appears in the See also:navy organization; there was a marked distinction between the captain and the lieu-See also:tenant who led the combatants and the master and the master's See also:mate who sailed the ship. But here there were fewer " vested interests," and instead of remaining in the See also:condition, so to speak, of distinguished passengers, until finally eliminated by the " levelling up " of the working class of officers, the lieutenants and captains were (in. England) required to educate themselves thoroughly in the subjects of the sea officer's profession. When this process had gone on for two generations, that is, about 167o, the formation of a permanent staff of naval officers was begun by the institution of half-pay for the captains, and very soon afterwards the methods of See also:admission and See also:early training of naval officers were systematized. The ranks in the British Royal Navy are shown with the relative ranks of the army in the following table (taken from King's Regulations), which also gives some See also:idea of the complexity of. the non-combatant branches of naval officers. Training of British Army Officers.-This may be conveniently Army. Navy. T. Field Marshals . Admirals of the See also:Fleet Engineer-in-Chief; if Engineer Vice-See also:Admiral. 2. Generals . Admirals Inspectors-General of Hospitals and Fleets. 3. Lieutenant-Generals Vice-Admirals . . Engineer-in-Chief, if Engineer See also:Rear-Admiral. 4. Major-Generals . Rear-Admirals . . Engineer Rear-Admiral. 5. Brigadier-Generals Commodores Deputy Inspectors-General of Hospitals and Fleets. 6. Colonels . . Captains of 3 years' seniority . Secretaries to Admirals of the Fleet. 7. Lieutenant-Colonels Captains under 3 years' seniority . Paymasters-in-Chief. 8. Majors Commanders, but junior of that rank . Engineer Captains of 8 years'senierity in that rank. 9. Captains . . Lieutenants of 8 years' seniority . . Staff Captains of 4 years' seniority. io. Lieutenants Lieutenants under 8 years' seniority . Staff Captains under 4 years' seniority (navigating TT. Second Lieutenants . Sub-Lieutenants . See also:branch). 12. Higher ranks of Warrant Officers . Secretaries to Commanders-in-Chief, of 5 years' service as such. Engineer Captains under 8 years' seniority in that rank. Fleet-Surgeons.' Secretaries to Commanders-in-Chief under 5 years' service.' Fleet Paymasters.' Engineer Commanders.' Naval Instructors of 15 years' seniority.' Engineer Lieutenants of 8 years' seniority, qualified and selected. Staff-Surgeons. Secretaries to Junior See also:Flag Officers, Commodores,tst Class. Staff Paymasters and Paymaster. Naval Instructors of 8 years' seniority. See also:Carpenter Lieutenant of 8 years' seniority. Surgeons. Secretaries to Commodores, 2nd Class. Naval Instructors under 8 years' seniority. Engineer Lieutenant under 8 years' seniority, or over if not duly qualified and selected. Assistant Paymasters of 4 years' seniority. Carpenter Lieutenant under 8 years' seniority. Assistant Paymasters under 4 years' seniority. Engineer Sub-Lieutenants. Chief See also:Gunner.' Chief See also:Boatswain.' Chief Carpenter.' Chief Artificer Engineer.' Chief Schoolmaster.' Midshipmen.' Clerks.' Gunners.' Boatswains.' Carpenters.' Artificer Engineer.' See also:Head Schoolmaster.' Head Wardmaster.' by the Civil Service Commissioners as to their educational qualifications. This examination is competitive in so far that vacancies at the Royal Military See also:College at See also:Sandhurst (for Cavalry, Infantry and Army Service Corps), or the Royal Military See also:Academy at See also:Woolwich (for Engineers and Artillery), go to those who pass highest, if physic-ally See also:fit. Before presenting himself for this examination, the See also:candidate must produce a " leaving certificate " from the school at which he was educated, showing that he already possesses a See also:fair knowledge Corresponding Ranks. ' But junior of the army rank. divided into two parts: (I.) that which precedes the appointment to a commission; (II.) that which succeeds it. I. Omitting those officers who obtain their commissions from the ranks, the training which precedes the appointment to a commission is subdivided into: (a) General See also:Education; (b) Technical Instruction. (a) General Education.—A fairly high See also:standard of education is considered essential. Candidates from See also:universities approved by the Army See also:Council must have resided for three See also:academic years at their university, and have taken a degree in any subject or See also:group of subjects other than See also:Theology, See also:Medicine, See also:Music and See also:Commerce. A university candidate for a commission in the Royal Artillery must further be qualified in See also:Mathematics. The obtaining of first-class honours is considered See also:equivalent to one year's extra service in the army, and an officer can See also:count that year for calculating his service towards his See also:pension. University candidates are eligible for commissions in the Cavalry, Royal Artillery, Infantry, Indian Army and Army Service Corps. For other branches of the service special regulations are, in force. Those candidates who have not been at a university are examined2 But senior of the army rank. of the subjects of examination. Candidates who fail to secure admission to these institutions, but satisfy the examiners that they are sufficiently well educated, can obtain commissions in the Special Reserve. Candidates for commissions in the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Army Veterinary Corps are not required to pass an educational examination, the ordinary course of medical or veterinary education being deemed sufficient, but the Army Council may reject a candidate who shows any deficiency in his general education. Officers of the Colonial military forces wishing to obtain commissions in the British Army must either produce a school or college " leaving certificate " or pass an examination held by the Army Qualifying See also:Board, or must show that they have passed one of certain recognized See also:examinations. (b) Technical Instruction.—In addition to general educational attainments, a fair knowledge of technical matters is expected from candidates. For Cavalry, Infantry, Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery and Army Service Corps, an examination must be passed in See also:administration and organization; military history, See also:strategy and See also:tactics; military See also:topography, See also:engineering and See also:law. In addition, the following conditions must be complied with: (I) .University candidates are required to be members of the Senior Division of the Officers' Training Corps (see UNITED See also:KINGDOM: Army) should there be a unit of that corps at the university to which they belong. They are further required to be attached for six See also:weeks to a Regular unit during their See also:residence at the university. If there is no Officers' Training Corps at his university, the candidate is attached to • a Regular unit for twelve weeks (consecutively or in two stages). The final examination in military subjects is competitive. (2) Cadets of the Royal Military College are instructed in the following additional subjects: sanitation, French or German (or both), See also:riding and horse management, musketry, See also:physical training, drill and signalling. . Hindustani may be taken instead of French or German. (3) Cadets of the Royal Military Academy are instructed in the same subjects as the cadets at the Royal Military College, with the addition of artillery, advanced mathematics, See also:chemistry, See also:light, See also:heat, See also:electricity and workshop practice. Cadets who pass highest in the final examination for commissions are as a rule appointed to the Royal Engineers, the See also:remainder to the Royal Artillery. (4) Officers of the Special Reserve, Territorial Force and certain other forces must have completed a continuous See also:period of See also:attachment of twelve months to a Regular unit of Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers or Infantry, and have served and been trained for at least one year in the force to which they belong, before presenting them-selves at the competitive examination in military subjects. The period of attachment to Regular units may be reduced if certain certificates are obtained. Candidates for commissions in the artillery must belong to the artillery branches of the above forces and have a certificate in riding and mathematics. They are not eligible for the Royal Engineers. (5) The conditions for Officers of the Colonial Military Forces are similar to those for the Special Reserve, &c., except that only two months' attachment to a Regular unit, or unit of the Permanent Colonial Forces, is required. (6) Commissions are also given to Cadets of the Royal Military College, See also:Kingston, See also:Canada; the training of that establishment being similar to that at the Royal Military College and the Royal Military Academy. Candidates for commissions in the Royal Army Medical Corps and Army Veterinary Corps are not examined in military subjects, but must pass in the appropriate technical subjects; those for the Royal Army Medical Corps passing two written and two oral examinations, one each in medicine and See also:surgery; those for the Army Veterinary Corps passing a written and an oral examination in veterinary medicine, surgery and See also:hygiene. Candidates for the Royal Army Medical Corps have further to proceed to the Royal Army Medical College for instruction in recruiting duties, hygiene, See also:pathology, tropical medicine, military surgery and military medical administration. Royal Engineers attend the School of Military Engineering at See also:Chatham, where long and elaborate courses of instruction are given in all subjects appertaining to the work of the corps, including See also:practical work in the field and in fortresses. II. The training which succeeds the appointment to a commission consists partly of more detailed instruction in the subjects already learned, partly of the practical application of those subjects, and partly of more advanced instruction with its practical application. On first joining his unit the young officer is put through a course of preliminary drills, lasting, as a rule, for from three months (infantry) to six months (cavalry), though the time depends upon the individual officer's rate of progress. During this period, and for some considerable time afterwards, officers are instructed in " regimental duties," consisting of the interior economy of a regiment, such as See also:financial accounts, stores, correspondence, the See also:minor points of military law in their actual working, customs of the service, the management of regimental institutes, &c., with, in the case of the mounted branches, equitation and the care and management of horses. They are required to attend a number of courts-See also:martial, as supernumerary members, before being permitted to attend one in the effective and official capacities of member or prosecutor, although from a legal point of view their qualification depends simply upon their rank and length of service. A course of musketry, theoretical and practical, is then gone through. Field training begins with lectures on the various evolutions of the See also:squadron, See also:battery or company, followed by actual practice in the field, arranged by the commanders of squadrons, batteries or companies. Before promotion from the rank of second-lieutenant to lieutenant, an examination must be passed in " Regimental Duties " (practical, oral and written) and " Drill and Field Training " (practical only). The officer is then taken in hand by the commanding officer of his regiment, battalion or brigade. He is frequently examined in the subjects in which he has already been instructed, and is practically taught the more advanced stages of topography, engineering, tactics, law and organization. The next See also:stage consists of regimental drills, which include every See also:kind of practical work in the field which can be done by a unit under the command of a lieutenant-colonel. After this come brigade, division and army manoeuvres. Officers have to pass examinations in military subjects for promotion until they attain the rank of major. The chief of these subjects are tactics, military topography, military engineering, military law, administration and military history. For majors, before promotionto lieutenant-colonel, an examination in " See also:Tactical Fitness for Command " has to be passed. This examination is a test of ability in commanding the " three arms " in the field ; a course of attachment to the two arms to which the officer does not belong being a necessary preliminary. Army Service Corps.—The officers of this corps have usually served for at least one year in the cavalry, infantry or Royal See also:Marines, though commissions are also given to cadets of the Royal Military College. On joining, the officer first spends nine months on See also:probation, during which he attends lectures and practical demonstrations in the following subjects: military administration and organization generally; and as regards Army Service Corps work, in detail; organization of the Field Army and Lines of Communication; war organization and duties of the A.S.C.; registry and care of correspondence; contracts; special purchases; precautions in receiving supplies, and care and issue of same; accounts, forms, vouchers and office work in general and in detail; barrack duties (including all points See also:relating to See also:coal, See also:wood, See also:turf, candles, lamps, See also:gas, See also:water, &c ). A thorough and detailed description of all kinds of See also:forage, See also:bread-stuffs, See also:meat, groceries and other field supplies is given. The lectures and demonstrations in transport include, beside mounted and dismounted drill, See also:wagon drill; carriages; embarkation and disembarkation of men and animals; entraining and detraining; See also:harness and See also:saddlery; transport by See also:rail and sea, with the office work involved. This course of instruction is given at the Army Service Corps Training Establishment at See also:Aldershot. A satisfactory examination having been passed, the officer is permanently taken into the corps. Before promotion to captain he is examined in accounts, correspondence and contracts: judging See also:cattle and supplies; duties of an A.S.C. officer in See also:charge of a sub-See also:district; interior economy of a company; military vehicles and See also:pack animals; embarkation, disembarkation and duties on board ship; convoys; duties of brigade supply and transport officer in war. Captains, before promotion to major, are examined in lines of communication of an army in war; method of obtaining supplies and transport in war, and formation and working of depots; organization of transport in war; schemes of supply and transport for troops operating from a fixed See also:base; duties of a staff-officer administering supply, transport and barrack duties at See also:home. These are in addition to general military subjects. Royal Army Medical Corps.—On completion of the course of instruction at the Royal Army Medical College, lieutenants on probation proceed to the R.A.M.C. School of Instruction at Aldershot for a two months' course in the technical duties of the corps, and at the end of the course are examined in the subjects taught. This passed, their commissions are confirmed. After eighteen months' service, officers are examined in squad, company and corps drills and exercises; the See also:Geneva See also:Convention; the administration, organization and equipment of the army in its relation to the medical services; duties of wardmasters and stewards in military hospitals and returns, accounts and requisitions connected therewith; duties of executive medical officers; military law. These successful candidates are then eligible for promotion to captain. Before promotion to major the following examination must be passed, after a course of study under such arrangements as the director-general of the Army Medical Service may determine: (I) medicine, (2) surgery, (3) hygiene, (4) See also:bacteriology, (5) one out of seven special subjects named, and (6) military law. The examination for promotion from major to lieutenant-colonel embraces army medical organization in peace and war; sanitation of towns, camps, transports, &c.; epidemiology and the management of epidemics; medical history of important See also:campaigns; the Army Medical Service of the more important powers; the See also:laws and customs of war, so far as they relate to the sick and wounded; and a tactical problem in field medical administration. Officers who pass these examinations with distinction are eligible for accelerated promotion. Army Ordnance See also:Department.—An officer of this department must have had at least four years' service in other branches of the army and must have passed for the rank of captain. They are then eligible to present themselves at an elementary examination in mathematics, .after passing which they attend a one year's course at the Ordnance College, Woolwich. The course comprises the following: (a) Gunnery (including principles of gun construction and practical See also:optics); (b) Materiel, guns, carriages, See also:machine guns, small arms and See also:ammunition of all descriptions; (c) Army Ordnance Duties (functions of the corps; supply, See also:receipt and issue of stores, &c.); (d) Machinery; (e) Chemistry and Metallurgy; (f) Electricity. An advanced course follows in which officers take up any two of the subjects of applied mathematics, chemistry and electricity, combined with either small arms, optics or See also:mechanical See also:design. They are then appointed to the department and hold their appointments for four years, with a possible See also:extension of an additional three years. Army Veterinary Corps.—A candidate on appointment as veterinary officer, on joining at Aldershot, undergoes a course of special training at the Army Veterinary School. The course lasts one year, and consists of (a) hygiene; conformation of the foot and shoeing, conformation, points, See also:colours, markings; See also:stable construction and management; management of horses in the open and of large bodies of sick; saddles and sore backs; collars and sore shoulders; bits and bitting; transport by sea and rail; mules, donkeys, camels and oxen; remount depots; training of army horses; marching. a limited number of officers of other corps may attend, provided (b) Diseases met with specially on active service. (c) Military they have passed through or been recommended for the Staff College. See also:etiquette and See also:ethics; accounts and returns; administration and organization; veterinary hospitals, mobilization, See also:map-See also:reading and law. At the end of the course he is examined, and if found satisfactory, is retained in the service. Before promotion to captain he is examined in the duties of executive veterinary officers and in law: before promotion to major, in medicine, surgery, hygiene, bacteriology and tropical diseases, and in one special subject selected by the candidate; and before promotion to lieutenant-colonel, in law, duties of administrative veterinary officers at home and abroad, management of epizootics, sanitation of stables, horse-lines and transports. Army Pay Department.—Officers are appointed to the department, on probation for a period not exceeding one year, after serving for five years in one of the other arms or branches of the service. At the end of this period the candidates are examined in the following subjects: examination of company pay lists and pay and See also:mess See also:book; method of keeping accounts and preparing See also:balance-sheets and monthly estimates; knowledge of pay-warrant, allowance regulations and financial instructions, book-keeping, by double entry and the. duties attending the payment of soldiers; aptitude for accounts, and quickness and neatness in work. On completion of five years' service, officers return to their regiments, unless they elect to remain with the department or are required by the Army Council to be permanently attached to it. See also:Schools and Colleges.—The training of the officer in his regiment is necessarily incomplete, owing to a far wider knowledge of his profession in general, and of his own branch of the service in particular, being essential, than can be acquired within the comparatively confined limits of his own unit. Accordingly, schools and colleges have been established, in which special courses of instruction are given, dealing more fully with the generalities and details of the various branches of the service. There is a cavalry school at Netheravon. Mounted Infantry schools have been established at Longmoor, Bulford and Kilworth, which See also:train both officers and men in mounted infantry duties. The officers selected to be trained at these schools must have at least two years' service, have completed a trained soldier's course of musketry and should have some knowledge of See also:horsemanship and be able to ride. The instruction consists for the most part of riding school and field training. The School of Gunnery at See also:Shoeburyness gives five courses of instruction per annum; one " Staff " course for Ordnance officers, lasting one See also:month; two courses for senior officers of the Royal Artillery, lasting a fortnight each, and two courses for junior officers of the same regiment, lasting one month each. For Royal See also:Garrison Artillery officers there is one " Staff " course lasting for seven months (this being a continuation of the previous "Staff " course), and two courses, lasting four months each, for junior officers. There is also a school of gunnery at Lydd, where two courses, lasting for three weeks each, in See also:siege artillery, are given each year. The Ordnance College at Woolwich provides various courses of instruction in addition to those intended for officers of the Ordnance Department. There is a " Gunnery Staff Course " for senior officers, in gunnery, guns, carriages, ammunition, electricity and machinery; two courses for junior officers of the Royal Artillery in the same subjects; a course for officers of the Army Service Corps in mechanical transport, which includes instruction in allied subjects, such as electricity and chemistry. It also gives courses of instruction to officers of the Royal Navy. The School of Military Engineering at Chatham trains officers of the Royal Engineers, compiles official See also:text-books on field defences, attack and See also:defence of fortresses, military bridging, See also:mining, encampments, See also:railways. The School of Musketry at See also:Hythe (besides assisting and directing the musketry training of the army at large by revising regulations, experiments, &c.) trains officers of all branches of the service in theoretical and practical musketry, the courses lasting about a month each and embracing See also:fire See also:control, the training of the See also:eye in See also:quick See also:perception, fire effect and so on. Courses in the See also:Maxim gun usually follow. The Staff College (see also STAFF) at Camberley is the most important of the military colleges. Only specially selected officers are eligible to See also:attempt the entrance examination. The course lasts two years, and is divided into: (a) military history, strategy, tactics, imperial strategy, strategic See also:distribution, See also:coast defence, fortification, war organization, See also:reconnaissance; (b) staff duties, administration, peace distribution, mobilization, movements of troops by See also:land and sea, supply, transport, remounts, organization, law and topographical reconnaissance. Visits are paid to workshops, fortresses, continental battlefields, &c., and stafftours are carried out. Officers of the non-mounted branches attend riding school, and students can be examined in any See also:foreign See also:languages they may have previously studied. They are also attached for See also:short periods to arms of the service other than those to which they belong, and attend at staff offices to ensure their being conversant with the work done there. The Army Service Corps Training Establishment at Aldershot gives courses of instruction to senior officers of the corps at which Other courses, in addition to the nine months' course for officers on probation for the corps are, one of twelve days for senior officers of the corps in mechanical transport; two (one long and one short) in the same subject for other officers; one for officers in other branches of the service in judging provisions; and one for lieutenants of the Royal Army Medical Corps in supply and transport. Other colleges and schools are: the See also:Balloon School at See also:Farnborough, for officers of the Royal Engineers; Schools of Electric See also:Lighting at See also:Plymouth and See also:Portsmouth; the School of Signalling at Aldershot, for officers of all branches of the service; the School of Gymnastics, also at Aldershot; and the Army Veterinary School, where a one month's course is given to officers of the mounted branches in the See also:main principles of horsemastership, stable management and veterinary first aid, in addition to the one year's course for officers on probation for the Army Veterinary Corps. To encourage the study of foreign languages, officers who pass a preliminary examination in any See also:language they may select are allowed to reside in the foreign-See also:country for a period of at least two months. After such residence they may present themselves for examination, and if successful, receive a grant in aid of the expenses incurred. The grant is £8o for See also:Russian; £5o for German, £24 for French and £30 for other languages. The final or " Interpretership " examination for which the grant is given is of a very high standard. In the case of Russian, £8o is paid to the officer during his residence in Russia, in addition to the grant. Special arrangements are made with regard to the See also:Chinese and See also:Japanese languages; three officers for the former and four officers for the latter being selected annually for a two years' residence in those countries. During such residence officers receive £150 per annum, in addition to their pay, and a See also:reward of £175 on passing the " Interpretership " examination. There has been a tendency of late years to give officers facilities for going through civilian courses of instruction; for example, at the See also:London School of See also:Economics and in the workshops of the See also:principal railway companies. These courses enable the officer not only to profit by civilian experience and progress, but also to form an See also:opinion as to his own knowledge, as compared with the knowledge of those outside his immediate surroundings. Promotion from the Ranks.—In several armies aspirant officers may join as privates and pass through all grades. This is hardly promotion from the ranks, however, because it is understood from the first that the young avantageur, as he is called in Germany, is a candidate for officer's rank, and he is treated accordingly,.generally living in the officers' mess and spending only a brief period in each of the non-commissioned ranks. True promotion from the ranks, won by merit and without' any preferential treatment, is practically unknown in Germany. In France, on the other hand, one-third of the officers are promoted non-commissioned officers. In See also:Italy also a large proportion of the officers comes from the ranks. In Great Britain, largely owing to the chances of distinction afforded by frequent colonial expeditions, a fair number of non-commissioned officers receive promotion to combatants' commissions. The number is, however, diminishing, as shown by the following extracts from a return of 1909 (combatants only) : 1885–1888 See also:annual average 34 (See also:Sudan See also:Wars, &c.) 1889–1892 " 25 1893–1898 " " 19 1899–1902 " 35 (S. African War) 1903–1908 " 14 Quartermasters and riding masters are invariably promoted from the lower ranks. Officers of reserve and second See also:line forces are recruited in Great Britain both by direct appointment and by See also:transfer from the regular forces. In universal service armies reserve officers are drawn from retired regular officers, selected non-commissioned officers, and most of all from young men of good social standing who are gazetted after serving their compulsory period as privates in the ranks. 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