Posted on 06/29/2024 10:03:58 AM PDT by Jonty30
I'm just wondering. This question came up in Quora. I could only answer from a British tradition, where if you have officers of equal rank then the eldest officer is given command. Presumably the same is if there are only privates left, the eldest private would take command until a senior can be found to take command.
However, I don't what happens in American tradition. If you have officers of equal rank, who gets command or if the lowest ranks soldiers find themselves without a senior officer, what is the American military procedure to deciding who gets command until a senior officer can be found to take command?
A perfect and ordinary example that guys deal with in the military frequently.
The same rank thing comes up all the time, imagine a Reagan sized military of 3.5 million GIs, and then look at how few ranks there are, you are surrounded by people of the same ranks.
The best politicals money can buy, choose the best among the brown noses, and lately, the loyal members of their Parti. Its 1933 Germany in the USA today.Our best were retiring in the 90’s, it hasn’t been going well since. For me, its not my Army anymore. It appears from recruiting reports, I am not alone. How many service academy graduates have we retained? We are going to need more troops at this rate, sooner than later.
There is a pecking order...it’s all known and setup..Not so much about rank, but position in the chain of command...If all that is destroyed then you look at rank
I would think it’s the same as the brits or any standing army, navy, af
When I was an E-8 and the flight Superintendent I had a Second Lt., fresh out of the Air Force Academy as the OIC. He wanted to be a pilot but had to wait for a slot. So they made him a Comms officer. I had an office with a door, he had a cubicle.
Every morning he’d knock on my door and ask me what we were going to do for that day—meetings, etc. I’d tell him and like a puppy, he’d reappear at the appropriate time clutching his flight cap and asking if was time to go.
I would walk on his left side so he felt like he was in charge (and that’s military protocol, allowing him freedom to salute or return salutes). He’d sit next to me in meetings and whisper questions like, “Is that true?” or “What should I say?” I told him what to say and he’d say it like a good El Tee.
Actually, after a year I retired and he did a good job. It was a great experience watching him mature. When he made Captain, he asked me to come back on base and pin his shoulder boards on at his promotion ceremony. I heard he finally got a flying spot, flying C-17s. WTG, Capt. Dee!
That 2nd Lt. thing is frequently real (perhaps even usually real) and you can also see it in new engineers fresh out of school, they can appear pretty stupid when they are just starting.
In the court-martial of Lt Col Terry Lakin, Denise Lind ruled that we don’t need no steenkin’ Commander in Chief. The Chiefs of Staff are everything.
Seniority used to be, in the British and American armies both, the touchstone for determining who assumed the job, temporarily, until higher HQ could make an appointment. I assume that is still the case. Brigade Commander dies in combat , S1 may keep giving orders for a short time, but as soon as things quiet down, the senior Battalion Commander takes over, until higher HQ makes an appointment.
Modern communication systems, and higher HQs swarming with Field Grade, and General Officers, ready to be sent in for the fallen, have made situations where officers of the same rank have to work out on their own who will be in charge very uncommon.
“Are you going to trust to command you a fresh from the academy lieutenant or you going to trust the hard-nosed sergeant with your life and the chips are down?”
The “a-fresh-from-the-academy lieutenant” while he is in charge, is going to place a lot of faith in the “hard-nosed sergeant’s” leading instincts. That, to me, is simply common sense.
When von Luck pointed out he was the least senior Company Commander, Rommel airily said he would relieve any Company Commander who gave him trouble, and asked what Platoon Commander would take over the Company, while von Luck was absent. Thinking over how green his Platoon Commanders, and their Platoon Sergeants, were, von Luck said he would prefer to have his First Sergeant command the Company. Rommel approved that, and for several weeks the First Sergeant had three Platoon Commanders, all Lieutenants, reporting to him.
When there are two (or more) with equal rank, they go by date of promotion. The one with the earliest date assumes command.
At least that is the way I understand it.
Someone always steps up in any organization. I would imagine in active combat it happens pretty fast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al7ont2noYA
That’s just a few months ago. He looks fine. Delivers what the teleprompter says, and changes his tone of voice to emphasize what he wants.
The never Trumper swamp filth on FR are desperate for Trump to have a stronger opponent.
Brigade and Battalion level you have the Commander and XO Executive Officer who is the 2nd in command. Then it passes on down through the staff following a pre determined and usually practiced succession plan.
Company level you have your Commander then XO and down to the platoon leaders which are typically Lieutenants and those move up by date of rank. But I have seen Commanders designate succession in order based on real world experience as well.
At the Platoon level you usually have an experienced NCO Platoon SGT that is watching out for his Lieutenant and his troops. Below him there is always that one guy that everyone seems to gravitate too that has loads of real world experience and and everyone would follow should the Platoon lose its leadership.
This is just my on the job experience. I am sure given the vast amount and type of military units in today's Army there are many other methods at play. Not claiming to know it all.
“What happens when there is nobody who can command troops?”
Hillary take over.
If by age, you mean “time in rank” you would be correct.
If there are only privates left, I imagine those guys would work it out, “Lord of the Flies” style. There have been plenty of instances in small unit combat where the privates had to fend for themselves. They either worked it out…or they died.
It’s for the good of our sham democracy.
Incorrect.
In both the British military and the US military, the age of the officer is irrelevant. Date of rank is all that counts.
This detail comes to light in the film, "Zulu," when lieutenants Chard and Bromhead unzip their trousers, pull out their wedding tackle and compare ... dates of commission. Since both are still just entry-level commissioned officers (meaning neither has received their first promotion), date of rank and date of commission are the same.
It is pretty much a universal military tradition that someone is always in charge, and that someone is the senior ranking individual present, regardless of rank. Which might be a Private First Class being in charge over a bunch of privates E-1 or E-2.
In protracted wars it is not that uncommon for an enlisted man (what the British call "other ranks") to take command because all the officers have been killed or wounded but otherwise rendered combat ineffective. But someone is always in charge.
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