Commandant (/ˌkɒmənˈdɑːnt/ or/ˌkɒmənˈdænt/;French:[kɔmɑ̃dɑ̃]) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police rank. It is also often used to refer to the commander of a military prison or prison camp (includingconcentration camps andprisoner of war camps).
InBangladesh Armed Forces andBangladesh Marine Academy commandant is not any rank. It is an appointment. The commandant serves as the head of any military or merchant navy training institutes or unit.
Commandant is the normalCanadian French-language term for thecommanding officer of a mid-sized unit, such as a regiment or battalion, within theCanadian Forces. In smaller units, the commander is usually known in French as theofficier commandant.
Conversely, inCanadian English, the word commandant is used exclusively for the commanding officers of military units that provide oversight and/or services to a resident population (such as a military school or college, a long-term health care facility or a detention facility.
In theFrench Army andFrench Air Force, the termcommandant is used as a rank equivalent tomajor (NATO rank code OF-3). However, in the French Navycommandant is the style, but not the rank, of the senior officers, specificallycapitaine de corvette,capitaine de frégate andcapitaine de vaisseau.
In theGerman language, a militaryKommandant is the commanding officer of a military installation (e.g. a fortress), vehicle, aircraft (the pilot is not alwaysKommandant, if another crew member has a higher rank) or vessel (e.g.U-Boot-Kommandant). In contrast to the governor, the fortress commandant of theImperial German Army or theWehrmacht never had higher but only lower jurisdiction. When subordinate to a governor, his duties were limited to garrison duty. Subordinate to him was thePlatzmajor.
In the navy of theBundeswehr, commandants, including former commandants, wear the special commandant badge. When the commandant is active, it is worn on the right side of the chest above the breast pocket. Former commandants wear it on the left breast under the name tag.
InBaden-Württemberg,Bavaria,Austria,Switzerland andSouth Tyrol, the head of the volunteer fire brigade is called theKommandant. As such, he leads the fire brigade and is responsible for the training and deployment of his local fire brigade. In his own local area, he leads the operations management of all fire brigades as long as this is not taken over by the higher-level operations management.
In theIndian Armed Forces, 'Commandant' is not a rank but an appointment.Commandant is the title of the heads of the Training establishments.Examples include:
In theIndian Army, theCommanding Officer of an armoured regiment or aMechanized infantry regiment (Mechanised Infantry Regiment,Brigade of The Guards) is known as the Commandant.
Commandant is a rank in theCentral Armed Police Forces of India. It is equivalent to the rank ofColonel/Captain/Group Captain. In theIndian Coast Guard, ranks of Commandant and Commandant (Junior grade) exist. While Commandant is equivalent to Colonel/Captain/Group Captain, Commandant (Junior grade) is equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel/Commander/Wing Commander.[1]
In theState Armed Police Forces, a Commandant serves as the head of anarmed police battalion. The rank of Commandant is equivalent to that of aSuperintendent of Police (SP).
In theIrish Army, commandant (Comdt;Irish:ceannfort) is the equivalent ofmajor in other armies. Irish Army commandants can sometimes be referred to as major if serving overseas under the umbrella of theUnited Nations or theEuropean Union to alleviate misunderstanding.
In theKenya Defence Forces Commandant is an appointment. Commandant is the title of the head of the training institutions . Examples include:
In the National Police Service , the title of Commandant is reserved for commanders of large training institutions or commanders of large independent units. As with the Army, the post of a commander of a medium size unit is referred to as the Commanding Officer (CO) while the smallest is Officer Commanding (OC).
Example:
In thePhilippines, aCommandant is an appointment and not a rank but once selected, the appointee is promoted to the highest rank on the service. Commandants are appointed by thePresident of the Philippines either after the incumbent retires or as a replacement after dismissal.
There are currently two Commandant appointments that exist in the Philippines namely:
The Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps will be promoted to the rank ofMajor General (Two-star Rank) once appointed while the Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard will be promoted to the rank of anAdmiral (Four-star Rank).
In South Africa,Commandant was the title of the commanding officer of acommando (militia) unit in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
During the First World War,Commandant was used as a title by officers commanding Defence Rifle Association units, also known asBurgher commandos. The commandos were militia units raised in emergencies and constituted the third line of defence after the Permanent Force and the part-time Active Citizen Force regiments. The commandant rank was equivalent to major[2][3] or lieutenant-colonel, depending on the size of the commando.
From 1950 to 1994commandant (rank) was the rank equivalent oflieutenant colonel.[4] and commander of abattalion. The rank was used by both the Army and the Air Force. The naval equivalent was commander (Afrikaans:kommandeur).[5] The rank was not used by theSouth African Police, who continued with lieutenant colonel [luitenant-kolonel].
The rank insignia for a Commandant (Afrikaans:Kommandant) was initially a crown over a five-pointed star.[6]: 113–128 [2] In 1957 the crown was replaced by a pentagonal castle device[2] based on the floor plan of theCastle of Good Hope inCape Town, South Africa's oldest military building. In 1994, the rank of Commandant / Kommandant reverted to lieutenant colonel.[7]: 4
From 1968 to 1970, a related rank,Chief Commandant, existed in the commando forces.[a][8]
Recently, use of the term has followed the standard practice, i.e. the commanding officer of a training institute.
In theNew Zealand Defence Force, the term commandant is used for the senior officer (or commander) of garrisoned units that do not deploy and are not operational. This typically includes learning institutes such as theNew Zealand Defence College, theNew Zealand Cadet Force, and (formerly) theCommand and Staff College. The title could also be used for other non-deploying units such as the Services Corrective Establishment in Burnham, or depot-level engineering units.
The equivalent term for operational units is 'commander', such as commander of the Joint Force Headquarters New Zealand.
Under the 2010 creation of the Training and Education Directorate, an additional position of commandant was established for the Training Institute to complement the commandant of the Defence College.
InRussia and prior to that in theSoviet Union andImperial Russia the position of commandant was widely used and may have various meanings:
In theNational Police Cadet Corps (NPCC), the position of Commandant is given to aSingapore Police Force officer who heads NPCC. The Commandant is aided by his Assistant Commandants, who are NPCC officers. As NPCC units around Singapore are divided into 20 "areas", each area is headed by an Area Commandant who is an NPCC officer. This Area Commandant is also usually an Officer from one of the units in the area that he/she is taking charge of.[10]
In Sri Lanka, theCommandant of the Volunteer Force is the head of theSri Lanka Army Volunteer Force. Commandant is also the title used for thecommanding officer (one-star rank) of military academies -Sri Lanka Military Academy,Naval and Maritime Academy andAir Force Academy - and the commanding officer (two-star rank) of theDefence Services Command and Staff College. It is also the title of the de factovice-chancellor of theGeneral Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, usually an officer of two-star rank.
Colonel-commandant is an honorary post incorps of the army and theSri Lanka National Guard, similar to that ofColonel of the Regiment found in infantry regiments. The post of centre commandant is the commanding officer of a corps or regiment. Commandant is the head of theSpecial Task Force of theSri Lanka Police.
In theBritish Armed Forces, a commandant is usually thecommanding officer of a training establishment, such as theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst or theRoyal Air Force College Cranwell. In early 19th century England, the term commandant was used interchangeably with commandment - i.e., a person could act as a Commandment of the Justices - an officer-in-charge.[11]
Colonel-commandant was an appointment which existed in theBritish Army between 1922 and 1928, and in theRoyal Marines from 1755 to some time afterWorld War II. It replacedbrigadier-general in the army, and was itself replaced bybrigadier in both the army and the Marines. The colonel-commandant is also the ceremonial head of some Army corps and this position is usually held by a senior general.
Commandant was also the appointment, equivalent tocommodore, held by the director of theWomen's Royal Naval Service between 1951 and 1993.
In theArmy Cadet Force, a colonel is customarily the most senior commissioned officer in charge of an ACF county. This rank is thus known as the commandant and their second-in-command (2IC) is the deputy commandant, who has the rank of lieutenant colonel.
In theRoyal Air Force Air Cadets, the officer in charge of the organisation is given the titleCommandant Air Cadets and holds the position for two years.
Formerly, commandant was the usual title for the head of theSpecial Constabulary within a police force. In some forces, the title was chief commandant, with subordinate divisional or sub-divisional commandants. The standard title for this position is now chief officer.
In theVoluntary Aid Organisation inWorld War I, the chief officer of a military hospital or voluntary aid detachment (VAD), whether male or female, held the title of commandant.
In the United States, "commandant" is an appointment, not a rank, and the following three appointments currently exist:
Formerly, admirals were appointed as commandants ofnaval districts.
The commandant is the second most senior officer (after thesuperintendent) ofUnited States Service academies, such asUnited States Military Academy,United States Naval Academy, and theUnited States Air Force Academy, equivalent to thedean of students at a civilian college. Commandant is also the title of the commanding officer of many units of theUnited States Army Training and Doctrine Command, including the non-commissioned officer academies, whose commandants are typically command sergeants major.
Commandant is also the title of the ranking officer in charge of eachWar college of the United States military, and is responsible for the administration, academic progress and success of the civilians and military officers assigned to the college. The commandant is a model for all personnel, a military academy graduate of impeccable character and bearing who has demonstrated accomplishment in both academic excellence and active military service in the field. They include theNaval War College, theUSAF Air War College, theArmy War College, theMarine Corps War College and theNational War College.[12]
Commandant is the duty title for the commanding officer of theUS Air Force Test Pilot School.
Commandant is also the duty title of the senior enlisted leader of a Professional Military Education (PME) academy, such as theAirman Leadership School, Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, and Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy.
The title may also be used for the commander of a unit headquarters, who is usually responsible for administrative matters such asbilleting and is called theheadquarters commandant; this may also be a duty assigned to a staff officer in large headquarters.
...in a Legal Sense, has various...a Commandment of the Justices,...or, when on their own authority...
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