  commandant ( or ) 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 anglophone 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 (including nazi concentration camps and prisoner of war camps). ==france== in the french army and french air force, the term commandant is used as a rank equivalent to major (nato rank code of-3). however, in the french navy commandant is the style, but not the rank, of the senior officers, specifically capitaine de corvette, capitaine de frÃ©gate and capitaine de vaisseau. ==india== in the british indian army, the commanding officer of an infantry battalion or cavalry regiment was known as the commandant. commanding officers of each battalion in central armed police forces (bsf, crpf, cisf, itbp, ssb) and among two of the three indian paramilitary forces (icg, ar) are also designated as commandant (senior superintendent rank). the indian army also used the appointment of colonel-commandant between 1922 and 1928 in the same way as the british army. ==ireland== in the irish army, commandant is the equivalent of major in other armies. ==south africa== thumb|right|50px|south african army commandant insignia1950-1994 in south africa, commandant was the title of the commanding officer of a commando (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 as burgher commandoes. the commandoes 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 majornaamlys, lindley kommando, military archives, pretoria or lieutenant-colonel depending on the size of the commando. from 1950 to 1994 commandant (rank) was the rank equivalent of lieutenant colonel.government notice 2092 (25 aug 1950) and commander of a battalion. the rank was used by both the army and the air force. the naval equivalent was commander [kommandeur in afrikaans].rank chart, paratus, 1974 the rank was not used by the police who continued with lieutenant colonel [lieutenant-kolonel]. the rank insignia for a commandant (kommandant in afrikaans) was initially a crown over a five-pointed star.{{cite journal|last1=jooste|first1=l.|title=die politieke koers
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