page_title: Non-commissioned officer
section_title: United Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Non-commissioned officer / National usage / United Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: English: Sergeant Jamie Shannon of the 105 Regiment Royal Artillery stands in the Middle Ward, Edinburgh Castle. As District Gunner, he has just supervised the firing of the One O'Clock gun, which points east over the Mills Mount Battery wall. The rest of the gunners are formed up behind the gun, to the right. To the left is the stairway down to the Western Defences, and the side of the cart shed (now the cafe).
context_page_description: A non-commissioned officer is a military officer who has not earned a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually obtain their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. In contrast, commissioned officers usually enter directly from a military academy, Officer Candidate School, or Officer Training School after receiving a post-secondary degree.
  The NCO corps usually includes many grades of enlisted, corporal and sergeant; in some countries, warrant officers also carry out the duties of NCOs. The naval equivalent includes some or all grades of petty officer. There are different classes of non-commissioned officers, including junior non-commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers.
context_section_description: In the British Armed Forces, NCOs are divided into two categories.  Lance corporals (including lance bombardiers) and corporals (including lance sergeants, bombardiers, and lance corporals of horse) are junior NCOs.  Sergeants (including corporals of horse), staff sergeants (including colour sergeants and staff corporals), and RAF chief technicians and flight sergeants are senior NCOs.
  Warrant officers are often included in the senior NCO category, but actually form a separate class of their own, similar in many ways to NCOs but with a royal warrant. Senior NCOs and WOs have their own messes, which are similar to officers' messes (and are usually known as sergeants' messes), whereas junior NCOs live and eat with the unranked personnel, although they may have a separate corporals' club to give them some separate socialising space.
  The Royal Navy does not refer to its petty officers and chief petty officers as NCOs, but calls them senior ratings (or senior rates). Leading ratings and below are junior ratings.
caption: Sergeant, Royal Artillery, on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle, firing the one o'clock gun
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