WordNet
n. an officer in command of a military unit [syn: commandant, commander]
Wikipedia
The commanding officer (CO) or, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he or she sees fit, within the bounds of military law. In this respect, commanding officers have significant responsibilities (for example, the use of force, finances, equipment, the Geneva Conventions), duties (to higher authority, mission effectiveness, duty of care to personnel), and powers (for example, discipline and punishment of personnel within certain limits of military law).
In some countries, commanding officers may be of any commissioned rank. Usually, there are more officers than command positions available, and time spent in command is generally a key aspect of promotion, so the role of commanding officer is highly valued, and in theory, only goes to the best officers. The commanding officer is often assisted by an executive officer (XO) or second-in-command (2i/c), who handles personnel and day-to-day matters and a senior enlisted advisor. Larger units may also have staff officers responsible for various responsibilities.
Usage examples of "commanding officer".
I would be unsuitable as a commanding officer for other reasons as well.
Had his first commanding officer, Commander Gray, felt this way about him?
He was quite sure that Adele would make her opinion known if Daniel said he intended to humiliate his commanding officer in the most public fashion possible.
You'd better look now -- doesn't it look nice -- 'COMMANDING OFFICER' in nice large type?
Grant had been patient, had let Sheridan blow off some steam, watched him now with amusement as he tried to hold himself together, to keep himself from crossing that line with his commanding officer.
Imagine a helmsman not warn-ing the commanding officer that the ship was in such danger!
The way my commanding officer put it, with devastating honesty, Commander, is that I am a self-important sonofabitch whose delicate condition is my own goddamn fault.
And he certainly didn't want Sergeant Hammer-smith to form the opinion, as so many old Marines did, that a commanding officer had nothing to do but sit behind a desk and wait for payday while the sergeants ran the Corps.
And he certainly didnt want Sergeant Hammersmith to form the opinion, as so many old Marines did, that a commanding officer had nothing to do but sit behind a desk and wait for payday while the sergeants ran the Corps.
If certain senior officers of The Corps felt it necessary to send in an officer to determine whether or not the commanding officer of the 2nd Raider Battalion was a communist, then it was clearly the duty of that officer to comply with his orders.
He has been kind enough to inform me that he and most of his staff will be going South, as will the commanding officer of the battery of artillery, which is our chief defense on the Potomac side.