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An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in a military environment, able to act as the commanding officer (according to the most technical definition of the word) of a military unit.^[1] A superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior.

Newly commissioned U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officers celebrate their new positions by throwing their Midshipmen covers into the air as part of the U.S. Naval Academy class of 2005 graduation and commissioning ceremony.

Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se; the use of the word "command" to describe any use of authority is often unofficial.

Having officers is one requirement for combatant status under the laws of war, though these officers need not have obtained an official commission or warrant. In such case, those persons holding offices of responsibility within the organization are deemed to be the officers, and the presence of these officers connotes a level of organization sufficient to designate a group as being combatant.

Commissioned officers[link]

Commissioned officers generally receive training as leadership and management generalists, in addition to training relating to their specific military occupational specialty or function in the military. Many advanced militaries require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. Others, including the Australian Defence Force, the British Armed Forces, Nepal Army, the Pakistani Armed Forces (except the Pakistan Air Force), the Swiss Army, the Singapore Armed Forces, the Israel Defense Forces, Swedish Armed Forces and the New Zealand Defence Force, are different in not requiring a university degree for commissioning, although a significant number of officers in these countries are graduates. In the Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to a Lt. Colonel rank. The IDF often sponsors the studies for its Majors.

United Kingdom[link]

In the United Kingdom, officers are commissioned both directly into the officer corps or from junior ranks as what are known as 'Direct Entry' or DE officers, or commissioned from senior ranks as 'Late Entry' or LE officers. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queen's Commission, generally work in different roles from the DE officers. In the infantry a number of Warrant Officers - Class 1 are commissioned as LE officers.

Commissioning for DE officers occurs after a 1 year course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for regular officers or the Territorial Army Commissioning Course for Territorial Army Officers, or for Royal Navy and Royal Air Force candidates, an equivalent period at either Britannia Royal Naval College or the RAF College Cranwell respectively. Royal Marines Officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines. The courses consist of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management and international affairs training.

United States[link]

In the U.S. military, officers without a university degree may under certain circumstances be commissioned, but are required to earn one before being promoted to Captain (USA, USMC, USAF) or Lieutenant (USN, USCG) (pay grade O-3). Officers without a degree are usually Officer Candidate School (OCS) graduates from the enlisted ranks and comprise less than 2% of all officers. Officers may also be commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps, which is composed of small training programs at several hundred American universities.^[2] Graduates from the service academies are commissioned immediately upon graduation and comprise around 20% of the Officer Corps. An officer may also be commissioned at a federal or state based OCS. These schools train and commission college graduates and enlisted personnel toward being promoted to Officer ranks.

Another route to becoming a commissioned officer is through direct commission. Credentialed civilian professionals such as scientists, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, clergy, and attorneys are directly commissioned upon entry into the military or another federal uniformed service. However, these direct commission officers normally do not have command authority outside their specific branches (e.g., Medical Corps (United States Army) or Judge Advocate General's Corps).

Such commissioning of civilians was widely used in World War II to bring industrial management expertise (for materiel production) and medical and surgical skills into the U.S. armed forces. William S. Knudsen, with the highest-ranking such commission, is possibly the most famous example.

Commonwealth[link]

In countries whose ranking systems are based upon the models of the British Armed Forces, officers from the rank of Second Lieutenant (Army), Sub-Lieutenant (Navy) or Pilot Officer (Air Force) to the rank of General (Army), Admiral (Navy) or Air Chief Marshal (Air Force) are holders of a commission granted to them by the awarding authority. In Britain and other Commonwealth realms, the awarding authority is the monarch (or a Governor General representing the monarch) as head of state. The head of state often is granted the power to award commissions, or has commissions awarded in his or her name.

In Commonwealth nations, Commissioned Officers are given commissioning scrolls (a.k.a. commissioning scripts) signed by the Sovereign or the Governor General acting on the monarch's behalf. Upon receipt, this is an official legal document that binds the mentioned officer to the commitment stated on the scroll.

Non-commissioned members rise from the lowest ranks in most nations. Education standards for non-commissioned members are typically lower than for officers (with the exception of specialised-military and highly-technical trades). Enlisted members only receive leadership training as they are promoted to positions of responsibility, or as a prerequisite for such. In the past (and in some countries today but to a lesser extent) non-commissioned members were almost exclusively conscripts, whereas officers were volunteers.

Non-commissioned officers[link]

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted military member holding a position of some degree of authority who has (usually) obtained it by promotion from within the non-officer ranks. Non-commissioned officers usually receive some leadership training, but their function is to serve as supervisors within their area of trade speciality and, at lower NCO grades, they are not generally considered management specialists. Senior non-commissioned officers serve as advisors and leaders from the duty section level to the highest levels of the military establishment. The duties of an NCO can vary greatly in scope, so that an NCO in one country may hold almost no authority, while others such as the United States and the United Kingdom consider their NCOs to be "the backbone of the military."^[3]

In most maritime forces (navies and coast guards), the NCO ranks are called Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers, with enlisted ranks prior to attaining NCO/petty officer status typically being called Seaman, or some derivation thereof. In most traditional infantry, marine and air forces, the NCO ranks are known as Sergeants and Corporals, with non-NCO enlisted ranks referred to as Privates and Aircraftmen (or Airmen).

However, some countries use the term commission to describe the promotion of enlisted soldiers. Especially in countries with mandatory military service, NCOs are referred to as professional soldiers, not officers.

Warrant officers[link]

In some branches of many militaries there exists a third grade of officer known as a Warrant Officer. In the military of the United States, Warrant officers are initially appointed by the Secretary of the service and then commissioned by the President of the United States upon promotion to Chief Warrant Officer. In many other countries (as in the armed forces of the Commonwealth nations), a Warrant Officer is a very senior non-commissioned officer whose position has been affirmed by warrant from the bureaucracy directing the force - for example, the position of Regimental Sergeant Major in regiments of the British Army is held by a non-commissioned officer appointed by warrant.

In the US military, a Warrant Officer is a technically focused, single specialty officer - helicopter pilots and IT specialists of the US Army, for example. They are given salutes and they are addressed as Mr, Ms, Mrs, Sir, or Ma'am. There are no Warrant Officers in the U.S. Air Force (the ranks exist, but go permanently and completely unfilled), but each of the other U.S. Armed Forces have Warrant Officers—though each warrant accession program is unique to the individual service's needs. Because Warrant Officers normally have more years in service than regular commissioned officer counterparts, their pay is often slightly more than regular commissioned officers. In the United States military, Commissioned Officers and Commissioned Warrant Officers are the only officers allowed to command units.^{[citation needed]}

Officer ranks and accommodation[link]

Officers in nearly every country of the world are segregated from the enlisted soldiers in many facets of military life. Facilities accommodating needs such as the mess hall, bunks and domiciles, and general recreation are separated between officers and enlisted personnel. This class system, historically correlated to socioeconomic status is focused on discouraging fraternization and encouraging professional and ethical relations between military personnel.^[4]

Traditionally officers are from the landed, ruling or professional classes and are socially treated as gentlemen, in the old fashioned sense of the word. Soldiers on the other hand tend to be recruited from the working class. For example, officers do not routinely perform physical labor; they typically supervise enlisted soldiers/other ranks, either directly or via NCOs. Officers will and do perform physical labour when operationally required to do so, e.g. in combat, however it would be very unusual for an officer to perform physical labour in garrison. This traditional class difference is also reflected in the terminology used to describe officers. For example in recruiting material officers will be described as members of the profession of arms, as opposed to other ranks who will typically be equated to tradesmen, with soldiering (as opposed to officering) described as a trade.

The social gulf between officers and "men" is also a psychological enabler that allows the officers to keep the social distance required to lead and command effectively. For example to reduce the incidence of favouritism between troops under their command and to make difficult decisions such as ordering men to their death or sacrificing some men to save others.

See also[link]

• Officer (Disambiguation page)
• Direct Commission Officer
• Exchange officer
• List of comparative military ranks
• Mustang Officer
• Staff Officer
• Roving commission
• STA-21
• Brevet
• Foreign Service Officer

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Military officers

• U.S. DoD Officer Rank Insignia

PHASE 2 (aka Lonny Wood)^[1] is one of the most influential and well known New York City aerosol artists. Mostly active in the 1970s, Phase 2 is generally credited with originating the "bubble letter" style of aerosol writing, also known as "softies".^[2] He was also influential in the early hip-hop scene.

Graffiti career[link]

Phase 2 is from The Bronx, and attended DeWitt Clinton High School along with a number of other early graffiti artists. Many famous graffiti writers of the early 1970s would meet at a doughnut shop across from the school called the Coffee Shop before heading down to the subway station at 149th Street and Grand Concourse to watch tagged trains on the IRT line pass by.^[3] Phase 2 was mentored in graffiti by his friend and neighbor Thomas Lee aka Lee 163d!, one of the pioneers of graf writing in The Bronx.^[2]

He began writing in late 1971 under the name Phase 2, a moniker which had a rather mundane provenance. As Phase 2 would later recall, "the previous year we'd given this party. We were getting ready to give another one and I said, 'We'll call this one Phase Two.' I don't know why, but I was stuck on the name. It had meaning for me. I started writing 'Phase 2.'"^[4]

Part of the appeal of graffiti writing for Phase 2 was that it allowed him to get his "name" known yet remain anonymous.^[5] He noted later that tagging provided disadvantaged urban teens "the only significant vehicle to represent their 'existence.'"^[6]

It was in late 1972 that Phase 2 first used an early version of the "bubble letter" or "softie", a style of graffiti writing which would become extremely influential and is considered a "giant leap" in the art form.^[2] The puffed-out, marshmallow-like letters drawn by Phase 2 were soon copied by other artists who added their own variations. Phase himself quickly embellished on his original form, creating and naming dozens of varieties of softies such as "phasemagorical phantastic" (bubble letters with stars), "bubble cloud", and "bubble drip."^[7] He is also credited with pioneering the use of arrows in graf writing around this same time.^[8] Hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang has noted that Phase 2's canvasses from 1973 have "been widely recognized as defining the early genre."^[9]

Over time Phase's work become more and more complex, moving far away from the simple tags of the early 70s to "hieroglyphical calligraphic abstraction."^[5] Chang points out that much of Phase's work involved "deconstructing the letter", transforming characters in the alphabet "into hard lines, third eyes, horns, drills, spikes, Egyptian pharaohs and dogs, pure geometrics."^[9] Another New York graffiti artist, Vulcan, remarked that "one of the things about Phase is that he was the only person at the time whose name could roll by ten times and each piece was different. That's what you noticed about his [work]."^[5]

In 1974 Phase 2 joined the newly created United Graffiti Artists, a professional graffiti collective which began to attract media attention. He was featured in an important essay on graffiti art by Richard Goldstein which appeared in New York magazine and inspired a new generation of graffiti artists.^[2]

In the 1980s, Phase 2 began publishing International Graffiti Times, the first zine about graffiti writing.^[10]

Influence in hip-hop[link]

Unlike some other pioneers of New York City graffiti, Phase 2 had a prominent role in The South Bronx hip-hop scene in the early 1980s. He also continues to be referenced in hip-hop songs.

Phase participated in the legendary hip-hop shows organized by Kool Lady Blue during the summer of 1982 at the Roxy nightclub in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. These shows brought together the top DJ's, MC's, breakers, and aerosol artist from The South Bronx and introduced hip-hop music and culture to the downtown punk and new wave scenes. Phase 2 designed the flyers for these events and often did aerosol pieces live on stage.^[11] He was also part of the first "international" hip-hop tour when stars from the Roxy performances toured in England and France in November of that year.^[12]

Phase 2 was one of the few aerosol artists to be involved in the musical side of hip-hop culture as well. He had a background as a DJ in the very early days of hip-hop, though he never made a name for himself in that role.^[13] In 1982, as part of his involvement with the Roxy scene, Phase released two rap singles. "Beach Boy" was a collaboration with Barry Michael Cooper, who would later co-write the script for New Jack City. "The Roxy" featured the Bill Laswell-led group Material and Grandmixer D.ST, though Phase 2 would later remark that he was disappointed in the song and felt that it "wasn't done properly."^[13][14]

Phase was also an early b-boy and claims that his dance crew pioneered the uprock (or "battle rock") style of dance despite claims that it originated in Brooklyn.^[13] He was thus actively involved in all of the traditional "four elements" of hip-hop culture.

Though he did not have a role in the production, Phase 2 did apparently influence the classic early hip-hop movie Wild Style. In the DVD commentary for the film, director Charlie Ahearn explained that, when thinking about the key character named "Phade", he had Phase 2 in mind (either to actually play the part or simply as a model) because Phase was a legendary graffiti writer from the past who was also involved in the hip-hop scene, as was the character of Phade. The role would ultimately be played by Fab 5 Freddy, himself a graffiti artist who along with Ahearn was the major creative force behind Wild Style. Phase 2 did take on an official role in another early hip-hop film when he worked as a graffiti consultant on the 1984 movie Beat Street.^[15]

In his 1995 song "Out for Fame" - an homage to graffiti artists and culture - KRS-One implores his audience "in the name of Phase 2" and fellow Bronx graffiti legend Stay High to "grab your cans and hit the streets." Several years later Mos Def mentioned Phase 2 on his widely respected debut album Black on Both Sides, specifically on the track "Hip Hop", in which he noted that hip-hop itself was "all city like Phase 2" - presumably a reference to the ubiquity of Phase 2's graffiti pieces on trains throughout the city during the early 1970s. In 1996, he appeared in the song I Messaggeri Pt.I contained in italian artist Neffa's album I Messaggeri della Dopa.

References[link]

Works cited[link]

• George, Nelson Buppies, B-boys, Baps & Bohos: Notes on Post-Soul Black Culture. Da Capo Press. 2001. ISBN 0-306-81027-1. 
• Chang, Jeff (2005). Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. Picador. ISBN 0-312-42579-1.
• Castleman, Craig (1982). Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-53051-1. 

External links[link]

• Adam Mansbach interview with PHASE 2
• "Writer of the Storm", Raw Vision interview with PHASE 2

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For the 1941 Abbott & Costello film, see In the Navy (film).

"In the Navy" is a song recorded by American disco group Village People released in 1979. It was the last top 10 hit for the group in the United States.

Background and writing[link]

After the enormous commercial success of their 1978 hit "Y.M.C.A." which unexpectedly became the unofficial hymn and powerful advertising tool for the YMCA, the United States Navy contacted group manager Henri Belolo for production of a similar song about the United States Navy, considering using the song in a recruiting advertising campaign on television and radio. Henri Belolo gave the rights for free on the condition that the Navy help them shoot the music video. Less than a month later, Village People arrived at the San Diego Naval base. The Navy provided them with a warship (USS Reasoner (FF-1063)), several aircraft, and the crew of the ship (with the stipulation that the crew wouldn't dance). The Navy later canceled the campaign after protests erupted over using taxpayer money for a music video of a controversial group.^[1]

Chart positions[link]

Pop-culture occurrences[link]

• The Spanish group Parchís covered this song in 1979, and became one of their most popular songs. The cover was titled En la armada, sung in Spanish, and covered again by other groups with the same lyrics of Parchís. It is possibly the first cover of the song, and definitely the first in Spanish.
• Captain Jack rerecorded a cover of the song and it was parodied by Billy Connolly as "In the Brownies".
• The song is performed during a sketch on The Muppet Show, in which Viking Pigs raid an unnamed village whilst singing the song.
• Japanese female pop duo Pink Lady had a top 10 hit in Japan in 1979 with a cover of "In the Navy" titled "Pink Typhoon" (see the Japanese Wikipedia article), which substituted the words "Pink lady" ("Pin-ku re-di") for "In the navy" in the song's chorus and "I want you, you want Mie/I want you, you want Kei" (referring to group members Mie Nemoto and Kei Masuda) for "They want you as a new recruit."
• The song is played in The Simpsons episode "Simpson Tide" (where it's identified as an "ancient sea shanty"!) and it ends as a submarine submerges (taking the Village People, and Smithers, with it). It is also briefly sung by The Sea Captain in the episode "Mr. Plow".
• In the game Grand Theft Auto III, there is a gay pedestrian who will occasionally say "In the navy!"
• The finale of the 2000 Leslie Nielsen comedy 2001: A Space Travesty features a performance of "In the Navy" sung by impersonators of the Three Tenors.
• An updated music video version of the song, featuring the cast of the film along with the Village People is in the end credits of the movie Down Periscope.
• The Israeli pop-rock band "Tislam" has a very famous line in on of their greatest hits, "Tnu Li Rockn'Roll" (Give me Rock 'n'Roll), that says "Hoshavt oti Ba'cheder etmol ad meuchar, lishmo'a Indeonezi shel Anshei Hakfar" (You sat me down in the room yesterday evening, to hear "Indinezi" by The Village People). This line was written after the songwriter, Yair Nitzani, was a DJ at a club where people kept asking him to put on the song "Indonezi" (meaning "Indonesian") because they misheard the real name of the song. This is an example of a mondegreen, the mishearing of a phrase such that it acquires a new meaning.
• The Japanese singer Teppei Shibuya also covers the song on his cd "On-Demand", this version being a full translation of the original song, except for the chorus.

References[link]