Battlefield commissions are awarded on the basis of merit and demonstration of leadership, and bypass this step. The most significant aspect of a battlefield commission is that it is granted apart from the regular commission sources: Officer Training School/ Officer Candidate School, Reserve Officer Training Corps or a service academy. Such a commission is usually advancement from a position of non-commissioned officer to a commissioned officer, generally O-1 - Second Lieutenant, or Ensign in the Navy and Coast Guard. From World War I to the Vietnam War, over 31,200 soldiers, Marines, and airmen had been awarded battlefield commissions. The Marine Corps started awarding battlefield commissions in place of the Brevet Medal, which was second only to the Medal of Honor. Starting in 1917, during World War I, the United States Army started awarding battlefield commissions to soldiers to replace the " Brevet Officer" system (the promotion of an enlisted man to a commissioned officer without an increase in pay). Normally, enlisted service members or non-commissioned officers cannot attain the rank of commissioned officer through regular promotion. In the medieval context, this martial achievement was often one of the main restricted pathways into the sword-bearing feudal aristocracy.
The granting of a battlefield commission has its historical predecessor in the medieval practice of the knighting or ennoblement of a plebeian combatant on the battleground for demonstration of heroic qualities in an exceptional degree. This promotion does not involve a promotion board and does not require the soldier meet time in service or time in grade requirements.Ī battlefield commission is awarded to enlisted soldiers who are promoted to the rank of commissioned officer for outstanding leadership on the field of battle. "Battlefield promotions are predicated on extraordinary performance of duties while serving in combat or under combat conditions." It can be used to promote an individual soldier one grade, to at most staff sergeant, and has a variety of constraints. The US Army discontinued this practice after the Vietnam War with the centralized promotion system, but in 2009 decided to again allow such promotions. A battlefield promotion is awarded to enlisted soldiers who are promoted to a higher enlisted rank during combat or combat conditions.
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