Commander

Commander is a military rank used in many navies but not generally in armies or air forces. It is below Captain and above Lieutenant-Commander. Formerly the rank was Master and Commander.

A Commander in the U.S. Navy commands a Frigate, Destroyer, Submarine or shore installation, or is second in command to a Captain. A Commander who commands a unit may be referred to as "Captain".

Sometimes the term kommandant is used.

In the highest levels of U.S. military command structure, "commander" refers to what used to be called commander-in-chief or CINC until October 24, 2002 (CINC is still used in casual speech). This is usually referred to with the area they are commander of. For instance, General Tommy Franks was CENTCOM commander until July 7, 2003.

In Fiction

• The fictional James Bond holds the rank of Commander in the Royal Navy.
• In Star Trek, Spock, William T. Riker, Deanna Troi, Beverly Crusher, and many secondary characters have held the rank of Commander in Starfleet. Chakotay, though called 'commander', was actually a Lieutenant Commander.

See also

• Comparative military ranks
• U.S. Navy Officer Rank Insignia

British comissioned officer ranks
	Student Officer	OF(D)	OF-1	OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
Royal Navy:	OCdt	Mid	SLt	Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Admiral of the Fleet
Royal Marines:	OCdt		2Lt - Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen
Army:	OCdt	OD	2Lt - Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM
Royal Air Force:	OCdt	OD	PO - FO	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	ACdre	AVM	AM	ACM	MRAF

de:Kommandant pl:Komandor porucznik