Editing Line officer (section)

==United States==
In the [[United States Armed Forces]], a '''line officer''' or '''officer of the line''' is a [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] or [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned officer]] or [[Warrant officer (United States)|warrant officer]] who exercises general command authority and is eligible for operational command positions, as opposed to officers who normally exercise command authority only within a [[United States Navy staff corps|Navy Staff Corps]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doni.documentservices.dla.mil/US%20Navy%20Regulations/Chapter%2010%20-%20Precedence,%20Authority%20and%20Command.pdf |title=US Navy Regulations, Chapter 10, Paragraph 1001. |publisher=US Navy |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref> The term ''line officer'' is also used by the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] and [[United States Coast Guard|U.S. Coast Guard]] to indicate that an officer is eligible for command of operational, viz., tactical or combat units. The term is not generally used by officers of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] – the roughly corresponding Army terms are [[Structure of the United States Army#Branches and functional areas|'''basic branch''' (e.g, Infantry) and '''special branch''' (e.g., Medical Corps)]] qualified officers, although the concepts are not entirely synonymous, as some Army special branch officers (e.g., Judge Advocate General's Corps) are eligible to hold command outside their branch specialty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.apd.army.mil/jw2/xmldemo/r600_20/main.asp#ch2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518103229/http://www.apd.army.mil/jw2/xmldemo/r600_20/main.asp#ch2|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 May 2012|title = Army Publishing Directorate}}</ref>

Officers who are not line officers are those whose primary duties are generally in non-combat specialties including (depending upon the service) [[Judge Advocate General's Corps (United States)|attorneys]], [[United States military chaplains|chaplains]], [[Military engineering of the United States|civil engineers]], [[United States Air Force Medical Service |health services professionals]], and [[Navy Supply Corps (United States)|logistics and financial management specialists]]. A line officer may hold authority over a non-line officer of higher rank by the nature of their assignment or appointment/succession to command,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://doni.documentservices.dla.mil/US%20Navy%20Regulations/Chapter%2010%20-%20Precedence,%20Authority%20and%20Command.pdf|title=Chapter 10, PRECEDENCE, AUTHORITY AND COMMAND, Section 1. Precedence|last=U.S Navy Regulations|date=2010|website=doni.documentservices.dla.mil|access-date=1 March 2017}}</ref> but is otherwise expected to observe normal customs and courtesies outside that role.

===United States Navy===
{{US Navy Officer}}
In the [[United States Navy]] (and USN Reserve), line officers are divided into [[unrestricted line officer]]s, [[limited duty officers]], and [[restricted line officer]]s.<ref name=":0" /> As of December 2024, officers performing [[information warfare]] duties is an interim category of line officers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 18, 2024 |title=U.S. NAVY REGULATIONS, 1990 INTERIM CHANGE (CORRECTED COPY) |url=https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Messages/ALNAV/ALN2024/ALN24094.txt?ver=FRs4Dgr--DHkM35IF_daUw%3d%3d |access-date=December 27, 2024 |website=MyNAVYHR}}</ref> Unrestricted Line (URL) officers hold combat warfare specialties as [[Naval Aviator]]s and [[Naval Flight Officer]]s, [[Surface Warfare Officer]]s, Submarine Warfare Officers, and Naval Special Warfare/Naval Special Operations (NSW/NSO) officers (consisting of [[United States Navy SEALs|SEALs]], Special Warfare Combatant-Craft (SWCC) Warrant Officers, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers, and Navy diving officers),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.navy.com/careers/special-operations|title=Careers in Special Warfare/Special Operations : Navy.com|website=www.navy.com|language=en|access-date=1 March 2017}}</ref> and are eligible for operational combatant command at sea, as well as command of major installations and commands ashore. Restricted Line officers command only within their particular specialty, and are normally in fields such as engineering duty, aeronautical engineering duty, aircraft maintenance, public affairs, etc. Officers performing information warfare include those in the fields of cryptology, intelligence, meteorology and oceanography, information systems and telecommunications, and cyber warfare operations and engineering.

Navy Limited Duty Officers and Warrant Officers whose technical specialties fall within a staff corps are considered staff corps officers, while all others are classed of the Line.<ref name=":0" /> Line officers wear an inverted gold star above their rank stripes on their dress blue uniforms and, in the case of Captains (US pay grade O-6/NATO OF-5) and below, on their shoulder boards in whites. Line officer flag officers (admirals O-7 to O-10/NATO OF-6 to OF-9) will wear solid gold shoulder boards with a silver metallic thread anchor and one, two, three, or four silver metallic thread stars below the anchor. When wearing khakis or utility/working uniforms, they wear their rank insignia on both collar points. The Navy refers to non-line officers as [[List of United States Navy staff corps|Staff Corps officers]]. (Both line and staff corps officers may be assigned as "staff officers" serving on the command staff of a senior officer.) Staff corps officers wear their corps insignia, rather than the line officer star, placed over their sleeve/shoulder board stripes on their dress blue and dress white uniforms, and on their left collar point on khakis and utility/working uniforms in lieu of matching pin-on rank insignia on the right collar point.<ref>Mack, VADM William P. and Paulsen, CAPT Thomas D., ''The Naval Officer's Guide'', 9th ed., Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, c1983</ref>

===United States Marine Corps===
In the [[United States Marine Corps]] (and USMC Reserve), all officers – including [[Warrant Officer (United States)|warrant officer]]s and [[limited duty officer]]s (LDOs) – are line officers, trained to command combat units, although Marine officers cannot command ships or shore organizations of the Navy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://doni.documentservices.dla.mil/US%20Navy%20Regulations/Chapter%2010%20-%20Precedence,%20Authority%20and%20Command.pdf|title=Chapter 10 – PRECEDENCE, AUTHORITY AND COMMAND, Section 2. Authority|last=U.S. Navy Regulations (2010)|website=doni.documentservices.dla.mil/|access-date=1 March 2017|quote=1030. Authority of an Officer of the Marine Corps Over Naval Forces. Officers of the Marine Corps may not command ships or Navy shore facilities. This article shall not be construed to prevent an officer of the Marine Corps, when so detailed by the Secretary of the Navy or a commander in chief (sic), from having and exercising such authority as may be necessary to direct the operations of all forces assigned to him or her.}}</ref> Unlike the Navy, the Marine Corps does not have any staff corps, consequently all Marine engineer and supply officers, and judge advocates, are line officers. The Marine Corps has no medical corps officers, dental corps officers, nurse corps officers, or chaplain corps officers. Because the Marine Corps is a service within the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]], these staff corps billets in the Marine Corps are normally filled by US Navy staff corps officers in those specialties, serving alongside Marines in Marine units, although officers of the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service may be detailed, as well.<ref name=":0" />

===United States Air Force===
In the [[United States Air Force]] (and USAF Reserve), officers assigned to the medical, nurse, dental, medical services (healthcare administration), biosciences, Judge Advocates and chaplain corps are ''professional'' officers. In addition to being professional officers, Judge Advocates in the Air Force are also considered line officers and, like all other officers in operational/combat and combat support specialties, belong to the Line of the Air Force (LAF).

===United States Coast Guard===
All [[Officer_(armed_forces)#Commissioned_officers|commissioned]] and [[Warrant Officer (United States)|warrant]] officers of the [[United States Coast Guard]] and [[United States Coast Guard Reserve]] are considered line officers. They wear the US Coast Guard shield in lieu of the inverted star of [[United States Navy|US Navy]] line officers on their shoulder boards and above the sleeve braid on dress uniforms. Like the [[United States Marine Corps|US Marine Corps]], the Coast Guard does have line officers serving as judge advocates, but has no officers serving as chaplains or in the health-care fields. Therefore, US Navy staff corps officers (from the chaplain, medical, dental, and nurse corps) may be detailed to serve at Coast Guard units, and are not Coast Guard line officers. These individuals do wear the Coast Guard uniform, albeit with some differences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/pch/docs/cgchapob.pdf|title=Coast Guard Chaplains Orientation Manual|website=www.uscg.mil|page=16|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120916105614/http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/pch/docs/cgchapob.pdf|archive-date=16 September 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=1 March 2017}}</ref> Additionally, [[United States Public Health Service|US Public Health Service]] commissioned officers are the primary source of health care officers in the Coast Guard, serving alongside U.S. Navy staff corps officers and Coast Guardsmen in Coast Guard units. They too will wear the Coast Guard uniform, albeit with some differences.<ref name=":0" /> Health services officers in the USPHS commissioned corps detailed to the Coast Guard represent many disciplines, including the biological, physical, environmental, and [[social sciences]]; medical technology; health care administration; and other public health specialties such as [[physician assistant]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gocoastguard.com/sites/default/files/forms/opportunities_for_health_services_officers_in_the_uscg_2016.pdf|title=Opportunities for U.S. Public Health Service Health Services Officers in the U.S. Coast Guard|date=28 July 2016|website=www.gocoastguard.com|access-date=1 March 2017}}</ref>