Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police rank. It is also often used to refer to the commander of a military prison or prison camp (including concentration camps and prisoner of war camps).
Bangladesh In Bangladesh Armed Forces and Bangladesh Marine Academy commandant is not any rank. It is an appointment. The commandant serves as the head of any military or merchant navy training institutes or unit.
Canada Commandant is the normal Canadian French-language term for the commanding officer of a mid-sized unit, such as a regiment or battalion, within the Canadian Forces. In smaller units, the commander is usually known in French as the officier commandant.
Conversely, in Canadian English, the word commandant is used exclusively for the commanding officers of military units that provide oversight and/or services to a resident population (such as a military school or college, a long-term health care facility or a detention facility.
France In the French Army and French Air Force, the term commandant is used as a rank equivalent to major (NATO rank code OF-3). However, in the French Navy commandant is the style, but not the rank, of the senior officers, specifically capitaine de corvette, capitaine de frégate and capitaine de vaisseau.
Germany In the German language, a military Kommandant is the commanding officer of a military installation (e.g. a fortress), vehicle, aircraft (the pilot is not always Kommandant, if another crew member has a higher rank) or vessel (e.g. U-Boot-Kommandant). In contrast to the governor, the fortress commandant of the Imperial German Army or the Wehrmacht never had higher but only lower jurisdiction. When subordinate to a governor, his duties were limited to garrison duty. Subordinate to him was the Platzmajor.
In the navy of the Bundeswehr, commandants, including former commandants, wear the special commandant badge. When the commandant is active, it is worn on the right side of the chest above the breast pocket. Former commandants wear it on the left breast under the name tag.
In Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol, the head of the volunteer fire brigade is called the Kommandant. As such, he leads the fire brigade and is responsible for the training and deployment of his local fire brigade. In his own local area, he leads the operations management of all fire brigades as long as this is not taken over by the higher-level operations management.
India
In the Indian Armed Forces, 'Commandant' is not a rank but an appointment. Commandant is the title of the heads of the Training establishments. Examples include: Commandant of the National Defence Academy Commandant of the Indian Military Academy Commandant of the National Defence College Commandant of Indian Naval Academy
In the Indian Army, the Commanding Officer of an armoured regiment or a Mechanized infantry regiment (Mechanised Infantry Regiment, Brigade of The Guards) is known as the Commandant.
Commandant is a rank in the Central Armed Police Forces of India. It is equivalent to the rank of Colonel/Captain/Group Captain. In the Indian Coast Guard, ranks of Commandant and Commandant (Junior grade) exist. While Commandant is equivalent to Colonel/Captain/Group Captain, Commandant (Junior grade) is equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel/Commander/Wing Commander.
In the State Armed Police Forces, a Commandant serves as the head of an armed police battalion. The rank of Commandant is equivalent to that of a Superintendent of Police (SP).
Ireland
In the Irish Army, commandant (Comdt; ) is the equivalent of major in other armies. Irish Army commandants can sometimes be referred to as major if serving overseas under the umbrella of the United Nations or the European Union to alleviate misunderstanding.
Kenya Kenya Defence Forces In the Kenya Defence Forces, Commandant is an appointment. Commandant is the title of the head of the training institutions. Examples include:
Commandant of the Recruits Training School Commandant of the Kenya Military Academy Commandant of the National Defence College Commandant of the Defence Staff College Commandant of School of Infantry
National Police Service In the National Police Service, the title of Commandant is reserved for commanders of large training institutions or commanders of large independent units. As with the Army, the post of a commander of a medium size unit is referred to as the Commanding Officer (CO) while the smallest is Officer Commanding (OC).
Example:
Commandant of the General Service Unit (GSU) Commandant National Police College Embakasi A Campus Commandant Rapid Deployment Commandant Kenya Airports Police Unit
Lithuania In the Lithuanian Armed Forces the Military Commandant's Offices Command is a territorial security-oriented formation, responsible for ensuring military order, security, and defense of critical infrastructure in the rear. It oversees the Military Commandant's Offices, which perform tasks such as facility protection, communication security, counter-sabotage operations, and maintaining order in designated areas.
The command also manages the mobilization process and supports national defense efforts through its structured territorial presence.
Philippines In the Philippines, a Commandant is an appointment and not a rank but once selected, the appointee is promoted to the highest rank on the service. Commandants are appointed by the President of the Philippines either after the incumbent retires or as a replacement after dismissal.
There are currently two Commandant appointments that exist in the Philippines namely:
Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps; and Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard
The Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps will be promoted to the rank of Major General (Two-star Rank) once appointed while the Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard will be promoted to the rank of an Admiral (Four-star Rank).
South Africa
In South Africa, Commandant was the title of the commanding officer of a commando (militia) unit in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
During the First World War, was used as a title by officers commanding Defence Rifle Association units, also known as commandos. The commandos were militia units raised in emergencies and constituted the third line of defence after the Permanent Force and the part-time Active Citizen Force regiments. The commandant rank was equivalent to major or lieutenant-colonel, depending on the size of the commando.
From 1950 to 1994, commandant was the rank equivalent to lieutenant colonelGovernment Notice 2092 (25 Aug 1950) and commander of a battalion. The rank was used by both the Army and the Air Force. The naval equivalent was commander (). The rank was not used by the South African Police, who continued with lieutenant colonel [luitenant-kolonel].
The rank insignia for a Commandant () was initially a crown over a five-pointed star. In 1957 the crown was replaced by a pentagonal castle device based on the floor plan of the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa's oldest military building. In 1994, the rank of Commandant / Kommandant reverted to lieutenant colonel.
From 1968 to 1970, a related rank, , existed in the commando forces.
Recently, use of the term has followed the standard practice, i.e. the commanding officer of a training institute.
New Zealand In the New Zealand Defence Force, the term commandant is used for the senior officer (or commander) of garrisoned units that do not deploy and are not operational. This typically includes learning institutes such as the New Zealand Defence College, the New Zealand Cadet Force, and (formerly) the Command and Staff College. The title could also be used for other non-deploying units such as the Services Corrective Establishment in Burnham, or depot-level engineering units.
The equivalent term for operational units is 'commander', such as commander of the Joint Force Headquarters New Zealand.
Under the 2010 creation of the Training and Education Directorate, an additional position of commandant was established for the Training Institute to complement the commandant of the Defence College.
Russia
In Russia and prior to that in the Soviet Union and Imperial Russia the position of commandant was widely used and may have various meanings:
Palace commandant — a position in the Ministry of the Imperial Court, from March 14, 1896, the head of the governing body for the defense and protection of the imperial family. Fortress commandant — the commander of the fortress, and where there is none, the head of the city garrison, that is, the city commandant. City commandant— in Russia was in every city and in those villages where two or more separate military units or teams were located. To fill the commandant positions in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tsarskoye Selo, Gatchina, Petergof, Warsaw, Tiflis, Nikolaev and some other cities, special persons were appointed. In other cities, the duties of the commandant were assigned to district military commanders, and where there were none, to one of the officers of the local garrison. City commandants were subordinate to the chief commander of the military district and the head of the garrison.
City garrison commandant — supervises the observance of discipline and order in the troops stationed in the city, guard duty and the detention of military personnel arrested for disciplinary offenses. In the Soviet Armed Forces and in the contemporary Russian Armed Forces, the commandant is the head of the military commandant's office of the garrison — the main body for managing the garrison service. In small garrisons that do not have a regular military commandant's office, a non-staff commandant is appointed by order of the garrison chief, usually the senior in position among the commanders of the commandant's units of the military units stationed in the garrison. Military commandant of a railway station — an officer appointed to supervise the correctness and timeliness of the movement of military units (military echelons) and cargo, as well as the loading and unloading of military trains. Commandant of a border section — the head of a border commandant's office — the head of a unit of a border detachment intended to protect a specific section of the state border. Responsible for: Protection of the designated section and operational work; Combat readiness, combat training, morale and psychological state and military discipline of the personnel of border outposts and other units of the commandant's office; Condition and effective use of weapons and equipment, engineering structures and barriers in border protection; Implementation of activities for types of service and combat actions. When organizing the protection of the state border, ensures the implementation of the decision of the head of the border detachment and makes decisions in the event of a sharp change in the situation, and supervises subordinate border units.
Commandant of headquarters — a position established in wartime as part of the field headquarters of the Russian Imperial Army. Under his immediate control were the convoy with the gendarme unit or team and the wagon train of headquarters. Subordinate to him were sutlers, artisans, traders, industrialists, servants and all private individuals in general located in the area of the headquarters. He had the right to subject them to arrest for up to 1 month and a fine of up to 100 rubles. Corps commandant — was part of the corps administration according to the wartime staffing of the armed forces of the Russian Empire. His range of activities in the area of the corps headquarters generally coincided with the range of activities of the commandant of the headquarters.