# Military: Can or could a person be forced to become a commissioned officer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392 "2013-01-07T20:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/1 "2013-01-07T20:50:05Z")
I’m bouncing off of [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=678037) thread. It’s clearly possible for an enlisted man to become a commissioned officer if he wants to and the service is willing or eager to accept him as one. Is it, or has it been, possible for a person to be _forced_ to become and serve as a commissioned officer in any military force (any country, any division)? That is, has it ever been possible for a person to be drafted _as a commissioned officer_ without any option to decline the commission and serve as an enlisted man, or has it ever been possible for an enlisted man who never applied for or agreed to a commission to be forced to take one and serve under it? I’m _not_ talking about any of the following scenarios: 1. A draftee _voluntarily_ accepts a commission, either in addition to or in lieu of his service obligation as an enlisted man. E.g. “You are hereby drafted and must report to basic training on March 15. Service will be as an enlisted man unless you apply for and are accepted as an officer candidate.” 2. A commissioned officer who received his commission _voluntarily_ is subject to a minimum service requirement (e.g. they can’t legally get out until serving X years). E.g. “Sergeant, you are applying to Officer Candidate School of your own free will. If you pass, you will be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and will be obligated to serve at least 5 years from the date of graduation, or until your current enlistment period would expire, whichever is later. Do you agree to these terms? If you do not, you will not be allowed to become an officer.” ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/2 "2013-01-07T21:10:19Z")
Well when you say “any military force (any country, any division)”, I’m sure there are examples. In the USA there was the “Doctors Draft” in the past where medical personnel were drafted and given commissions into the Medical Corps. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/3 "2013-01-07T22:23:01Z")
I can’t find clear cites, but my impression from reading histories (and historical fiction) is that in casualty-intensive conflicts (like WWI or WWII), battlefield commissions were used to backfill platoon-level leadership that had become casualties in action. Audie Murphy, for instance, was battlefield commissioned from Sergeant (rank), platoon sergeant (position), to 2nd Lieutenant to replace his own platoon leader. My further impression was it wasn’t particularly voluntary… the battalion needs to replace a platoon leader during the course of combat operations, and a replacement from within the ranks is the only real option… do you really think Seargeant Snuffy would be allowed to say “no”? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/4 "2013-01-07T22:27:00Z")
One of the main points about the tv show MASH was that the protagonist doctors had been drafted and never saw themselves as “real Army.” Col. Potter and Col. Blake, they had been in a long time and saw themselves as “Army docs”, not someone just doing it long enough to get out. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/5 "2013-01-08T00:10:23Z")
Sergeant Nick Fury famously refused battlefield commissions in WWII but accepted one in Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/6 "2013-01-08T02:20:47Z")
It wouldn’t be quite the same thing but George Meade was basically forced to be head of the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War by Abraham Lincoln. A few days later Meade out-generaled Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/7 "2013-01-08T03:56:23Z")
I worked with an retired E9 from the Navy. He had masters degree that he earned while in the Navy. He said that he had recieved a lot pressure to take a commission. He couldnot figure why they though the would go from E9 almost no one gives you a hard time, to O-1. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/8 "2013-01-08T04:09:56Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Is it, or has it been, possible for a person to be _forced_ to become and serve as a commissioned officer in any military force (any country, any division)? That is, has it ever been possible for a person to be drafted _as a commissioned officer_ without any option to decline the commission and serve as an enlisted man, or has it ever been possible for an enlisted man who never applied for or agreed to a commission to be forced to take one and serve under it? Under a totalitarian regimes yes. I’m thinking of Captain Von Trapp but the Captain was already a retired officer, not enlisted (it wouldn’t have mattered.) With the US Army, I understand one is sometimes ‘ordered’ to undergo officer training, or am I wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/9 "2013-01-08T04:12:39Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Under a totalitarian regimes yes. I’m thinking of Captain Von Trapp but the Captain was already a retired officer, not enlisted (it wouldn’t have mattered.) > > With the US Army, I understand one is sometimes ‘ordered’ to undergo officer training, or am I wrong? You’re wrong. In the US Armed Forces, one must accept a commission to become a commissioned officer. It’s voluntary. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/10 "2013-01-08T04:17:04Z")
So that confuses me now. You can back out of being an officer but you can get drafted and stay a private. Latter sounds like a stupid choice. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/11 "2013-01-08T04:19:14Z")
So if a medical genius graduates from John Hopkins as one of the finest surgeons ever at age 22, (much handwaving) gets drafted, he’d still be enlisted? The army is okay with an enlisted man as a full surgeon? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/12 "2013-01-08T04:40:24Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > So if a medical genius graduates from John Hopkins as one of the finest surgeons ever at age 22, (much handwaving) gets drafted, he’d still be enlisted? The army is okay with an enlisted man as a full surgeon? If the Army needs an Infantryman at the moment far more than they need another doctor, then the draftee’s going to be an Infantryman. But, IIRC, aren’t doctor’s exempted from the “cannon fodder” draft? I always thought they could only be drafted into the Medical Corps. I’ve no evidence for that impression, it’s just one I’ve held for as long as I can remember and I’ve had no occasion to question it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/13 "2013-01-08T04:53:33Z")
It’s already been mentioned upthread, but there’s the “Doctor Draft” where they specifically draft people because they’re medical personnel. So, if Doogie Hauser turned 18 and got drafted, I’m assuming the army wouldn’t waste his medical skills by handing him a rifle and a parachute, they’d give him scrubs and a scalpel, but what rank would he have? ---
**Author:** ![solosam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@solosam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solosam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/14 "2013-01-08T05:01:47Z")
I can’t speak for all times or all places, but the modern American Army commissioning oath includes the phrase, “That I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” Therefore, forcing someone to be an officer against their will violates their oath before they’ve even taken it. Further, AR 135–100, section 2-7.6 states: “An oath of office executed with reservations of any nature or modification will not be recorded as an acceptance. Appointment will be canceled if the member does not desire to execute an oath without reservations.” So the answer is no, an officer cannot be appointed to the office against their will. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/15 "2013-01-08T11:37:56Z")
Granting an officer’s commission implies a certain amount of trust in the loyalty and aptitude of the individual. It seems doubtful that you can indeed have that conviction if he or she wouldn’t even accept a commission in the first place. I remember reading about a case in WW II in which a medical doctor served as an enlisted man in the medical corps of the German army because the man was considered politically unreliable by the Nazis. He did, however, serve as a surgeon and was considered equal by his colleagues (who were officers). ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/16 "2013-01-08T12:38:09Z")
IDF (Israel) - no, becoming an officer is voluntary. You \*\*cannot \*\*be co-erced. Although there can be a fair amount of pressure brought to bear, it **can** be resisted – it’s still enough of a true “people’s army” that you won’t _really_ suffer for electing to remain enlisted. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2013, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-can-or-could-a-person-be-forced-to-become-a-commissioned-officer/646392/17 "2013-01-09T07:09:51Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > So if a medical genius graduates from John Hopkins as one of the finest surgeons ever at age 22, (much handwaving) gets drafted, he’d still be enlisted? The army is okay with an enlisted man as a full surgeon? Yeah, but I bet his duty station is going to be Fort Detrick Declan