The Need for Lower Echelon Command in the Turkish Army: History of Non-Commissioned Officer

Abstract

This article examines the historical course of the non-commissioned officer equivalent cadres in the Turkish Army, which meet the middle and lower-level command needs of modern armies. These cadres started to serve within the Turkish Army since the formation of “Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediye” in 1826 and followed the example set by the paradigm armies of the period, namely French, German, and American armies. It was only in 1951 and after much influence from the American military advisors, the Turkish Army adopted the present form of the non-commissioned officer cadres. This change in Türkiye between 1826 and 1951 progressed differently than other world armies, as conditions specific to Türkiye prevailed. Within the scope of the subject, which is discussed mostly through primary sources of the period, the article examines the selection, training, employment, status, promotion processes and duties of these personnel and tries to reveal the changes within them. This study shows that the ignored/postponed or unresolved problems regarding the employment of non-commissioned officers, which are not the subject of much academic research, may lead to major problems in the intermediate and long term. The results illustrate that the subject should be studied not only from the perspective of military organisation history, but also from other academic fields such as operational military history, military education history, and military sociology.

Keywords

• turkish military
• junior officer
• non-commissioned officer
• officer from enlisted ranks
• warrant officer