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Military & Defence vocabulary · Command, Orders & Communication

Chain of command

Meaning in military & defence, with examples

/ˌtʃeɪn əv kəˈmɑːnd/nounCore term

In military & defence, chain of command means: The official line of authority through which orders pass down from senior leaders to subordinates and reports pass back up, level by level.

In Turkish: komuta zinciri, komuta kademesi

How it is used

A key idea in every military organisation: you follow or go through the chain of command, and you should not bypass it. Civilian organisations also use the phrase for reporting lines.

Example sentences

  1. Any request for extra vehicles must go through the chain of command.

  2. In a multinational headquarters, the chain of command must be clear to every nation.

Common collocations

  • follow the chain of command
  • go through the chain of command
  • bypass the chain of command
  • up the chain of command
  • commanderThe officer in charge of a unit, ship, base or operation, who has the authority and responsibility to make decisions and give orders.
  • orderAn official instruction from a superior that must be carried out; also a formal written document that sets out a plan or task.
  • headquarters (HQ)The place, and the staff working in it, from which a commander directs a unit, a formation or a whole organisation.
  • rankA person's official level in the military hierarchy, shown on the uniform, which decides their authority, duties and pay.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Command, Orders & Communication

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