Batman (military) Batman (military) A batman or an orderly is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. Before the advent of motorized transport, an officer's batman was also in charge of the officer's "bat-horse" that carried the pack saddle with his officer's kit during a campaign. The U.K. English term is derived from the obsolete "bat", meaning "pack saddle" (from French "bât", from Old French "bast", from Late Latin "bastum"). A batman's duties often include: The action of serving as a batman was referred to as "batting". In armies where officers typically came from the upper
Non-commissioned officer that require a significant amount of training, far greater than the amount required for a basic job (12 months vs. 2 weeks). Because these jobs are more technically advanced the schools have higher attrition rates, demand more responsibility, and require longer initial enlistments, these sailors are able to advance to petty officer third class. Another way for a sailor to earn accelerated advancement is by graduating top 10% of their class within their "A" school. Non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not earned a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually obtain their position of authority by