The name Executive Officer denotes the role of this staff officer. He is the second in command in any company sized or larger military unit. His primary function is to insure that the commanders policies are implemented and followed. Even though he is the overall second in command he deals very heavily with the commanders primary staff officers. He has to be keenly aware of staff functions and he has to have his finger directly on the pulse of staff events so that he can serve in his role as the chief staff advisor.

The executive officer is the equivalent of the chief operating officer of a big corporation or the chief of staff of the military. His major function is to make sure that he takes as much pressure off of the commander as humanely possible. He is the last line of review of staff actions before they get to the commander for a decision. He works with the staff to insure that they present an acceptable product to the commander for his decision. Once the decision is made he monitors his staff to insure that it is carried out to the letter.

In a field unit the exec is the direct overseer of the personnel officer, the logistics officer, and the intelligence officer. He also works very closely with the maintenance officer to insure that the units maintenance needs are met. A good executive officer has maintenance as his absolute first priority. He must insure that the units equipment is current in the services required for it, and ready to roll. He directs maintenance priorities within the unit and sometimes works directly with the company level maintenance officers.

He works with the personnel officer to insure that personnel shortfalls are anticipated and met. He also keeps a finger on pending personnel actions such as transfers to insure that they are accomplished in a timely manner. He oversees required actions which are implemented for the well being of the troops and keeps the commander apprised as necessary.

The executive officer works closely with the units logistics officer to insure that the unit has all of the equipment and supplies that it needs in order to function. He has to insure that equipment and supplies are on hand and that anticipated needs are on order to meet unit requirements. Classes of supply include food and water, ammunition, spare parts and tools, equipment, petroleum oil and lubricants, and medical supplies.

The commander of a maneuver unit is actually more closely involved with his operations officer than he is with the exec because the operations officer is responsible for military plans and operations. You can see that the exec must be reliable and a self starter. He has the commanders authority to make whatever decisions that he deems necessary in order to accomplish the mission so he must know how the commander thinks.

During actual combat he is located in the rear area of the unit while the commander leads from out front. If the unit suffers an attack which takes out a significant portion of its troops chances are that either the commander or the exec will survive. Whichever one of these officers survives will assume control of the unit. The commander and his operations officer are normally both located in the action so if the commander is killed during combat the operations officer will assume control of the combat forces until the exec can appoint one of his staff officers to take his place and get to the front. Military Ring Express