Chief Commandant rank

[richardtl]

Sometimes these ranks come up and were never actually used.

They were for the rank of Chief Commandant/HoofKommandant, that was higher than a Lt Col in the citizen force.



This rank fell away and the porposed ranks were never used. The ealier rank was a that of a Commandant (Lt Col) with an extra bar.

Here's an article. The body is in Afrikaans but the summary is also in English.

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol106jr.html


Thanks
Richard

[Wmr-RHB]

Nice historical overview. Specialy if you are able to read and understand the Afrikaanse text.

[Alex Rice]

Thanks Richard, that's a new one for me.
Cheers,
Alex

[JohannHBotha]

Originally Posted by richardtl

Sometimes these ranks come up and were never actually used.

They were for the rank of Chief Commandant/HoofKommandant, that was higher than a Lt Col in the citizen force.



This rank fell away and the porposed ranks were never used. The ealier rank was a that of a Commandant (Lt Col) with an extra bar.

Here's an article. The body is in Afrikaans but the summary is also in English.

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol106jr.html


Thanks
Richard

Hi Richard. The rank of Chief Commandant was actually used from the Commandos 1968–70. Commando's in South Africa up until its disbandment in 2003 was organised in Groups and each Group had a Chief Commandant and each Commando a Commandant at its head.

Readers should not think of commando's as special forces - the term came from Boer Commando's who were armed reserves from a specific district. They were not citizen force members who generally belonged to a specialized regiment and who saw active duty of a maximum of 3 months every year after they completed National Service. E.g. I did 2 years national service at School of Armour, 6 years at a citizen force regiment (President Steyn) and until 2003 was allocated to the local commando.

After 1970 - groups (reporting to Commands who were headed up by a Brigadier) was headed by a full Colonel.

[richardtl]

Hi Johann

I served in Vaal Kommando (old Iscor Kommando) in the 80's/90's.

Interestingly, the British use of the term Commando was as a result of the Boer Kommandos.

Thanks
Richard