https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=General_officer_commandingGeneral officer commanding - Revision history2026-07-30T01:43:05ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=General_officer_commanding&diff=454735&oldid=prevNina at 12:22, 16 January 20262026-01-16T12:22:53Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Army title in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}<br />
'''General officer commanding''' ('''GOC''') is the usual title given in the armies of the [[United Kingdom]] and other [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries (and some other nations, such as [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]) to a [[general officer]] who holds a command appointment.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bowyer|first=Richard|title=Dictionary of Military Terms|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2SyST6KUJMC&pg=PA6|year=1999|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-156-5|page=41}}</ref><br />
<br />
Thus, a general might be the GOC [[II Corps (United Kingdom)|British II Corps]] (a [[Three-star rank|three-star]] appointment) or GOC [[7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|British 7th Armoured Division]] (a [[Two-star rank|two-star]] appointment).<br />
<br />
==GOC-in-C==<br />
A general officer heading a particularly large or important command, such as [[Middle East Command]] or the [[Allied Armies in Italy]], may be called a '''general officer commanding-in-chief''' ('''GOC-in-C'''). The governor of the [[Imperial Fortress]] colony of [[Bermuda]] was also appointed [[commander-in-chief]] of the disproportionately-large [[Bermuda Garrison]]. From 1912, when Lieutenant-General Sir [[George Bullock (British Army officer)|George Mackworth Bullock]] replaced the late Lieutenant-General Sir [[Walter Kitchener|Frederick Walter Kitchener]], through the [[Second World War]], the military office was titled ''General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Bermuda''.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1913 |title=Hart's Annual Army List, Special Reserve List, and Territorial Force List, for 1913, (Being the Seventy-Fourth Annual Volume) |url= |location=London |publisher=John Murray |page=116 |isbn=}}</ref> GOC-in-Cs are usually one rank higher than a GOC with GOCs of [[corps]]-level formations reporting to them.<br />
<br />
==Usage in the Indian Army==<br />
The army commanders who head the training and operational [[Indian_Army#Command_structure|commands]] of the [[Indian Army]] hold the title of general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C).<ref name = "Indian Army - Organisation">{{cite web |date= |title=Organisation of Indian Army |url=https://indianarmy.nic.in/KnowYourArmy/know-your-army-main/organisation-know-your-army-main |website= |location= |publisher=[[Indian Army]] |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=10 January 2026}}</ref><ref name = "NIOS - Military Studies, Chapter 4">{{cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Military Studies - Chapter 4, Armed Forces |url=https://nios.ac.in/media/documents/Military_Studies_374/Book-1/Chapter-4.pdf |website= |location= |publisher=[[National Institute of Open Schooling]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250425221226/https://nios.ac.in/media/documents/Military_Studies_374/Book-1/Chapter-4.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2025 |access-date=10 January 2026}}</ref> There are currently seven appointments:<br />
* [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command]]<br />
* [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command]]<br />
* [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command]]<br />
* [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command]]<br />
* [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Command]]<br />
* [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command]]<br />
* [[General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Army Training Command]]<br />
<br />
Higher military commanders of the Indian Army who are in command of operational formations, such as a division or corps, or of static formations, such as a subarea or area, are referred to as general officers commanding; examples being GOC 12 Corps, GOC 3 Infantry Division, GOC Dakshin Maharashtra and Goa Subarea, and GOC Uttar Bharat Area.<ref name = "Indian Army - Organisation" /><ref name = "NIOS - Military Studies, Chapter 4" /><br />
<br />
==Equivalent term in other services==<br />
The equivalent term for naval officers is [[flag officer commanding]] and that for air force officers is [[air officer commanding]].<br />
In the case of flag and air officers heading a large or important command, the term is flag officer commanding-in-chief and air officer commanding-in-chief.<br />
<br />
In the [[United States Armed Forces]], the equivalent is [[Commanding officer|commanding general]].<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Indian military appointments]]<br />
[[Category:British military appointments]]</div>Nina