Officer of The Salvation Army

An officer of The Salvation Army is a Salvationist who is in essence a minister of the Christian faith, but who fulfills many other roles not usually fulfilled by clergy of other denominations. They do so having been trained and commissioned to service and leadership and given a quasi-military rank.

Candidacy and Training
When applying to become a Salvation Army officer, strict acceptance guidelines must be adhered to before training can commence. Each Territory will have similar conditions that applicants must fulfill prior to entry and include, but are not limited to, the following, they must:


 * Believe they are called to full-time ministry, specifically Officership.
 * Be active Soldiers in their local Salvation Army corps.
 * Receive a recommendation from the Corps Officer of that Corps.
 * Be endorsed by the Divisional Candidate Secretary(s).
 * Partake in a formal interview with the Territorial Candidacy Board and Territorial Candidate Secretary(s).

While attending a College for Officer Training, the training participants are referred to as 'Cadets'. The length of training is normally two years, but a special dispensation may allow cadets to be commissioned after a shorter period, based on prior experience or training. Once this training is complete, the Cadets are commissioned.

Commissioning and Posting
Commissioning sees the Cadets promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and formalizes the Cadet's first posting (commonly referred to as 'Marching Orders'). These orders can send the new Lieutenants anywhere in the territory, and sometimes even see them posted to other territories that could involve overseas service.

Officers have the opportunity to serve within the Salvation Army in many different capacities, and may be posted at a Corps, Divisional / Territorial Headquarters, the Training College, The Trade, a Recovery / Rehabilitation centre, as a Chaplain (Eg. courts & prisons, hospitals), a street level outreach centre, a new or newer Corps (known as an 'Outpost' or 'Plant'), and any number of other need specific ministries.

In the majority of cases, Officers are given 'Farewell Orders' every two to five years in which they are reassigned to different posts, sometimes moving great distances, but some may be moved after anywhere between 3 months and 16 years.

The Rank Structure and Uniform
Officers hold ranks throughout their service, and even into retirement, and their rank is reflected in their uniform. The uniform of an Officer is much like that of a Soldier, and like a Soldiers, is defined by the region in which the person is serving. The consistent difference between the two uniforms is that the Officers uniform has red or maroon eppaulettes on the shoulders, whilst a Soldiers are blue. Officers epaulettes feature the Salvation 'S', as well as another insignia to designate rank. These insignia may be sewn into the epaulette, or be separate metal pins attached to the epaulettes.

Amendments to Envoy / Lieutenant Status
After a lengthy discussion with other Salvation Army leaders, General Shaw Clifton announced in November 2007 that the rank of Lieutenant would be re-instated on March 1, 2008. All cadets will now be commissioned as Lieutenants for a period of five years. The rank of Cadet-Lieutenant will be discontinued on that same date. Interestingly, no cadets in any Territory at the time of this decision were consulted in regards to this decision.

All officers serving as Lieutenants in the UK territory now receive the rank "Territorial Envoy" (as opposed to "divisional envoy"). Territorial Envoys are soldiers who wish to work as non-commissioned Officers for a limited time, usually three years. This replaced the rank of Envoy and Auxiliary-Captain. Other territories have made other 'ranks' to reflect this status such as Feldsergeant in Germany; Sergeant-major in the Ukraine; Envoy in Russia and Corpsenvoy in the Netherlands.