Looking for a military term

[ffutures]

I think that there's a military term for this - a civilian who signs on as a temporary officer equivalent in the armed forces, subject to orders etc.

The idea is that I want a rationale for civilian characters aboard a military vessel. Reserves doesn't quite work for my purposes. I could make them civilian employees, but I think I want them to be a little more in the chain of command.

Any suggestions?

Later - I think "Acting supernumerary" will do.

Comments

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

You've got equivalent rank but no authority, right? You're not in the chain of command and can't order lower ranked "real" officers or enlisted to do anything?

[houses7177.livejournal.com]

No, I can't order military people to do anything with official orders that hold water in a legal sense. I can order people in our chain of command, however, people like us. It seemed like Marcus was asking about legitimate presence on a ship, or whatnot, not that the person was actually ordering military personnel to execute.

Actually, now that I think about it, some DACs *can* have military people detailed to us, and they do answer to us as far as official orders go. A colleague has two captains that answer to him as if he was their commanding officer, and is listed so on their posting documentation. He rates them, that sort of thing, but it's extremely rare. In his case, it's because he does most of his work in forward operating scenarios, and I do not.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I've now got so many choices I should be able to come up with something that works!