personnel
Corps, scales, specialities and employments
The capacity as a serviceperson is acquired on joining the Armed Forces, either to perform military service or as a volunteer by establishing a relationship of professional services, and after passing certain entrance examinations.
The relationship of professional services may be:
- Of a permanent character (career servicepersons)
- Of a temporary character (servicepersons of the complement scale and troop and seamen professional servicepersons).
Career servicepersons are general officers, officers and non-commissioned officers who, with a service relationship of a permanent character, form the commanding officers of the Armed Forces.
Servicepersons of the complement scale are the officers who, with a service relationship of a temporary character complete the commanding officer staffs of the Armed Forces.
Troop and sailor professional servicepersons are those who, with a service relationship of a temporary character, make up the the forces of this category in the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Troop and sailor professional servicepersons may have access to a service relationship of a permanent character, in the posts vacant which are determined annually (article 96 of Law 17/1999 on the Armed Forces Personnel Regime).
The servicepersons form part of a structure of Corps, Scales, and Specialities according to the missions and tasks that they are assigned within their respective Service.
The Corps are the large blocks that servicepersons are grouped into according to the missions that they must carry out. The three Services have their respective General Corps, Engineers, Service Corps and Specialists. To these the Navy adds the Marine Infantry Corps to deal with the singularity that amphibian operations suppose.
Each of these Corps is assigned its own missions and tasks in their respective Services. The essential functions of the General Corps and of the Marine Infantry are command, preparation and employment of the Force as well as operation support. The Service Corps are in charge of planning and managing the economic resources and advising on financial matters. Those of the Engineers are advising, applying, studying and researching specific technical and scientific matters of each Service. And those of the Specialists are the supply, maintenance and management of the arms systems, equipment and other Armed Forces material resources.
In addition to these specific Corps of the Services, the Ministry of Defence has another four, called
Armed Forces Common Corps, which are the Military Legal Corp, the Military Intervention Corps, the Military Medical Corps and the Military Bands Corps.
The members of each Corps in turn are included in Scales (Upper Officer Scale, Officer Scale and Non-Commissioned Officer Scale) depending on the educational level required for their access and the professional authorities assigned to them as a consequence of their training standard.
The Upper Officer Scale means a university level degree equivalent to an honours, architecture or engineering degree; the Officer Scale (called the Technical Officer Scale in the Engineer Corps), to a diploma course, technical engineering or technical architecture; and the Non-Commissioned Officer Scale is similar to the advanced technician level in Advanced Level Professional Training.
In addition to the 17 Corps and 32 Scales established, career service persons form part of a total of 107 basic Specialities that enable them for professional undertakings in each field of specific activity (artillery, radar, aerospace techniques, electricity, pharmacy...).
Likewise, each serviceperson possesses some individual aptitudes or qualifications that enable him or her for undertakings in his or her activity at a certain organic post. Lastly, possession of an employment or military category qualifies one to exercise authority within the military hierarchical order, as well as that which the fulfilment of one's undertakings demands.
All non-commissioned officer employments (sergeant, first sergeant, master sergeant, sergeant major and command sergeant major) are classified within the Non-Commissioned Officer Scale. The Officer Scale comprises the employments of second lieutenant or frigate second lieutenant, first lieutenant or ship second lieutenant, captain or ship first lieutenant, major or corvette captain and lieutenant colonel or frigate captain. The Upper Officer Scale comprises the employments of first lieutenant or ship second lieutenant, captain or ship first lieutenant, major or corvette captain, lieutenant colonel or frigate captain, colonel or ship captain, brigadier general or rear admiral, major general or vice-admiral and lieutenant general or admiral.
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