Commander in Chief
Commander-in-Chief (in NATO-lingo often C-in-C or CINC pronounced "sink") is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces in a state.
While well-known Commanders-in-Chief often have been senior generals, many countries have the rule that the Head of State is Commander-in-Chief in times of peace.
According to the Constitution of the United States, the President of the United States "shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States". See the 1941 Declarations of War against Japan and Germany for how this call is made. Subordinate to the President of the United States are the Commanders of the regional Unified Commands. This model is followed in many other nations. The US Secretary of Defense is not in the official chain of command.
The Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization act of 1986 added a new level of CINC. Under Goldwater-Nichols regional CINCs were created to bring a local supreme commander to a conflict. The most well known of which is CINC CENTCOM, who was Norman Schwarzkopf during Operation Desert Storm.
On October 24, 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Defense announced that the title of Commander-in-Chief would be reserved for the President, and that armed forces CINCs would shorten their title to "commander."
In democratic monarchies, the King or Queen is the symbolic Commander-in-Chief, though the active authority is exercised by the Prime Minister and the subordinate defense ministers. In Commonwealth Realms, Commander-in-Chief is the Governor General (though they perform this role in the Queen's name), while in colonies the Commander-in-Chief is the leader of the colonial power.
