What This Field Means
The kind of authority one commander or command has over the unit for a particular purpose.
This identifies the legal or doctrinal kind of authority exercised over a unit, including COCOM authority, OPCON, TACON, and ADCON. The distinction explains what a commander could direct and what responsibilities remained elsewhere.
How to Read It Correctly
Authority is not a command’s name, assignment status, parentage, or a general statement that one organization worked for another. Different authorities can coexist over the same unit for different purposes.
Example
A unit can remain administratively owned by one command while another exercises OPCON.
Technical Specification
The database column is [USMIL-Unit].[Unit].[CommandAuthority]. Required command-authority summary mapped to the controlled authority vocabulary, including COCOM authority, OPCON, TACON, and ADCON.
Use only the authority explicitly supported by orders, doctrine applied to the relationship, or authoritative reporting. Attach it to the correct source command, target unit, context, and effective period; never infer OPCON or TACON from informal wording alone.
| Property | Definition or current value |
|---|---|
| Database column | CommandAuthority |
| Column order | 36 |
| SQL data type | nvarchar(128) |
| Kind of information | Ontology-controlled classification with a scalar Unit-table summary |
| Cardinality | Unit table: one scalar summary per row. Ontology dimension: multiple; time-varying: true. |
| Required | Yes |
| Database default | No database default |
| Key or relationship | None |
| Database check constraint | ([CurrentStatus]=N'Planned' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Status unknown' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Historical' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Inactive' OR [CurrentStatus]=N'Current') |
| Live population | 9341 of 9341 Unit records (100%) |
| Distinct nonblank values in the live table | 850 |
| Live profile measured | September 2, 2026, 20:43 UTC |
Allowed Values and Definitions
The complete active controlled vocabulary is listed below. The ontology is authoritative for normalized options. Narrative or legacy phrases found in the scalar Unit-table column are current data expressions, not additional approved options.
| Ontology property | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ontology dimension | Command authority |
| Dimension number | 19 |
| Ontology definition | COCOM authority, OPCON, TACON, ADCON, or another documented authority. |
| Ontology cardinality | multiple |
| Changes over time | Yes |
| Active controlled options | 10 |
| Canonical option | Code | Plain-language definition | Technical definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | unknown | The evidence reviewed so far does not establish a value. | No supported value is asserted; this is an evidentiary state, not a positive classification. |
| Not applicable | not-applicable | This question does not apply to this kind of unit or relationship. | The dimension is intentionally inapplicable to the subject type; it is not missing data. |
| Unresolved | unresolved | The unit is known, but the available evidence does not yet settle this particular point. | Confirms that resolution remains open after review without asserting a competing value. |
| Needs review | needs-review | The retained evidence needs additional review before a reliable value can be shown. | Places the assertion in a review-required disposition rather than accepting a substantive value. |
| Source conflict | source-conflict | Reliable sources disagree, so the guide preserves the disagreement instead of choosing one silently. | Records an unresolved conflict among retained sources and prevents false canonical certainty. |
| COCOM authority | cocom-authority | The nontransferable combatant-command authority exercised by a combatant commander over assigned forces. | Canonical combatant command authority; it cannot be delegated and is broader than OPCON, TACON, or ADCON. |
| OPCON | opcon | Authority to organize and employ forces and direct operations for assigned missions. | Operational control: delegable command authority below COCOM authority and broader than TACON, without automatically including full administration. |
| TACON | tacon | Detailed, usually local direction and control of movements or maneuvers needed for a mission. | Tactical control: limited command authority focused on specified tasks, movements, or maneuvers. |
| ADCON | adcon | Authority over administration and support such as personnel, readiness, training, and logistics. | Administrative control: direction or authority over administrative and support matters, distinct from operational employment. |
| Another documented authority | another-documented-authority | Another documented authority is used when authoritative evidence establishes a command authority not represented by COCOM authority, OPCON, TACON, or ADCON. | Controlled catch-all code 'another-documented-authority' in ontology Dimension 19. Use requires explicit source support; recurring concepts should receive a separately defined extension rather than accumulating as unexplained catch-all data. |
How the Live Unit Table Uses This Field
The scalar Unit-table column currently contains 850 distinct nonblank expressions. The 20 most frequently used expressions are shown below; these are evidence-derived or legacy contents, not extra controlled options.
| Observed live expression | Live Unit records |
|---|---|
| Administrative authority evidenced by current SNDL parent UIC | 1932 |
| Command relationship not established by the source profile; hierarchy review pending | 1649 |
| Administrative or operational authority retained in ontology relationship evidence | 1292 |
| Historical unit | 753 |
| Unit | 578 |
| Administrative command not established by directory grouping; relationship review pending | 421 |
| Formal formation command | 299 |
| Task organization command | 234 |
| Historical command identity | 207 |
| ADCON | 205 |
| Command | 76 |
| Squadron | 56 |
| Squadron command | 53 |
| Root disposition | 46 |
| Squadron commander | 44 |
| Group | 31 |
| Center | 31 |
| Detachment | 31 |
| Group commander | 27 |
| Battalion command | 26 |
Missing, Unknown, and Conflicting Information
This column cannot be NULL in the Unit table. When the underlying fact is incomplete, the record must use an allowed explicit disposition or a supported evidence-derived statement. Required storage does not mean that every historical fact is known, and it never authorizes a guessed value.
The controlled uncertainty values are deliberately different: Unknown means evidence has not established a value; Unresolved means the question remains open after review; Needs review identifies work still requiring evaluation; Source conflict preserves disagreement among retained sources; and Not applicable means the dimension does not apply to the subject.
Connections to Other Fields
- Operational Command — The command directing or employing the unit for an operation, deployment, exercise, or assigned mission.
- Administrative Command — The service-side organization responsible for administration, readiness, personnel, training, and support.
- Assignment Status — How the unit is connected to another command—assigned, allocated, attached, supporting, or supported.
- Operational Context — The operation, campaign, exercise, contingency, or standing plan in which a command relationship or unit activity applies.
- Effective From — The date from which the facts represented by this unit record are known to apply.