General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

(and some other nations, such as

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) to a

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC British II Corps (a three-star appointment) or GOC British 7th Armoured Division (a two-star appointment).

GOC-in-C

A general officer heading a particularly large or important command, such as Middle East Command or the Allied Armies in Italy, may be called a general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C). The governor of the

Imperial Fortress Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Lord Salisbury described Malta, Gibraltar, Bermuda, and Halifax as Imperial fortresses at the 1887 Colonial Conference, though by that point they had been so designated for decades. Later histor ...

colony of

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

was also appointed commander-in-chief of the disproportionately-large Bermuda Garrison. From 1912, when Lieutenant-General Sir George Mackworth Bullock replaced the late Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Walter Kitchener, through the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the military office was titled ''General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Bermuda''. GOC-in-Cs are usually one rank higher than a GOC with GOCs of

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

-level formations reporting to them.

Usage in the Indian Army

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief

The army commanders who head the training and operational commands of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

General Officer Commanding

Higher military commanders of the Indian Army who are in command of operational formations, such as a division or corps, or of static formations, such as subarea or Area, are also freferred to as General Officers Commanding or GOC; examples being GOC 12 Corps, GOC 3 Infantry Division, GOC Dakshin Maharashtra and Goa Subarea, GOC Uttar Bharat Area, etc.

Equivalent term in other services

The equivalent term for naval officers is flag officer commanding (FOC) and that for air force officers is air officer commanding (AOC). In the case of flag and air officers heading a large or important command, the term is flag officer commanding-in-chief (FOC-in-C) and air officer commanding-in-chief (AOC-in-C). In the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

, the equivalent is commanding general (CG).

References

{{Reflist, 30em Indian military appointments British military appointments