In the
United States Armed Forces, the term
line officer or
officer of the line refers to a
U.S. Navy,
U.S. Marine,
U.S. Air Force or
U.S. Coast Guard commissioned officer who exercises general command authority and is eligible for operational command positions, as opposed to officers who normally exercise authority within a specialty. The term is not generally used by officers of the
U.S. Army—the roughly corresponding Army terms are
basic branch and
special branch although the concepts are not synonymous, as some special branch Army officers are eligible to hold command.