The categorization of military personnel under the terms of the Geneva Convention. Under the Geneva Convention, military personnel should be categorized such that, whould they become prisoners of war, appropriate treatment and sorting can occur. The five categories are:
- Category I
- Junior enlisted personnel, who are unlikely to have any classified information.
- Category II
- Senior enlisted and noncommissioned officers. Unlikely to have much sensitive knowledge.
- Category III
- Company grade officer (CGO). A CGO may be in command of small units, and will likely have more knowledge than an enlisted person, while having less experience.
- Category IV
- Field grade officer. An officer who holds field command; and is likely to have tactically useful information.
- Category V
- General officer. An officer with stars on their shoulder; usually a valuable asset to either side.
The main purpose of the categorization is to protect junior members from a level of
interrogation which is not
warranted by their rank; unfortunately, it thus can target the interrogation on those most likely to be of help to the enemy.