Article 2 of the Saudi Officers Service Law

This is a definitions article that fixes the meaning of the words used in the Law, unless a provision or the context indicates otherwise:

• The Kingdom: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• The Minister: the Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General.
• The armed forces: all the land, air and naval forces and air defense connected, or that become connected, to the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, in the wording amended by Royal Decree No. (M/25) dated 9/11/1406 AH.
• The officer: one who holds a military rank under the provisions of the Law.
• The staff officer: one who graduated from the Saudi Command and Staff College or its equivalent staff colleges.
• The medical officer: one who graduated from a recognized college of medicine, and what applies to doctors applies to dentists, pharmacists and veterinarians.
• The engineer officer: an officer from a recognized college of engineering.
• The technical officer: one who holds a specialization certificate in the field of his work from one of the technical or vocational institutes designated by decision of the Minister.

The article lists, as examples, specializations that make their holder a technical officer, including: mechanics of tanks, aircraft, vehicles and naval vessels, armament, survey engineering, electricity, signals, ammunition and technical equipment, radar, music, and storage of aircraft equipment. The phrase "as examples" means the list is not exhaustive.

These definitions matter because many of the Law's provisions differ according to the officer's description. They are linked to Article 3, which adds to the rank the word medical, engineer or technical according to these descriptions.