Officer in tactical command

Officer in tactical command (OTC) is a NATO term used to designate the naval officer exercising tactical command of a group of ships in a tactical formation such as a task unit, task group, or task force.

Ships travelling together on a specific mission might have one of the commanding officers designated OTC. On occasions an officer senior to the ship's captains (a senior captain, a commodore or an admiral) will be embarked specifically to take command of the formation, and in thise case, he or she will exercise the function of OTC..

Purpose of the OTC
The purpose of the OTC is to provide authority and direction for actions the group is to take in the course of assigned operations and to communicate the information to higher authorities.

Limitation of authority
In port, under peaceful circumstances where there is no tactical situation, the senior officer present afloat (SOPA) assumes certain roles associated with the OTC.

The OTC is only empowered to direct the forces assigned to him or her for the specific purposes designated by the officer exercising operational command over the formation. The OTC may not reassign forces assigned to him or her for another purpose.