second-in-command:
(also written without hyphens: ‘second in command’; plural: ‘second-in-commands‘)
Joe Biden, the Vice President of USA, the second in command to President Obama, the commander-in-chief (2013/2014)
an officer who can take command (control) in place of a commander, usually in times of emergency or in the even of sudden demise of the commander;
the person immediately next to a person in the highest position in an organisation, company, office, club, etc.;
(informally called) Number Two,
Wali-ur-Rehman, the former second in command of Pakistani Taliban
In the USA, the President is the Commander-in-Chief of all Armed Forces and the Vice-President is the second-in-command.
As there is little hope of staying alive for long in any banned terrorist organisation, the figure head of an organisation usually has two or more second-in-commands, commonly called Number Two’s, in order of seniority and efficiency, and when one dies in an attack, the next one fills in the gap automatically so that the cadre stay under control.
It has become common place to see the Armed Forces and administrative departments’ highly placed officials such as commanders and second in commands charged with corruption and sexual charges.
