The Political Officer is an officer attached to a unit, usually outside the regular chain of command. His job is to ensure that the regular soldiers and officers follow the orders of the government. In essence, this is another method of civilian control of the military. This type of fictional character is overwhelmingly based on the Real Life example of Political Officers in the Soviet Union. Although it also tends to draw on the SS and the Nazis as well. More often than not they are amalgams of real Political Officers and NKVD (counterintelligence) officers.