Commanding Officer

Commanding Officers are the main characters of Advance Wars. They are the leaders of each Force and generally the only characters to speak throughout the game.

During each battle, the player assumes control over a CO's actions. Each CO has their own special attributes and certain COs are more suited for different kinds of battles than others.

Advance Wars
In the original game there were 11 COs. Each CO had a unique power which they could use once their power gauge was full, often with battle changing effects. In campaign, only Andy, Max, and Sami were playable until the last mission where anyone else could join in (except Sonja) if the player completed certain missions with certain COs.

Orange Star

 * Andy
 * Max
 * Sami
 * Nell

Green Earth

 * Eagle
 * Drake

Blue Moon

 * Olaf
 * Grit

Yellow Comet

 * Kanbei
 * Sonja

Black Hole

 * Sturm
 * Clone Andy

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
In addition to the COs from the previous game, 8 new COs have been added. Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth each got one new CO and Black Hole gained four. Each CO now has a unique super power/special break in addition to their regular powers/breaks.

New COs

 * Adder (Black Hole)
 * Colin (Blue Moon)
 * Flak (Black Hole)
 * Hawke (Black Hole)
 * Jess (Green Earth)
 * Lash (Black Hole)
 * Sensei (Yellow Comet)
 * Hachi (Orange Star)

Advance Wars: Dual Strike
9 new COs were added to the roster. All of the new COs make an appearance in the campaign.

New Allied COs

 * Grimm
 * Jake
 * Javier
 * Rachel
 * Sasha

New Black Hole COs

 * Jugger
 * Kindle
 * Koal
 * Von Bolt

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
In the fourth game, CO's changed slightly. Each CO has a command zone, which affects any of their units within it. The effect and size of the CO zone varies from CO to CO.

12th Battalion

 * Will
 * Brenner
 * Isabella
 * Lin

Lazurian Army

 * Tasha
 * Gage
 * Forsythe

NRA (New Rubinelle Army)

 * Davis
 * Waylon
 * Greyfield

IDS (Intelligent Defense Systems)

 * Penny
 * Tabitha
 * Caulder