Attaché

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Attaché is a French word, meaning a person who is assigned ('attached') to the administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Depending on custom, 'attaché' may be modified to correspond to the gender (e.g. 'attachée') or number (e.g. 'attachés'), as in French.

The most common use of the term is as a diplomatic rank, never employed (not even on a temporary basis) as mission chief, but under the authority of the Ambassador or other head of the diplomatic mission and often has special responsibilities or expertise, often specified by that field, such as: cultural attaché, press attaché, labor attaché, military/defense attaché (or more specific, e.g. naval attaché, air attaché), agricultural attaché and science attaché. In this usage, the original connotation was that the attaché was an officer (employee) of another service 'attached to,' for example, a diplomatic mission: e.g. the attaché retains a military commission despite being assigned to serve in an Embassy.

However the title is also used in other hierarchical administrations, e.g.:

• in the Roman Curia.
• in the ministries of the Belgian federal state, since 2005 replacing the term adjunct-adviseur (in Dutch) or conseiller-adjoint (in French), normally used for college graduates, one rank under the head of a competence section.