ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Colonel-in-Chief

Okay kiddo, so you know how when you play with toys or dolls, you might have a special toy or doll that is like the leader of all the other toys or dolls, right? Well, sometimes real people have jobs that make them the leader of all the other people who do similar things. And that's kind of like what a colonel-in-chief is.

In some countries, they have groups of people called armies that help protect the country and the people who live there. And each army has different groups of people called regiments that do specific jobs within the army. Now, some armies have a special leader who is like the big boss of a particular regiment - and that person is called the colonel-in-chief.

Now, you might be wondering why they use a fancy word like "colonel-in-chief" instead of just saying "the boss of the soldiers." Well, it's because the colonel-in-chief is often a really important and respected person - like a king or queen, a famous person, or someone who has done really great things for the army. So, they want to give them a special title to show how they are different from all the other leaders in the army.

So, to sum up: a colonel-in-chief is a really important person who is the boss of a particular group of soldiers. They get a fancy title to show how special they are.