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Commissars (Soviet era-type political commissars) typically exist to keep an army loyal to the state and indoctrinate them to the singular party of an authority's state. But with an army already loyal, they aren't all that useful in that role.
What could commissars do without this role?

This is for an entirely mechanised force. The government isn't authoritarian and is a functional democracy, although the military has a lot more autonomy than in most nations, and it's difficult for the government to force them to do something regarding their internal organisation. The government still determines where the military actually goes and what it does.

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  • $\begingroup$ This sounds like asking what would be the utility of a scuba diver in a unit posted to the moon as it is today or what would be the utility of a farrier in a modern mechanised unit. If they have a different role then they will have a different name. If you really want the same name but give them a different role, that's a matter of nomenclature in your universe. $\endgroup$
    – KerrAvon2055
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 0:43
  • $\begingroup$ In English, the word commissar is used only to refer to Russian functions and positions which are called комиссары in Russian. In Russian, the word комиссар is simply the ordinary word corresponding to English commissary or commissioner; there are (and there were) very many kinds of commissioners in Russia. The English word commissar is not used for a French commissaire, or a German Kommissar etc. I don't know why English uses a special word for a Russian commissioner. Are you thinking specifically of a Sovier-era political commissar? $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 0:49
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP ye, I am thinking about soviet era-political commissars $\endgroup$
    – OT-64 SKOT
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 0:50
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, in this case it's easy. Soviet political commissars were not in the chain of command. They were political advisers attached to military units. I believe that political advisers are also routinely attached to American etc. military units when deployed abroad to bring peace or whatever they do. They serve as liaisons to local political powers, they provide guidance to the military commanders regarding who's who and what's what in the local power structure and so on. Of course, Soviet political commissars also served as mouth pieces of the Party, organized political and cultural events etc. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 0:52

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  • Many military forces have a chaplain corps. They believe that the spiritual needs of the troops should be ministered by someone in uniform, yet somewhat apart from the usual chain of command. Your commissars could fill the same role in a secular capacity. Morale officer, career advisor, ...

  • The British in India used political officers as a liaison with local rulers. Today their role might be called civil affairs. Your commissars could fill this rule, acting as a staff advisor to the unit commander for local political issues.

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The PKK is an, as far as I know, all volunteer force. To my best knowledge they don't have comissars as such, however the fighters spend a lot of time reading and learning theory - one german Journalist who spent some time with them recounts how two young fighters with not much formal schooling gave him an impressive and impromptu lecture on Öcalans take on ancient history and the history of their organization.

Another thing the PKK does is organized, constructive, self criticism - the term is tekmil. Again, AFAIK without appointed comissars.

But in your fictional army, these could be the roles of comissars:

  • organize political training of the soldiers
  • keep an eye on the group dynamics and mental wellbeing of the fighters (in accord with the military goals of the army) - what a chaplain might do in a conventional army, screen fighters that might need a serious shrink
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The position of commissar could be a holdover from when the military wasn't completely loyal and so now the modern commissars' roles involve very little with maintaining loyalty as the role has expanded to included other things for the wellbeing of the military.

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JAG Corps

At their core, political commissars are simply people responsible for making sure that military leaders are following the core values of a nation. In totalitarian states, the core values are what ever idea the dictator just had that morning, but in a functional democracy, the core values are defined by the constitution and laws. So, the Judge Advocates you see in the US military are pretty much what you are asking about.

Judge Advocates are often attached to high ranking military leaders, command centers, and programs to make sure that the orders being given do not violate Constitutional Law, Military Law, International Treaties, etc. and to server as advisors to military leaders to make sure that decisions are being made according to the most applicable laws.

They also have the authority to remove and punish military leaders through the process of Court Marshaling. Even General/Admirals can be Court Marshaled. So, while a JA may not need to approve an order the way that a PC does, they can effectively remove any leader who is giving orders that do not agree with the law making sure that only leaders loyal to the Government's Laws can stay in power.

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In a non-authoritarian functioning democracy, it isn't very likely that the average soldier (or sailor, marine, airman, spaceman, whatever) will decide loyalty to their commanders is more important than loyalty to the state (people). But it's very easy for an individual to become convinced that the civilian leaders have betrayed the people and have become a domestic enemy. A subset of the population in any democracy will almost always believe this; but if it becomes widespread and entrenched in an autonomous military that can effectively resist civilian control on matters it considers important, a coup will be a much easier step.

A civilian government may want to guard against this possibility by embedding political commissars within the military. Commissars can provide political education to combat the idea that democratically elected leaders are not representing the people. They can also serve as monitors and early warning. If provided with training in individual and group psychology, they can identify unstable individuals and report any potential growth of antidemocratic ideology.

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Single events can shatter people convictions in the most unexpected moments and in the most unexpected ways. Especially in a war where they are put under pressure so the functions of a commissar would be:

  • Ensure that they do what they are ordered to do even if it is highly immoral
  • Counter the enemy propaganda
  • Check that their loyalty is not only toward the nation, but also toward the right faction
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They do the training in the Crapsack World Army

While the troops are 100% loyal, they are also poorly trained people that joined the military on their own accord to get away from their homes in an overpopulated metropolis.

The commissar is less to ensure loyalty, he's there to improve the morale by keeping a careful eye on those elements that don't follow the rules perfectly or - even worse - don't follow an order. Those elements are not only pointed out to them by the really loyal troops but they are also made examples: in peacetime, they get the worst duties and if too bad ordered beaten to death by their comrades, in war, they get executed on the spot.

Once the recruits leave their training units, they have been made the perfectly loyal and effective soldiers... made loyal by the commissar's rigorous training. Other countries might call them Drill Sargents, but those wish they could execute those failures to society - and Drill Sargents don't take their units in training to the frontlines!

Other duties of the commissar corps are to investigate possible cases of low morale or disloyalty - and of course, lead such units into battle.

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