The new official Clone Wars timeline has not yet been established by Lucasfilm. The exact chronology of the events described in this article is currently unknown.
Clone commanders received flash-training to fulfill their advanced roles and were also bred with extra capacity for autonomy, tactical thinking and coordination. In combat, they were often assigned to field command centers, but participated with their fellow clone troopers in combat if the situation required it.
ARC training
After success with Advanced Recon Commandos, some ARCs, like Alpha-17, returned to Kamino to retrain clone commanders with ARC skills, making the commanders more independent than they once were. After the commanders were trained, they earned the title "ARC commander", then returned to their legion to train their best clones and assistants in their new skills. Their new, independent training led to distinct personalities among the commanders.
Personalization
In the beginning of the Clone Wars, the clone officers were distinguished by yellow markings on their armor and helmets. The retrained ARC commanders often added more items to their armor, like ARC trooper kamas and pauldrons. Commanders would also don other peripherals like macrobinoculars or Commander Bacara's cheek plating. Some commanders allowed their best troops to also wear ARC armor.