Cloth worker joins navy, perhaps, becoming NCO? (6,8)
I believe the answer is:
colour sergeant
'nco?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'cloth worker joins navy perhaps' is the wordplay.
'cloth' becomes 'serge' (serge is a kind of cloth).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'joins' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'navy perhaps' becomes 'colour' (navy is a kind of colour).
'serge'+'ant'='sergeant'
'sergeant' put after 'colour' is 'COLOUR-SERGEANT'.
'becoming' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for colour sergeant that I've seen before include "army officer" , "Senior NCO" .)