Naval officer gives an order with hesitation (9)
I believe the answer is:
commander
'naval officer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'an order with hesitation' is the wordplay.
'an order' becomes 'command' (I've seen this before).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound made while hesitating - um, er).
'command'+'er'='COMMANDER'
'gives' is the link.
(Other definitions for commander that I've seen before include "The one who gives the orders" , "Chief" , "Naval rank" , "Officer in charge of a military unit" , "boss" .)