Sergeant Major

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Sergeant Major is a senior non-commissioned officer (SNCO, for example " Oberstabsfeldwebel ") or warrant officer , depending on the armed forces under consideration.

history

Emergence

In the sixteenth century the sergeant major was an officer with the rank of general . He commanded the infantry of an army and was the third highest rank in the hierarchy of this army. He also acted as a kind of chief of staff for the commander of the army.

In the 17th century, the sergeant major appeared as a rank in individual regiments . He was a staff officer and third in the regiment's chain of command (after the colonel and the lieutenant colonel ). Similar to the Sergeant Major of the Army, he was responsible for everyday planning and organizational tasks as well as monitoring the military training of the troops.

To make a distinction, the Sergeant Major serving at the army level was designated as Sergeant Major General . The title Sergeant was later removed from both ranks. These are the roots of today's officer ranks Major and Major General .

The title Sergeant Major then disappeared for some time before it came back into use in the late 18th century as a rank / position of the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer of an infantry battalion or a cavalry regiment. Like his historical predecessors, this Senior Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO) was entrusted with administrative and training issues, and he also acted as the superior of all corporals and sergeants .

Development in the USA

  • Army

  • Marine Corps

During the American Revolutionary War , the use of the Sergeant Major rank began to diverge in the United States and Great Britain.

The first use of the sergeant major in the United States was in 1776, when a sergeant major was assigned to each headquarters of an infantry battalion in the Continental Army . With the standardization of the pay levels of NCOs in the US Army , the Sergeant Major disappeared as a rank and pay level. However, he survived in the form of the service post of the senior NCO of a battalion and was reinstated as a rank in 1958. The post of Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) was introduced in 1966. The Command Sergeant Major (CSM) post received a separate badge in 1968.

The US Marine Corps had its first sergeant major in 1801. Originally this was a unique post, but in 1899 there were five of them. The title was abolished in 1946 and reintroduced as a rank 8 years later in 1954. The post of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (SgtMajMC) was created in 1957.

Development in Great Britain

The British formalized the designation around 1800 when the sergeant major was added to the battalion or regimental staff. When V-shaped sleeve stripes (chevron) were introduced as a badge of rank, he initially wore four of them and later four under a crown.

In 1813 cavalry regiments introduced the Troop Sergeant Major (TSM) to replace the quartermaster as the troop's senior NCO . This made it necessary to rename the existing post to Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM). When the company ( Squadron ) later prevailed as the principal subdivision of the regiment, the Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM) was introduced. However, until the eve of World War II, the infantry stuck to the old concept of one sergeant major per battalion. It was only the introduction of the Company Sergeant Major that forced them to take the rank of RSM.

In the late 19th century there were a large number of regimental sergeant major posts in the cavalry and infantry , which were filled by authorized non-commissioned officers ( warrant officers (WO) from warrant = authorization ). This practice was expanded in 1915 and unified with the introduction of the new ranks Warrant Officer Class I (WO I) and Warrant Officer Class II (WO II).

The higher post of Regimental Sergeant Major was now filled by a WO I and the post of Company / Squadron Sergeant Major by a WO II.

present

Great Britain

Sergeant Major is no longer a rank in the British Army and Royal Marines, but it can still be used as a title for uses that are now performed by warrant officers.

The following relevant posts exist:

  • Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) (WOI): This is the senior NCO (senior non-commissioned officer) of a battalion or regiment. This position is comparable to the Command Sergeant Major (CSM) of the US Army.
  • Company Sergeant Major (CSM) (WOII): This is the senior NCO of a company , comparable to the First Sergeant of the US Army or the company sergeant of the Bundeswehr. (Comparable names in the British Armed Forces include: Battery Sergeant Major (BSM) (artillery) or Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM)).
  • Army

  • SMA

  • CSM

  • SGM

  • Marine Corps

  • SgtMajMC

  • SgtMaj

  • MGySgt

United States

In the US Army , the sergeant major can be a rank on the one hand and a post on the other. The rank is the highest non-commissioned officer rank, directly above the first sergeant , and is rewarded with the salary level E-9.

The Sergeant Major position designates the highest-ranking NCO. For the entire Army, this is the Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) . In the unit it is the Command Sergeant Major (CSM) . He advises the commanding officer, has ceremonial functions and acts as a superior and advocate for the NCOs of the association.

The post of Command Sergeant Major (CSM) exists from the battalion level and in staffs. Soldiers assigned to these posts should also be sergeant major . However, due to staff shortages, an experienced Master Sergeant (MSG) may be employed.

The US Marine Corps also knows the rank of Sergeant Major (SgtMaj) . He is on an equal footing with the Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt), the latter being a specialist and the Sergeant Major being primarily the leader of his subordinate soldiers and a direct subordinate to the commander of his unit.

The highest-ranking officer in the Marines who reports directly to the commanding officer is the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps .

The appropriate rank or position in the US Navy is the Master Chief Petty Officer .

France

The rank of sergent major was introduced in 1776 in the French infantry; in the cavalry, the maréchal des logis chief, created at the same time, corresponded to him . Entrusted with the duties of a company sergeant, they were the highest-ranking non-commissioned officers in the company (since 1776 the adjudant sous-officiers of the regimental staff had been of higher rank ).

The designation sergent-major was dropped in 1972, maréchal des logis-chef is still in use in the former mounted units of the French army and in the national gendarmerie .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ André Corvisier, John Childs: A dictionary of military history and the art of war , Oxford a. a. 1994