NCO???

I3BrigPvSk

The Viking
I have been thinking about these Sergeant Majors, I don't really understand the purpose of them. They are in the British army, Royal Marines, are they in the RAF and the RN too? If I understand correctly, they are in the US army and the US Marines as well. I don't know if the USAF and the USN have them. If Canada and AUS/NZ have them, I don't know. I have seen jokes and comments about them and they seem to be mean. These NCOs, are they on the Company level? I mean, in these countries, the platoon has a 2nd Lt as a Platoon commander and a platoon sergeant, right? The platoon sergeant can motivate and punish soldiers if they behave badly, so why the need for another mean SoB?


I have a new nickname here
 
Sargeant Majors, or Company Sargeant Majors (CSM), or the equivilant for the specific corps or regiment, are the right hand man of the company commander and are, among many other things, responsible for discipline and setting the standard of the company.
They have always had a reputation for being hard, stern and not compromising and the word "Bastard" is often used to describe them too.
Enlisted men tend to aspire to the rank as the peak of their service
Saying all this, they are, in the British Army, with their equivilants in the RAF, Royal Navy and Royal Marines, a key component in the company.
It may seem a cliche but many a good company has been ruined by a poor CSM as a poor company comander has been carried by a good CSM.
By the time I left the Army, we were so short of officers, alot of CSMs were acting as company commanders.
 
Sargeant Majors, or Company Sargeant Majors (CSM), or the equivilant for the specific corps or regiment, are the right hand man of the company commander and are, among many other things, responsible for discipline and setting the standard of the company.
They have always had a reputation for being hard, stern and not compromising and the word "Bastard" is often used to describe them too.
Enlisted men tend to aspire to the rank as the peak of their service
Saying all this, they are, in the British Army, with their equivilants in the RAF, Royal Navy and Royal Marines, a key component in the company.
It may seem a cliche but many a good company has been ruined by a poor CSM as a poor company comander has been carried by a good CSM.
By the time I left the Army, we were so short of officers, alot of CSMs were acting as company commanders.

So the CSMs cannot be officers if they have the talent and the skills to be a good leader?
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH8tZ9mhoK0"]Kiss me goodnight Sergeant Major - YouTube[/ame]
 
A Company Sergeant Major is a Warrant Officer Class 2 with a senior management role focussing on the training, welfare and discipline of a company. Act as senior adviser to the Major in command of the sub-unit

The Regimental Sergeant Major is a Warrant Officer Class 1 and are the senior advisors of their unit's Commanding Officer, with leadership, discipline and welfare responsibilities of up to 650 officers and soldiers and their equipment.
 
In the US don't you have a Master Sergeant who seems to through his weight around a bit more

We have Master Sgt's and First Sgt's in the E8 pay grade in the Army and Marine Corps. First Shirts are the Company/Battery Senior NCO and enlisted advisor to the CO, MSGTs are SME in their Field.

In the Corps 1st Sgt's are generally administrative in nature and conduct much of the unit administrative work.

USA has Sgt Majors and Command Sgt Majors in the E9 pay grade. CSM being the leadership position and SGM being the SME position.

The USMC has Sgt Majors and Master Gunnery Sgt's in the E9 Pay grade SgtMaj being leadership/advisory and Master Fun's being SME.
 
Command Sergeants Major (CSM) and Sergeants Major (SGM) in the US Army, Air Force and Marines are different than the British Military (the US Navy has the equivalent rank but calls them by another title). In a rank structure of E-1 to E-9 their pay grade is the highest for enlisted service members.

In the US Military structure they are the senior NCO ( CSM) of each Battalion or larger unit. Regiment size units and larger (Brigades, Divisions, Armies) will also have one or more SGM’s as the Senior enlisted man for each staff section (S-1 to S-4 at Regiment or Brigade and G/J-1 to G/ J -4 (and now I think they have a G/J-5 for Special Ops - but I’m not sure).

Each branch also has a “super” enlisted grade, E-10. One person holds this position, in the case of the Army and USMC this is the Command Sergeant Major of the Army or Marine Corps - the Navy and Air Force have the same position and give this person a different title.

These Sr. NCO’s represent the Enlisted service members to the Command Structure and have a great deal of influence with their units and the commander. They are directly responsibly for the training and conduct of NCO‘s and this has enormous influence on units and the entire force. I don’t know of any case where a CSM/SGM has commanded a regular unit - there are simply too many officers in a unit (but it could happen). I don’t know about the other branches (Navy, Marines, and Air Force ) but CSM/SGM’s do command some Army Enlisted Schools.

I don’t know of any E-9 who became an officer (at least in “modern“ times), but is fairly common for NCO’s and other enlisted service members to obtain commission’s. We also have ranks between Enlisted and Commissioned Officers - Warrant Officers (W.O.) are appointed (rather than commissioned) rank and are highly skilled Technicians in various occupational fields. Many Army Pilots are W.O.’s.

“Talent and skills” are not exclusive to the Officer Corps. Edgar Allen Poe was a US Army NCO (some accounts list him as a SGM but I think this meant something different in his time) prior to being selected for the US Military Academy at West Point; the great and famous Hunk Papa Sioux War Leader Crazy Horse ( the same Crazy Horse that defeated Custer) was also a US Army NCO.
 
- Warrant Officers (W.O.) are appointed (rather than commissioned) rank and are highly skilled Technicians in various occupational fields. Many Army Pilots are W.O.’s.

WO's are initially appointed until they make CWO, then they hold Presidential Commission.
 
In the RAF the WO1 rank is the SWO or Station Warrant Officer, WO2 are (or were) always referred to as Warrant Officer and placed in charge of ground sections or flights. Air crew WO's were known as Master Pilots, Navigators, Engineers etc.

The SWO historically was responsible for discipline, during my time he generally made a nuisance of himself.

The WO1 badge was the royal coat of arms, the WO2 badge was simple a crown, Master Pilot etc had the Royal Coat of Arms (as per WO1) but with an eagle underneath surrounded by laurel leaves.

We always referred to the Royal Coat of Arms as the "Tate and Lyle" badge.

I was led to understand that an Army WO1 can only hold that position for a certain number of years, after that he either drops a rank to WO2 or obtains a commission.
 
Nobby Arnold of the Parachute Regiment held the RSM job for countless years, yet was never offered Commision, still Nobby was a law unto him self.
 
Nobby Arnold....There are countless stories around with the old and bold about the strokes this chap pulled just to fill up his jail but is you got into a scrap then he was the man to have beside you.

OUR NOBBY


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