is a Rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organisations around the world. Its origins are the Latin ''serviens'', "one who serves", through the French term ''Sergent''.
In most non-naval Military or Paramilitary organizations, a Sergeant is a Non-commissioned Officer (NCO) ranking above Privates and Corporal s, and below Warrant Officer s and Commissioned Officer s.
There are usually several ranks of Sergeant, each corresponding to greater experience and responsibility for the daily lives of the soldiers of larger units.
The responsibilities of a Sergeant differ from army to army. In the British and most other Commonwealth armies a Sergeant is second-in-command (2IC) of a Platoon (30-50 soldiers) or Troop (the commander of a platoon typically being a 2nd Lieutenant or Lieutenant). In the US Army a Sergeant and Staff Sergeant are both ranks corresponding to command of a squad (7-10 soldiers), with a Sergeant First Class equating to a British/Commonwealth Staff Sergeant.
In some armies, particularly the German army with its system of Mission-based Tactics , sergeants have much greater responsibility and use of initiative than in other armies.
Sergeants Major are senior NCO appointments of a Company / Squadron , Battalion , or Regiment . (In the US army company/troop senior NCO rank is Master Sergeant or First Sergeant; in British and most Commonwealth forces, sergeant major is an appointment e.g. ( Company Sergeant Major (CSM) or Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM), whereas the rank is Warrant Officer Class 2 or 1. The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have a single Warrant Officer grade. Although even the most senior sergeant major (or equivalent) is lower in rank than any officers, the position of Sergeant Major is in many ways more prestigious than junior officer ranks.
('''SGT''') is a rank in both the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force . The ranks are equal to each other and the Royal Australian Navy rank of Petty Officer (PO).
However, the RAAF rank of Flight Sergeant (FSGT) outranks the Army rank of Staff Sergeant (SSGT). There is no Navy or RAAF equivalent of SSGT, however the Navy rank of Chief Petty Officer (CPO) and Army rank of Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) are equivalent to a Flight Sergeant.
In the Australian army the rank of Sergeant is above Corporal but below Warrant Officer Class 2. Although Staff Sergeant is technically between the two ranks, this rank is currently being phased out of the Australian Army. The insignia of a Sergeant in the Australian Army is three chevrons vertically adjacent to each other. Sergeants are non commissioned officers and are usually the 2IC's of infantry platoons or armoured sections.
('''Sgt''') ( (MCpl) and its equivalent naval appointment, Master Seaman (MS), and junior to Warrant Officer (WO) and its naval equivalent, Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1). Sgts and PO2s together make up the cadre of Senior Non-commissioned Officers (Sr NCOs).
In army units, Sergeants usually serve as Section commanders; they may often be called to fill positions normally held by Warrant Officer s, such as Platoon or Troop Warrant, Company Quartermaster Sergeant , Chief Clerk , etc.
The rank insignia of a Sergeant is a 3-bar chevron, worn point down, surmounted by a maple leaf. Embroidered rank badges are worn in "CF gold" thread on rifle green melton, stitched to the upper sleeves of the Service Dress jacket; as miniature gold metal and rifle-green enamel badges on the collars of the Army dress shirt and Army outerwear jackets; in "old-gold" thread on air force blue Slip-on s on Air Force shirts, sweaters, and coats; and in tan (Army) or dark blue (Air Force) thread on CADPAT slip-ons on the Operational Dress uniform. Sergeants are generally initially addressed as "Sergeant Bloggins" and thereafter as "Sergeant"; the colloquialism "Sarge" is used only in informal situations.
Colour Sergeant in the Canadian Forces is not a rank of Sergeant, but a Warrant Officer in one of the two Foot Guards regiments (the Governor General's Foot Guards and the Canadian Grenadier Guards ). Likewise, a Sergeant-Major (including Regimental Sergeant-Major ) is not a Sergeant rank, but an appointment held by a Master Warrant Officer or Chief Warrant Officer .
Sergeants generally Mess and billet with Warrant Officers, Master Warrant Officers, and Chief Warrant Officers, and their naval counterparts, Chief Petty Officer s and Petty Officer s. Their mess on military bases or installations is generally named the Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess.
Historically, the rank of sergeant was severely downgraded after Unification of the three services in 1968. An Army Sergeant before unification was generally employed in supervisory positions, such as the second in command of a platoon sized unit (ie an infantry Platoon Sergeant, or Troop Sergeant in an armoured unit). After unification he was downgraded in status to section commander, a job previously held by Corporal s, and the former "Platoon/Troop Sergeant"s were replaced by "Platoon/Troop Warrant Officers."
There are three sergeant ranks in France, although the most junior, contract sergeant, is rare now that conscription has been suspended. In general, the term ''sergent'' is used indifferently for both contract sergeant and career sergeant. Contract sergeant is classified as the lowest NCOThe french military don't use the term NCO, preferring the term ''sous-officiers'', meaning "sub-officers" (compare to German '' Unteroffizier ''). rank, the rank below being chief corporal.
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"http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/Italian_Army" class="copylinks">Italian Army (insignia for the shoulder for the invernal service uniform)
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British sergeants are usually addressed as "Sergeant". The shortening "Sarge" is sometimes used by subordinates, although many sergeants object to this term. In the British Army and Royal Marines, however, the abbreviated "Sarn't" is commonly heard.
A ('''Sgt''') in the
British Army wears three point-down
Chevron s on their sleeve and usually serves as a
Platoon or
Troop sergeant, or in a specialist position.
Staff Sergeant or
Colour Sergeant , is the next most senior rank, above which come Warrant Officers. The
Household Cavalry use the rank of
Corporal Of Horse instead, the only regiments to preserve the old
Cavalry tradition of having corporals but not sergeants.
A '''). In the Household Cavalry, the equivalent appointment is
Lance-Corporal Of Horse .
The official spelling was ('''Sjt''') until after the
Second World War , although the modern spelling had already been in common use for many years.
The
Royal Marines and the
Infantry use the ranks of and
Colour Sergeant .
The
Royal Air Force also has the rank of , wearing the same three chevrons. The rank lies between
Corporal and
Flight Sergeant (or
Chief Technician for technicians and musicians). Between 1950 and 1964 sergeants in technical trades were known as '''Senior Technicians''' and wore their chevrons point up.
On
1 July 1946 ,
Aircrew sergeants were redesignated as , replacing the chevrons with one, two or three six-pointed stars within a wreath and surmounted by an eagle. This was unpopular and in 1950 they returned to the old rank, but have worn an eagle above their chevrons ever since. Sergeants of the
Royal Flying Corps wore a four-bladed propeller above their chevrons.
A Sergeant in the police force is more senior than a
Police Constable but less senior than an
Inspector in the
UK Police Ranks . Police Sergeant's chevrons are normally white print or silver-coloured metal pin badge insignia as shown to the right. For High Visibility Uniform, they are often yellow with printed silver insignia. As with Police Constable epaulettes, the Sergeants' collar numbers (and Division Call Sign if from the Metropolitan Police) are also displayed.
A Sergeant in the
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is known as a Detective Sergeant (DS). Until the abolition of
1st Class Detective Sergeants in 1973, Metropolitan Police Detective Sergeants were officially known as 2nd Class Detective Sergeants.
Unlike the military, addressing a Sergeant as "Sarge" is not seen as incorrect. Constables in some forces (including the Metropolitan Police) refer to their Sergeants as "Skipper".
Within the New South Wales Police Force (established 1862) there are the following Sergeant Ranks:
- Sergeant (SGT) (three chevrons);
- Incremental Sergeant (SGT) (three chevrons and a crown)- this is an incremental progression, following appointment as a Sergeant for 7 years; and
- Senior Sergeant (SEN/SGT) (three chevrons, crown surmounted by a laurel leaf)
Upon appointment as a Sergeant or Senior Sergeant within the New South Wales Police Force, the Sergeant is given a Warrant of Appointment under the Commissioners hand and seal. In addition the Sergeant is given a Navy Blue backing (Which replaces a light blue backing to the officers police badge), a navy blue name plate (which replaces a light blue nameplate), and a silver chin strap positioned above his peaked cap on his headdress, replacing a black chinstrap. These are symbols of the officers authority and standing.
As for slang, all three sergeants ranks are referred to as "Sergeant", "Boss", or "Sarge". However at the New South Wales Police College, recruits must address all ranks of Sergeants as "Sergeant".
Sergeants are usually Team Leaders in charge of an entire team of Constables to Senior Constables at large stations, to being in charge of sectors involving several police stations. Senior Sergeants are usually in specialist areas and are in charge of Sergeants and thus act as middle management.
In the
United States Army , although there are several ranks of sergeant, the lowest carries the title of ('''SGT'''), colloquially referred to as ''buck sergeant'' when needed to distinguish it from the higher ranks. Sergeant is the fifth enlisted rank in the U.S. Army, just above
Specialist and
Corporal and below
Staff Sergeant , and is the second-lowest grade of
Non-commissioned Officer . Sergeants typically command squad-sized elements.
Sometimes the senior U.S. Army sergeant holding the rank first sergeant or acting first sergeant are called "top" in reference to their being the Top (senior ranking) enlisted soldier in the unit.
Drill Sergeants are always addressed as "Drill Sergeant", regardless of rank (only when on an instruction tour indicated by the traditional World War I campaign hat, commonly referred to as the "Brown Round".) For example; if a Drill Sergeant is done with his/her instruction tour, they go back to wearing their beret and are called sergeant again. The Drill Sergeant will always wear the Drill Sergeant badge indicating they completed the school. The Army Drill Sergeant badge appears on the right upper shirt pocket.
Similarly, the
United States Marine Corps has several ranks which carry the title of Sergeant, the lowest of which is ('''Sgt'''). Marine Sergeants are the fifth enlisted rank in the U.S. Marine Corps, just above
Corporal and below
Staff Sergeant .
In the Marine Corps, enlisted ranks above Sergeant are referred to as Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (Staff NCOs or SNCOs). These ranks, Staff Sergeant through Sergeant Major, are always referred to by their full rank and never merely as "Sergeant". Gunnery Sergeants are commonly addressed as simply "Gunny", Master Sergeants as "Top", and Master Gunnery Sergeants as "Master Guns". A Marine Corps Sergeant is always addressed as "Sergeant" and never "Sarge" or any sort of nickname or abbreviation, and 1st Sergeants and Sergeants Major are always addressed by full rank title.
The
U.S. Air Force rank of (E-4) was phased out in the 1990s. Previously,
Senior Airmen were promoted to Sergeant and granted NCO status after 12 months time in grade; this lateral promotion is no longer conferred and Senior Airmen compete directly for promotion to
Staff Sergeant . In today's Air Force, the term Sergeant refers to all Air Force NCOs up to and including
Chief Master Sergeant .
Sergeant is also a commonly-used rank within United States
Police departments. It is often the first rank above "officer" and represents the first level of management within the organization.
"Sergeant" is generally the lowest rank of Sergeant, with individual militaries choosing some additional words to signify higher ranking individuals. What terms are used, and what seniority they signify, is to a great extent dependent on the individual armed service. The term "sergeant" is also used in many appointment titles.
