Talk:Staff sergeant

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I find it stupid how the chAir Force uses the titles Master Sgt and Staff Sgt one rank below the Army ranks of the same name. who wrote this beth?

The cavalary rank is Sgt Maj (just as the H/hold Cav rank is Staff Cpl, and 2nd Lts in the Blues & Royals and QRH are Cornets). I accept that in general army lists, where such things tend to be lost, everyone may well be down as S/Sgts and 2nd Lts, but if you were to call them that to their faces you would get very odd looks and be immediately corrected - not just by the person themselves, as it is these differences that make everyone so regimentally proud. I think there might be one exception, but this should be shown as an exception.

Ordering: I do think it is better to have the different styles at the beginning, where they are all together.

No, the rank is Staff Sergeant. There is no rank of Sergeant Major in the British Army. Staff Corporal is a rank. Colour Sergeant is a rank. These are listed as such in such things as the London Gazette. Sergeant Major, however, is merely a designation used for a Staff Sergeant in cavalry regiments, and such NCOs will be listed as Staff Sergeants in official publications, and will be promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant, even if they are never so addressed. It's not even an appointment (such as Lance-Sergeant or Company Sergeant Major), just a designation. There is a big, big difference. Following your logic, Household Cavalry Staff Corporals, who are similarly addressed as Corporal Major (and for the same reasons), would hold the rank of Corporal Major and there would be no such rank as Staff Corporal, which is blatantly not the case.

Variation of rank, as opposed to appointment and/or designation, is actually fairly rare in the British Army. The only examples I can think of, except for the various variations on Private, are Lance-Bombardier and Bombardier (Royal Artillery), Corporal of Horse and Staff Corporal (Household Cavalry), and Colour Sergeant (Infantry; although nobody seems entirely sure that that isn't actually an appointment). Even the only appointments which are consistently used instead of rank in official publications are Lance-Sergeant and Lance-Corporal of Horse. Cavalry Staff Sergeants may never actually be addressed or referred to within the regiment as "Staff Sergeant", but that is what they are. Just as Warrant Officers are never addressed or referred to as "Warrant Officer", but WO1 or WO2 is still their rank within the Army.

Cornet isn't a rank either, incidentally. It was once, but now it's just a designation of Second Lieutenant. Prince Harry was commissioned as Second Lieutenant Wales, although he is known as Cornet Wales.

I entirely appreciate that these people are never known by their official ranks within the regiment and that this all contributes to the regimental esprit de corps, but we record facts, not perceptions. That's why the section says that cavalry S/Sgts hold the rank of S/Sgt, but are known as Sgt Maj. This is factually correct, insulting to nobody and gives all the necessary details. -- Necrothesp 17:38, 16 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

Referring to a Marine Staff Sergeant as "Staff" will usually bring an angry rebuke such as "A 'Staff' is something you stir shit with! I am a Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps". It is also a serious faux pas to address an American Marine by his pay grade such as "E-6".

This sort of implies, if one reads in between the lines, that US staff sergeants are rather sensitive people who have volatile self-esteem. Unless we can cite this shared trait (which is surely impossible), I suggest removing/rewording this. The full paragraph already makes it clear that Marine staff sergeants are addressed using full rank by other Marines. Generalizing these emotional responses to all Marine staff sergeants is not desirable. Dwr12 (talk) 23:02, 16 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

As a former Staff Sergeant, I can tell you that the above exchange is absolutely correct. One of the responses I've heard on numerous occasions is "Staff is an infectious disease. DO I LOOK LIKE A DISEASE?". This has nothing to do with "volatile self-esteem", "sensitivity" or "emotional responses". It has everything to do with maintaining a sharp line of demarcation between Sergeants (NCOs) and Staff Sergeants (SNCOs). Unless you've been there, you probably wouldn't understand, however, we can remedy that - contact me; I still know several recruiters who can get you on track. Semper Fi. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.64.0.252 (talk) 17:02, 17 March 2011 (UTC)Reply

I thought that capitalization of titles only occurs if it precedes a name. Hence, the reason why we say "the queen of England" and "the president of the United States." In this article we capitalize everything as if they were all proper names. I will probably go through the article and change some of the words. Please inform me if there has been action on this before. Dwr12 (talk) 23:16, 16 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

Girls get their ranks earlier in Israel. At least in 2002 they did, but I'm sure that hasn't changed. I'm pretty sure I got mine after 22 months (that is 1 month after girls' mandatory period), could be 20. I can't find a good enough source on that ATM but if anyone knows, please update the article. ailaG (talk) 01:21, 14 March 2010 (UTC)Reply

This article states that UK 'Flight sergeant and chief technician are the Royal Air Force equivalents' to staff sergeant. The RAF Chief_technician page states that the RAF Chief technician rank is below that of flight sergeant. Can someone with expertise in UK NCO ranks take a look at this and resolve what looks like a contradiction across different pages. Thanks 2A00:23C6:3B82:8500:91C:94FB:5F53:85AD (talk) 07:14, 9 June 2020 (UTC)Reply