First sergeant

File:USMC-1st-sgt.png

USAF first sergeant insignia patch.

First sergeant is a military rank, a traditional infantry or army enlisted grade held by a noncommissioned officer. In comparison to naval rate systems, this rank is approximately equivalent to one of the chief petty officer grades, usually senior chief petty officer.

First sergeant is, in title, the senior noncommissioned officer of a designated group of people with many other sergeants (possibly of the same grade) reporting to him/her. First sergeants are senior to all sergeant grades but subordinate to a sergeant major (usually equivalent to MCPO), who is the first sergeant of first sergeants. In comparison to naval rate systems, a first sergeant is equivalent to a grade of senior chief petty officer, while sergeant major is equivilent to master chief petty officer.

This was used by the United States in more than one branch of their armed forces, represented as a uniform insignia by a diamond-shaped "lozenge" insignia within the three sergeant chevrons -- although the number of "rocker" insignia opposing may vary depending on the first sergeant's grade.

A US Marine Corps first sergeant was assigned to aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), one of the troops involved in the hunt for intruding time traveler Pavel Chekov in 1986. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

The USMC 1st Sgt. was played by Joseph Naradzay, an actual Marine.

External links

• first sergeant at Wikipedia

This chart shows only general equivalencies based on the ranks used by many governments on Earth, as well as the rest of the galaxy.