Commonwealth of Nations Forces
A sergeant major will normally be the senior non-commissioned member of an army or marine unit. There are normally two grades of sergeant major, with the first grade being the senior soldier of a company, battery or squadron and the second, higher grade being the senior soldier of a battalion or regiment. The title normally consists of the unit title (e.g. 'company') followed by 'sergeant major', and abbreviated by the initials (e.g. CSM). A sergeant major of a regiment or battalion is known as a regimental sergeant major, rather than a "regiment sergeant major" or "battalion sergeant major".
The sergeant-major of a unit is normally directly responsible to the commanding officer for all matters pertaining to dress, deportment, discipline, conduct, performance, standards and morale of the non-commissioned members (NCMs) of that unit. Sergeants major are normally addressed as "sir" or "ma'am" by subordinates, and by Mr or Ms (surname) by superiors, with the term 'RSM'/'CSM'/etc reserved for the sergeant major's commanding officer.
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