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.
Read more about this topic: Sergeant Major
Famous quotes containing the words commonwealth of, commonwealth, nations and/or forces:
“The commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Honorable Senators: My sincerest thanks I offer you. Conserve the firm foundations of our institutions. Do your work with the spirit of a soldier in the public service. Be loyal to the Commonwealth and to yourselves and be brief; above all be brief.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“This declared indifference, but as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I can not but hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world ... and especially because it forces so many really good men amongst ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)