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Marine Corps Sergeant MajorE-9 Senior Enlisted Advisor, U.S. Marine Corps |
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Marine Corps Ranks » Sergeant Major Rank • SgtMa Pay • SgtMa Rank History • Promotion Information
History of the Marine Corps Sergeant Major Rank
A Sergeant Major is a Senior Enlisted Advisor in the United States Marine Corps at DoD paygrade E-9.
The rank of "Sergeant Major" was in use by the US Army since its inception, but the Marines didn't have Enlisted personnel on ships who ranked so high. The first Marine Sergeant Major was appointed at the turn of the 19th century as the Commandant's senior Enlisted advisor. More were appointed by Commanding Officers until it was made a permanent rank in the 1950s.
Want to learn more? Read about the Marine Corps' Sergeant Major rank on Military-Ranks.org.
History of the Marine Corps
As far back as the Revolutionary War, Marines were known as Naval Infantry, and were assigned to ships to repel boarders, assault land-based targets, and discipline unruly Sailors. In WWI and WWII, Marines very successfully augmented Army units in war theaters throughout the world, with their most brutal and historic fighting on islands in the Pacific. In contrast with the Army, the Marines were not originally made to be self-sufficient to fight land wars for long periods of time. Doctors, Chaplains, and Medics who deploy with Marines are all Navy Sailors.