Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Incumbent Sergeant Major Ronald L. Green since February 20, 2015
Formation	May 23, 1957
First holder	Wilbur Bestwick
Website	www.HQMC.Marines.mil

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (officially abbreviated to SgtMajMC;^[1] unofficially as SMMC^[2][3]) is a unique non-commissioned rank and billet in the United States Marine Corps.

History

In the U.S. Marine Corps, sergeant major is the ninth and highest enlisted rank, just above first sergeant, and equal in grade to master gunnery sergeant, although the two have different responsibilities. A sergeant major typically serves as the unit commander's senior enlisted adviser and to handle matters of discipline and morale among the enlisted Marines. The Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is chosen by the Commandant of the Marine Corps to serve as his adviser and is the preeminent and highest ranking enlisted Marine with a protocol equivalency of a lieutenant general.^[4]

Although not officially considered a Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, when Archibald Sommers was appointed to the grade of Sergeant Major January 1, 1801, it was a solitary post, similar to the modern billet of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. In 1833, an act of legislation made the rank of sergeant major permanent for the Marine Corps and by 1899 five Marines held the rank of sergeant major. This continued until 1946, when the rank was abolished, only to be re-introduced in 1954 as part of the Marine Corps rank structure.^[5]

The post of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps was established in 1957 as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Commandant of the Marine Corps,^[5] the first such post in any of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces.^[6] In 1970, the rank insignia of the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps was authorized (which features three stripes, the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor flanked by two five-point stars in the center, and four rockers) as opposed to the standard Sergeant Major rank insignia (which features three stripes, one five-point star in the center, and four rockers), which was used for the rank from the post's creation in 1957 to 1970. While "Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps" is the full wording of the rank, the verbal address for this is commonly Sergeant Major.

The Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is selected by the Commandant of the Marine Corps and typically serves a four-year term, though his service is at the discretion of the Commandant.^[6] Since Sergeant Major Wilbur Bestwick was appointed the first Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps in 1957, 17 different Marines have filled this post.^[7]

On January 20, 2015, Commandant Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. announced that Sergeant Major Ronald L. Green would relieve Sergeant Major Micheal P. Barrett and serve as the 18th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps on February 20, 2015.^[8]

Insignia

• SgtMajMC insignia timeline
• 
  1957–1970, became Sergeant Major
• 
  1970–present

Sergeants Major of the Marine Corps

#	Picture	Name	Tenure from	Tenure to
1		Bestwick Wilbur Bestwick[9]	000000001957-05-23-0000May 23, 1957	000000001959-09-01-0000September 1, 1959
2		Rauber Francis D. Rauber[10]	000000001959-09-01-0000September 1, 1959	000000001962-06-29-0000June 29, 1962
3		McHugh Thomas J. McHugh[11]	000000001962-06-29-0000June 29, 1962	000000001965-07-17-0000July 17, 1965
4		Sweet Herbert J. Sweet[12]	000000001965-07-17-0000July 17, 1965	000000001969-08-01-0000August 1, 1969
5		Dailey Joseph W. Dailey[13]	000000001969-08-01-0000August 1, 1969	000000001973-02-01-0000February 1, 1973
6		Puckett Clinton A. Puckett[14]	000000001973-02-01-0000February 1, 1973	000000001975-06-01-0000June 1, 1975
7		Black Henry H. Black[15]	000000001975-06-01-0000June 1, 1975	000000001977-04-01-0000April 1, 1977
8		Massaro John R. Massaro[16]	000000001977-04-01-0000April 1, 1977	000000001979-08-16-0000August 16, 1979
9		Crawford Leland D. Crawford[17]	000000001979-08-16-0000August 16, 1979	000000001983-06-28-0000June 28, 1983
10		Cleary Robert E. Cleary[18]	000000001983-06-28-0000June 28, 1983	000000001987-06-27-0000June 27, 1987
11		Sommers David W. Sommers[19]	000000001987-06-27-0000June 27, 1987	000000001991-06-28-0000June 28, 1991
12		Overstreet Harold G. Overstreet[20]	000000001991-06-28-0000June 28, 1991	000000001995-06-30-0000June 30, 1995
13		Lee Lewis G. Lee[21]	000000001995-06-30-0000June 30, 1995	000000001999-06-29-0000June 29, 1999
14		McMichael Alford L. McMichael[22]	000000001999-06-29-0000June 29, 1999	000000002003-06-26-0000June 26, 2003
15		Estrada John L. Estrada[23]	000000002003-06-26-0000June 26, 2003	000000002007-04-25-0000April 25, 2007
16		Kent Carlton W. Kent[24]	000000002007-04-25-0000April 25, 2007	000000002011-06-09-0000June 9, 2011
17		Barrett Micheal P. Barrett[25]	000000002011-06-09-0000June 9, 2011	000000002015-02-20-0000February 20, 2015
18		Green Ronald L. Green[26]	000000002015-02-20-0000February 20, 2015	Incumbent

Timeline

See also

• Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
• Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard
• Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
• Senior Enlisted Advisor for the National Guard Bureau
• Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Sergeant Major of the Army

References

General

• "The Official Web Site of the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps". United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2014-07-19. 

Specific

External links

• Media related to Sergeants Major of the United States Marine Corps at Wikimedia Commons

United States Marine Corps
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United States enlisted ranks
Pay grade → Branch of service ↓	E-1	E-2	E-3	E-4	E-5	E-6	E-7	E-8	E-9
Army	PVT	PV2	PFC	SPC - CPL	SGT	SSG	SFC	MSG - 1SG	SGM - CSM - SMA
Marine Corps	Pvt	PFC	LCpl	Cpl	Sgt	SSgt	GySgt	MSgt - 1stSgt	MGySgt - SgtMaj - SgtMajMarCor
Navy	SR	SA	SN	PO3	PO2	PO1	CPO	SCPO	MCPO - CMDCM - FORCM, FLTCM - MCPON
Air Force	AB	Amn	A1C	SrA	SSgt	TSgt	MSgt - 1st Sgt	SMSgt - 1st Sgt	CMSgt - 1st Sgt - CCM - CMSAF
Coast Guard	SR	SA	SN	PO3	PO2	PO1	CPO	SCPO	MCPO - CMC - Area CMC, CGRF-MC - MCPOCG

Leadership of the United States Marine Corps
Commandants	Nicholas Burrows Wharton Gale Henderson Harris Zeilin McCawley Heywood Elliott Biddle Barnett Lejeune Neville Fuller Russell Holcomb Vandegrift Cates Shepherd Pate Shoup Greene Chapman Cushman Wilson Barrow Kelley Gray Mundy Krulak Jones Hagee Conway Amos Dunford Neller
Assistant Commandants	Cole Lejeune Long Neville Feland Williams Fuller Myers Russell McDougal Little H. Smith Vandegrift Barrett Keyser Schmidt Rockey Peck Turnage Shepherd O. Smith Silverthorn Thomas Pate Megee McCaul Munn Hayes Mangrum Chapman Walt McCutcheon R. Davis Anderson Jaskilka Barrow McLennan Kelley J. Davis Morgan Went J. R. Dailey Boomer Hearney Neal Dake Williams Nyland Magnus Amos Dunford Paxton Walters
Sergeants Major	Bestwick Rauber McHugh Sweet J. W. Daily Puckett Black Massaro Crawford Cleary Sommers Overstreet Lee McMichael Estrada Kent Barrett Green
Secretary of the Navy (navbox) Four-star generals Headquarters Marine Corps Category