Sergeant

Sergeant, (normally abbreviated to Sgt) is a rank used in many armies, police forces, and other uniformed organizations. Its origins are in the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term sergent.

In most armies the rank of sergeant corresponds to command of a squad (or section). In Commonwealth armies, it is a more senior rank, corresponding roughly to a platoon second-in-command. In the United States Army, sergeant is a more junior rank corresponding to a four-man fireteam leader.

More senior non-commissioned ranks are often variations on sergeant, for example staff sergeant, first sergeant and sergeant major.

Many countries use the rank of sergeant, whether in English or using a cognate with the same origin in another language. The equivalent rank in Arab armies is raqeeb, meaning "overseer" or "watcher".

Usage

In most non-naval military or paramilitary organizations, the various grades of sergeant are non-commissioned officers (NCOs) ranking above privates and corporals, and below warrant officers and commissioned officers. The responsibilities of a sergeant differ from army to army. There are usually several ranks of sergeant, each corresponding to greater experience and responsibility for the daily lives of the soldiers of larger units.

Sergeant (disambiguation)

Sergeant is a police or military rank.

Sergeant may also refer to:

People

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Other uses

See also

MGM-29 Sergeant

The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The missiles were built by Sperry Utah Company.

Activated by the US Army in 1962 to replace the MGM-5 Corporal, it was deployed in Europe and South Korea by 1963, carrying the W52 (M65) nuclear warhead or alternatively one of high explosives. A biological warhead, the M210, was standardized but not procured, and there was also a chemical variant, the M212 which had not attained standardization. It was replaced by the MGM-52 Lance and the last US Army battalion was deactivated in 1977. Sergeant Missile Systems were usually assigned to the field army with the mission of "general support to a corps"

Operation of the Sergeant was recognized to be an interim stage in the development of battlefield missiles. It avoided the Corporal's liquid-fuel-handling drawbacks, but still requiring extensive setup and checkout before launch, together with a train of semi-trailer support vehicles. More advanced missiles, such as the contemporary Blue Water and later Lance, would reduce setup time.