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Official U.S. Army Grade and Rank Structure Bulletin1965


patches
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Finally found a picture referencing the rank of Staff Sergeant Major, a sign for the 5th Battalion 46th Infantry in Vietnam - 1969. So it would seem that SSM indicates the NCO's rank of Staff Sergeant Major while CSM referenced that he was serving in the position of Command Sergeant Major within the battalion.

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Finally found a picture referencing the rank of Staff Sergeant Major, a sign for the 5th Battalion 46th Infantry in Vietnam - 1969. So it would seem that SSM indicates the NCO's rank of Staff Sergeant Major while CSM referenced that he was serving in the position of Command Sergeant Major within the battalion.

Interesting. You would figure at that late date, 1969, he would of just been titled CSM right? Would not believe conversely he would be titled Acting, as that normally would be a NCO who was a grade lower. In example from my own experience in Alaska in 82, in that we had no 1st Sergent for a short spell, my Plat Daddy was apparently the senior E-7 in the company, a SFC S Smith, a Nam 9th Div Riverine vet, he became Acting 1st Sgt, he still keep his rank E-7 of course, but as I recall was officially titled by his name with ACTING added in, Acting 1st Sergeant, or was it 1st Sergeant (Acting).

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  • 8 months later...

Another period brief, this time from the July-August 1968 issue of The Army Reserve Magazine.

 

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Going back around three years earlier, The Army Reserve Magazine again, the September-October 1965 issue, here it talks about the suspension of the new design ranks of E-3 Lance Corporal and the insignia that would become Command Sergeant Major, which according to this article is title Chief Master Sergeant.

 

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  • 5 months later...

This is the chart from the March 1965 issue of Army Reserve magazine referenced in Post # 29.

Excellent info again, thank you!

 

Justin B.

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According to Emerson's "Chevrons" books "Staff Sergeant Major" lasted from '68 to '71, when the "staff" was dropped. BTW his citation for the proposed-but-never-implemented Chief Master Sergeant is the same document Patches posted up top.

 

Justin B.

 

A memo from the January 1970 issue of ARMY DIGEST.

 

It states, and I quote

 

" RANK CHANGE Term "Staff Sergeant Major" heading out. Following rank

designations within E-9 Grade now apply:

. Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA).

. Command Sergeant Major (CSM).

. Sergeant Major (SGM).

 

 

So as we can see the info on the date of 1971 in regards to the abolition of the Staff Sergeant Major trank title in Grade E-9 in Emerson's book is largely correct, as well as the Army Reserve brief Justin B posted. Even as we see the Reserve brief Justin B posted has a May 1969 date it will be as per usual in that the Army it takes a bit to actually have a reg implemented, even to the point of repeating the new changes over a period of time.

 

Still, still looking for the title Staff Sergeant Major in both full and it's abbreviation form in some kind of print, like in a portrait or in award orders, all I see if NOT a Command Sergeant Major (post 1968) is just simple Sergeant Major and it's various abbreviations.

This is from the January 1970 issue of Army Reserve magazine.

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  • 1 year later...

Here's a story from the February 19, 1965 White Sands Missile Range newspaper explaining the new enlisted rank structure. Note it also implies that there were some Specialist 8's on active duty at the time. Note that it predates the other posted references to the rank structure change (March 1965 Army Digest) by a few weeks.

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  • 5 weeks later...

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Came across this great photo from a January 1970 Ft Ord Basic yearbook, a stock photo from 1968 of a PX seamstress with a pile of old PFC E-3 stripes she's been removing from uniform items to sew on the new PFC E-3 stripes. Seems the soldiers just dropped most of the items off there without bothering to remove the superseded stripes themselves, not wanting to keep them etc etc.

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