Yes Gunnery Sergeant!
Open your mouth!
The Gunnery Sergeant is probably one of the most iconic ranks in the United States Marine Corps
and the armed forces as a whole. But what is the Gunnery Sergeant and why was it created?
In this video we're going to explain the origin of the Gunnery Sergeant rank in the Marine Corps
including its historical and modern roles and the evolution of its insignia.
From the real-life exploits of Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly
To the Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's portrayal in Full Metal Jacket
the Gunny has grown to be a key part of the Marine Corps' identity
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To understand the Gunnery Sergeant we first have to examine the Marine Corps' original role.
From the Marine Corps' inception, U.S Marines served aboard almost every type of American warship.
They served as ships guards, enforcing discipline and regulating entry and exit from the ship at port .
During sea combat, they could act as marksmen fighting from the tops of sailing ships sniping
key personnel on enemy ships. If power needed to be projected ashore, they could form part
of an ad hoc landing party, although this was not initially their main role. By the late 19th century,
some of these roles fell out of favor. For example, the introduction of ironclads made sniping
enemy sailors with small arms impractical. But new roles came into being as well. Among these was the
manning of gun batteries on warships. Although they were just as likely to serve miscellaneous roles
on a ship during combat—such as riflemen, orderlies medical, aides and ammo passers—Marines did man
secondary batteries on American warships during the Spanish-American War. Their impact in this
capacity during the war was questionable and Marines would achieve greater glory elsewhere
implementing a new amphibious assault doctrine, but being in the fight aboard warships was an
important part of the Marine Corps' character. In 1898, this was the environment in which the Gunnery
Sergeant was born. As the name suggested, Gunnery Sergeants were originally intended as experts
in naval gunnery and ordinance, acting as senior members of a ship's detachment. Initially they
were represented by three chevrons, three bars, and an eagle, globe and anchor with cross rifles.
But this was changed in 1904 by removing the three bars and replacing the eagle globe and anchor
with the bursting bomb. As technical specialists, Gunnery Sergeant billets were highly competitive
and attracted some of the highest quality NCOs in the Corps. This was reflected in their pay
as before 1908, Gunnery Sergeants were the highest paid NCOs in the service.
Although ranked equivalently to First Sergeants in terms of seniority, the Gunnery Sergeant's monthly $35 salary
even outshined the Sergeant Major at $34 per month, let alone the 1stSgt's paltry $25
per month base pay. However as the Marine Corps evolved, so too did the Gunnery Sergeant. While three-quarters
of Marines had been stationed aboard ships prior to the Spanish-American War, only half were by 1900
the other half being stationed on land. By 1914, Marines at sea dropped to a measly 5%
of the Corps' strength. Military technology saw rapid developments and the Marine Corps found itself in
desperate need of technical specialists to take advantage of them. During World War I, the role of
the Gunnery Sergeant expanded far beyond just the field of naval ordnance. Some new roles made sense
such as leading the regimental ordnance section—a job meant for Ordnance Sergeants in the US Army
at the time. But other roles were completely new. For example, Gunnys acted as platoon sergeants
in the Marine infantryC compared to the Army who detailed a senior sergeant to the duty.
In other cases, they could act as telephone communications specialists or as technicians
in other emerging trades. The need for specialists was so dramatic that the rank was probably busted
open a little too wide. Because the rank system wasn't comprehensive enough, Marines were often
promoted to Gunnery Sergeant as a means to afford them greater pay and authority regardless of their
actual technical prowess. To rectify this, the Commandant took a two-pronged approach post-war.
Firstly, he decreed that Gunnery Sergeants couldn't be used for superfluous duties
like working as clerks, orderlies, mEss sergeants, chauffeurs, and police. This essentially restricted
Gunnery Sergeants to working in highly technical trades that required qualifications like ordnance,
aviation, communications, motor transport, as well as the infantry. Secondly, new technical and staff and
NCO grades were also introduced that could be used by other trades, preserving the original character
of the Gunnery Sergeant. Ran insignias were also updated in the mid- to late-1920s to bring
the Marines more in line with the Army's new standard. In 1929, this resulted in the addition
of two new rockers, same as the 1stSgt. At the same time the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant
was also created. The Master Guns, equivalent in stature to a SgtMaj, gave additional room
for advancement for NCOs specializing in Ordnance and Gunnery. During World War II, they'd served as
the Chief Ordinance NCOs in Weapons Companies and as Assistants to Anti-Armor and Anti-Aircraft
Officers at the regimental level. Into the interwar, Gunnys continued to serve as platoon
sergeants and even briefly as platoon commanders on paper. By the mid-1930s, they were replaced in
the former by the new platoon sergeant rank. This saw Gunnys rebileted as heads of ordnance and
logistics in Rifle Companies. The exception was in mortar, artillery and machine gun companies
where Gunnery Sergeants remained as platoon sergeants owing to their ordnance heavy nature.
This was more or less the state of things for the Gunnery Sergeants throughout World War II
although its insignia was simplified in 1937 by removing the bursting bomb and cross rifles. When
the war started, the Marine Corps still maintained several parallel rank structures depending on
trade with Gunnery Sergeants being restricted to line marines and ordnancemen. However, post
World War II, the Marine Corps underwent a massive simplification of its enlisted rank structure.
The complex system of trade based grades was distilled down into 7 pay grades with uniform rank titles.
This was in part to simplify it so it could be more easily record kept by early IBM computers
but also possibly as a knee-jerk reaction to the wartime complexity. In any case, the rank of GySgt
disappeared in 1946, condensed down into the Technical Sergeant along with five other ranks.
Meanwhile, the MGySgt and seven other sergeants were condensed down to Master Sergeant.
This brought it in line with Army practice at the time. Simplification led to pretty bad rank
compression among senior NCOs, with Battalion Sergeant Majors, Company 1stSgts and
senior technical NCOs all occupying the same rank. There was a lot of general dissatisfaction with
the system throughout the 1950s as World War II left a legacy of lax promotion standards
and the new system left important positions like the SgtMaj underappreciated. It wouldn't be
until 1959 that the Gunny would make a comeback. Sweeping Congressional reform triggered a major
reorganization of rank structures and titles in every service. The Marines in particular took
advantage to reintroduce some of their heritage back into the enlisted grades after having been
sanitized in the late 1940s. Thus the Gunnery Sergeant and Master Gunnery Sergeant were reinstated
with the former replacing the Technical Sergeant grade at E-7. Additionally, all NCOs were bumped up
on pay grade to bring them in line with their new Army equivalents, with the void at E-3 being filled
by the also newly revived Lance Corporal. The Gunny's new insignia was set at three chevrons, two
rockers and crossed and one rifles in the center, while the Master Guns got their bursting bomb back.
So where does that leave Gunnery Sergeants now? Well rather than an ordnance specialist
specifically, Gunnery Sergeant is the default rank at E-7 that NCOs in any trade have to pass through
on their way up the chain. However, there is still some legacy of the Gunny's World War roles. For
example, they currently act as operations chiefs for Rifle Companies and Platoon Sergeants for
Weapons Platoons. In their capacity as operations chiefs, they are technical and tactical advisors
to the company officers and NCOs and play a big part in coordinating training and sustainment.
When up for promotion, Gunnery Sergeants choose whether they want to go down a command
or technically oriented path. If they choose the latter, they may advance to Master Sergeant, which
act as operations chiefs for Weapons Companies and trade specialists at the battalion and
regimental levels. And eventually Master Gunnery Sergeants which act as senior operations chiefs
at the battalion level and higher.
If you enjoyed this dive into the Gunnery Sergeant,
check out this video where we take a similar look at the Lance Corporal
an equally iconic rank within the US Marine Corps and Commonwealth armies. We'll see you over there!