Quote Originally Posted by 82redleg View Post
A modern US Army "sergeant" is not the same thing as the "sergeants" I've seen in the Commonwealth armies I'm familiar with. I have no idea where the Rhodesian Army fits into the spectrum, but it seems the rough equivalent of ranks (in responsibility and time to achieve the promotion) between US Army, USMC and Commonwealth is:

USArmy USMC Commonwealth
PVT Pvt PVT
PV2 Pfc
PFC LCpl
SPC LCpl
SGT Cpl Cpl
SSG Sgt
SFC SSgt Sgt
MSG GySgt/MSgt WO1
SGM/CSM MGySgt/SgtMaj WO2
The photo comes from here, they are Marines, so you must help me understand the Marine rank structure.



E5 is the fifth rank level? Who (what rank) would be the platoon sergeant?

The Brit (Rhodesian) platoon sergeant would be the fourth rank level. How long does it take the average marine to make E5 or platoon sergeant? Five years? Seven years?

Look by the end of the war (1980) we had some pretty over promoted guys at all rank levels so don't take my comment the wrong way.