What does a staff sargeant in the army do?

Answer 1

The First Sergeant is the highest ranking Unit level NCO. Typically, a 1st Sgt., or "Top" will administrate the day to day activities of the unit. Top directs training, movement, and personnel and equipment matters.

Answer 2

There is more than one level of sergeant in most armies.

In the US Army, ranks E-5 (NATO OR-5) to E-9 (OR-9) are all variantions of the rank of sergeant.

In the British Army, by comparison, only OR-6 and OR-7 are sergeants (Sergeant and Colour/Staff-sergeant, respectively). OR-8 and OR-9 in the British Army are Warrant Officers. While addressed as Sergeants-Major, they are not considered Non-Commissioned Officers, or Sergeants.

The role of fire-team leader, performed in the US Army by an OR-5 Sergeant is actually performed in the British Army by an OR-3 Lance-Corporal. The role of squad/section-commander, performed in the US Army by an OR-6 Staff-Sergeant, is performed in the British Army by an OR-4 Corporal. The British Army has no OR-5 grade. The role of second-in-command of a rifle platoon, which is performed in the British Army by an OR-6 Sergeant, is performed in the US Army by a OR-7 Sergeant First Class.

In a British Army rifle company, Company Quartermasters are normally Colour-sergeants.

Although certain ranks are normally associated with specific roles, the rank of a soldier cannot be assumed from his role.

Using the British Army as an example, it is not uncommon for a non-commissioned officer (or a warrant officer or a commissioned officer) to fill a role normally assigned to a higher rank than he holds, when he would be referred to as acting that rank. By example, a British Army corporal filling the role of a platoon sergeant would be considered an Acting Sergeant. This may be a temporary assignment, due to having no one of the appropriate rank immediately available, or it may be that the assignment is permanent, but the soldier cannot be promoted immediately due to procedural issues (for instance, a common date is set annually for all scheduled promotions to go into effect).

It is also not uncommon for an NCO to receive a promotion but to continue serving in the role normally assigned to his previous rank 'til a more suitable position is available. A Sergeant might be promoted to Colour-Sergeant, but continue in the role of platoon sergeant 'til a role normally filled by a Colour-Sergeant becomes available. A sergeant in a support trade or specialisation within a battalion, may not be able to move to a role normally requiring a higher rank without moving out of the battalion structure, or changing his specialisation, such as moving into a rifle company as a Company Quartermaster, from which the next step would normally be promotion to Warrant Officer 2 and the role of a Company Sergeant Major or a Training Warrant Officer. As an example, a Staff Sergeant Armourer, attached to an infantry battalion from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (he would normally also command other REME personnel attached to the battalion, such as motor mechanics), may be promoted to Warrant Officer 2 but it is not possible to increase his responsibilities within the battalion or the number of men under his control. To move up in terms of his role and responsibilities, he would normally have to be withdrawn from the infantry battalion, presumably to be assigned to an REME unit.

The roles assigned to soldiers of different ranks, and the ratio of NCOs to privates, will be different in non-infantry units. Artillery units, by example, generally require fewer NCOs than comparably-sized infantry units.

In the British Army, when in barracks, platoon and other sergeants have their own mess (together with warrant officers), with separate accomodations from their men. In the US Army, sergeants are also provided separate quarters from their men (in both armies, corporals, as the root "corp" implies, are quartered with the body of private soldiers in barracks).

Original answer by Er3Jen:

A sergeant is a non-commissioned officer, and he is responsible for getting things done, and carrying out orders given by the officers. In combat, a squad is normally led by a sergeant, and sometimes a corporal which is kind of like a sergeant but not really. A platoon sergeant is the highest ranking enlisted soldier in the platoon, and he acts as a second-in-command to the platoon leader, a lieutenant. Not every sergeant will be in combat. There are supply sergeants, commissary sergeants, and other kinds of sergeants who work behind the lines, but armies cannot function without sergeants.

Answer 3

Depends on their specific function. A Sergeant Major will typically be the senior noncommissioned officer of a staff office, while a Command Sergeant Major will be the senior noncommissioned officer of an element ranging in size from a Battalion to an Army Group, and will have an overall responsibility of and to all noncommissioned officers under them.

Answer 4

Sergeant Majors typically supervise sections within large units or are the chief NCO of Battalion level units or higher.