Introduction

Sergeant First Class (SFC) is typically a senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) military rank, used in many countries.

United States

Sergeant First Class (SFC) is the seventh enlisted rank (E-7) in the US Army, ranking above staff sergeant (E-6) and below master sergeant and first sergeant (E-8), and is the first NCO rank designated as a senior NCO.

A SFC is typically assigned as a platoon sergeant at the company level or battalion operations NCO in charge at the battalion level, but may also hold other positions depending on the type of unit. In a combat arms role, a SFC is typically second in charge (under an officer, typically a second lieutenant, serving as the platoon leader) of from 14 soldiers and four tanks in an armour platoon to 36 soldiers and four squads in a rifle platoon. A SFC’s primary responsibilities are tactical logistics, tactical casualty evacuations, and serving as the senior tactical adviser to the platoon leader. SFC replaced the rank of technical sergeant in 1948. (However, the US Air Force, which separated from the Army in 1947, retained the rank of technical sergeant and the US Marine Corps had the rank of technical sergeant until 1959.)

A SFC is addressed as “sergeant” except in certain situations, such as field artillery units, in which a SFC serving as platoon sergeant is commonly referred to as “Smoke.” If a SFC is appointed to fill the role of first sergeant, he or she is addressed as “First Sergeant.” Typically a SFC assigned on a manning document to fill a first sergeant role while being promotable to master sergeant can be frocked to first sergeant rank and hold the insignia due its position.

SFC is the first enlisted rank in the US Army to be selected by the centralised promotion system. As such, it is considerably more difficult to achieve than the previous ranks. A SFC is the first enlisted rank to be considered a senior NCO, and a soldier achieving the rank gains not only prestige, but several benefits due to the position. Contrary to popular belief due to a common apocryphal saying, it does not take an act of Congress to reduce a SFC in rank. The reduction authority from SFC to staff sergeant is reserved for commanders of organisations authorised a commander in the rank of colonel or higher. For separate detachments or companies, the reduction authority will be the next higher headquarters within the chain of command. The higher headquarters must be authorised by a commander in the rank of colonel or higher.

The rank title of SFC existed in the Army from 1890 until 1920 when it was eliminated in an army-wide simplification of enlisted ranks which had grown into a system containing 128 different rank insignia. The rank of SFC was used in several technical branches such as the Army Medical Department and in the Ordnance, Signal, and Quartermaster Corps and was equivalent to the field service ranks at the company/battery/troop “staff” NCO level, such as colour sergeant, supply sergeant, or radio sergeant. The Army restored the rank of SFC in 1948 when it replaced technical sergeant.

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_first_class >; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.