Technically, no. A fresh out of school 2LT, in theory, outranks an SGM. In practice, however, SGM's are the highest ranking NCO's at the Battalion and higher levels, and are advisers to the Commanding Officer, so they have more clout and power. Even if they do have to salute a 2LT and call him "sir".
Yes, and no. A sergeant major is the top of the Enlisted ranks. That said, technically, a 2nd LT (lowest officer) can give a Sergeant Major orders. Only a fool of a 2LT would do that. The sergeant major has much more practical authority (and his practical authority, while maybe not general, is certainly equal to a colonel).
I've seen plenty of CSM's tear officers a new one. Military ranks are weird because of things like that, theres a different between rank and authority and at some points it gets hairy. It's more of less a respect thing and knowing just what you can and can't get away with. A brand new 2LT out ranks the E-7 Platoon SGT but no 2LT is going to buck an E-7 without getting ripped apart. I've seen plenty of LT's overstep their bounds "because they can" and get slammed right back into place by anyone from E-4 Corporals to E-9 Sergeant Majors. Very rarely will you see an LT chewing out an NCO but it's not uncommon at all to see an NCO chewing out an LT even though the LT is an officer and you aren't technically supposed to talk to them like that. This is a rough description of how the ranks work LT = E-5, E-6 CPT = E-7, E-8 Major and above = E-8, E-9 It's a mutual respect thing because of the way officers are created in the military. Officers walk in the door out ranking everybody but they have no experience so they don't actually have much authority even though they do on paper. Enlisted ranks take longer to achieve. It's not uncommon for the E-5 to have more time in service than the CPT who is the Company Commander. Throw Warrant Officers in the mix and things get all sorts of weird. Enlisted and Commissioned Officers do that little rank vs authority dance with each other. Nobody messes with Chief. Warrants pretty much walk around and do whatever the hell they want to and very rarely does anybody on either side of the fence say anything to any of them.
These are nice little anecdotal stories...but if it's actual protocol you want, I'll set the OP straight. An officer's commission comes from the president - an SMA doesn't have one. Here is the relevant section of the oath of enlistment. What does the UCMJ say about it. Article 89 - Disrespect toward a Superior Commissioned Officer Explanation of Article 89 When a servicemen fails to give his superior the respect that is due to his authority and person, he exhibit disrespectful behavior as per Article 89. This disrespect may be in the form of an action or in language. The accused violates article 89 irrespective of whether he has been disrespectful to the commissioned officer as a private individual or in his capacity as a superior officer. Even as the most senior enlisted, an SMA verbally abusing an officer is subject to disciplinary action plain and simple. A hierarchical system consisting of grade/position/rank is the foundation of any military . 2ndLT., 2LT, Ensign outranks EVERY NCO including a CMSAF, SMA, SgtMajMC, MCPON period. Having laid out the protocol, keep in mind any junior officer worth their salt won't abuse the rank and should take the advice and counsel of a senior NCO with due consideration.
I actually feel bad for LT's to be honest. I always told them that. The poor kids are thrown into the fire as brand new officers with zero experience and expected to be leaders. They have to make decisions but they rarely know what decisions to make so they end up making somebody mad. They don't know what they are doing and they are expected to lead a platoon. A good NCO will take the LT under his wing and train them up. A good LT will listen to the experienced Soldier and take their advice. That's how it's supposed to work, but sadly it doesn't always work that way. Military combat arms is notorious for eating its young. Whether you are a Private or a new LT you aren't worth a damn thing until you prove you aren't worthless. And some NCO's just refuse to even help the poor LT which is horrible. I've seen it numerous times and that's wrong. I've had to deal with a variety of different new LT's. The majority of them were very good, eager young kids who asked way too many questions and got on my nerves. That's the guy I want. Yes it's annoying to have the new LT running into my office every 5 minutes asking questions but it's good that they are trying to learn. I'd "highly recommend" they do this or that and they would. I've also had the other side of the fence, it's mainly the West Point kids, who walk in the door with their chest out "Im the new boss". Those are the kinds I can't stand. Yes I get it, you have to make decisions, it's your job, no you don't have to seek council for those who have actually been in the Army longer than 6 months, but its highly encouraged to talk to people before making decisions in a world you don't understand yet. I've only ever had one LT that I honestly couldn't stand. It was many years ago when I was in charge of training the new LT's how to be tank commanders. Him and I locked horns so bad one time that I literally told my guys to stop the tank, I popped the hatch and got out in the middle of a field exercise and said screw this. I went and talked to the Platoon SGT and pretty much said "He's not trainable, he won't listen, he does whatever he wants, he bosses everybody around, I can't do it, its a lost cause he needs to be reclassed". PLT SGT was furious, we all knew what kind of attitude that LT had. PLT SGT stopped the entire exercise and got out of his tank, called the LT over and went to town. Even over the roar of the tank engines you could hear that conversation. It was pretty much "You have no tank Sir, that's HIS tank, not YOURS! You are in there because we can't put you by yourself as a tank commander yet because you'd get yourself and your crew killed because your entire crew has more combat experience than you have in the military period! This is going to be the last time I ever hear my NCO's saying you are bucking their authority. You will not LEAD anybody in my Platoon until you learn how to sit down, shut up, and follow first. The next time we have this conversation it will be in front of the battalion commander!" After that all was well, me and that LT are actually friends now to this day and we talk often. We even joke about that day. He admitted that they set those guys up for failure in OCS because they tell them "don't let the NCO's punk you out because they will try". He said he just showed up with his guard up because of that and wanted to cement his authority and be a hard ass right off the bat. Now he's a company commander and said he gives his own new LT's the same speech. "I don't want to ever hear any of you bucking the authority of the NCO's. Make decisions, its your job, but ask somebody first and listen to what they tell you. They were fighting wars when you were in middle school". That's the way it should be. Once that gets established then 9 times out of 10 the LT's will evolve into pretty damn good Officers. All of the LT's I used to know have now become company commanders and above. All of the garbage ones work behind a desk and never received a command or have gotten out of the military by now.
Warrant Officers sound like the senior NCO rank in my former police department (that rank being Senior Sergeant). The colloquial view was "(*)(*)(*)(*) of the Kings but King of the (*)(*)(*)(*)s" Shxx is blocked but you know what I mean.
lol yeah Warrants get away with murder. Some of it has to do with the rank being so weird and the other has to do with the authority they have. Plus I'm pretty sure its just an old tradition to just leave Chief alone. I know a guy who forgot his hat one day and literally went through the entire day without a hat on and not a single person said anything at all to him. If you are Enlisted and you go outside without a hat on and you'll have E-9s morphing out of thin air to come and kill you the second you step foot in the sunlight. If you are Commissioned you'll have high brass telling you how you embarrass the uniform and you should be setting the standard because you're leader. If you are a Warrant and you walk outside without a hat on you'll have both sides of the fence just walking by rolling their eyes and shaking their head at you lol Like they say it's not hard to spot a Warrant Officer. You'll know one when you see them. They're the ones who walk around the base without a care in the world because for some reason that nobody can figure out, no matter what they do...nobody says anything to them lol.
When it comes to warrant officer, it all depends which branch of the service the WO is serving in. A warrant officer in the Marine Corps is a highly respected rank. They are technical experts in an assigned field of specialty To be a Marine WO you have to have a minimum of 12 years of active duty service as an enlisted man and at least an E-6. The most prestigious of all Marine WO's is the Marine Gunner WO. (Not to be confused with the E-7 Gunnery Sergeant) That requires a minimum of 16 years as an enlisted man. The Marine Gunner Warrant Officer is a weapons specialist. We had a Marine Gunner WO in our ANGLICO Plt. and he was highly respected. I was a Marine in the Nam but the Army would transport us around in Huey "Slicks" and most of the pilots I saw were Army WO's and all seem to have just a high school education. But I been told that the Army also has WO's who are just like Marine WO's, highly technical experts in their field. I've seen Navy WO's but not many and don't know what they do but I suppose they are highly technical experts who have so many years of active duty under their belts as an enlisted sailor. The Air Force has no Warrant Officers.
Yeah nothing has changed in the Army as far as Warrants go. Most of the pilots are still WO's and you can still fly with only a high school education. The Army does have what we call "Walking Warrants" who are pretty much the same as the Marine ones, technical experts in their field that required a minimum of X amount of Enlisted time before crossing over. Those Warrants get even more respect than the pilots simply because they are so rare. There are only a handful of them on most bases.
Very good posts from everybody, but let me put my own 2 cents in. What many people confuse who had never been in the military is the difference between rank and authority. Rank is something you have been given due to seniority and/or performance. You wear it on your uniform, and that is how you are addressed. Seniors in rank give orders to junior in rank, but generally only if they are actually in charge of them. Yes, a Lieutenant can give an order to a Sergeant Major. But does he have the authority to do so? No, because the Sergeant Major generally works for the Battalion-Regiment-Division Commander, and not the Lieutenant. So if most Lieutenants try to give an order to a Sergeant Major he does not want to do, he will tell him to go pound sand. Yes, the Lieutenant has the rank to tell him what to do, but not the authority to do so. Think of it as a kid asks mom for permission to do something. Mom says no, so they go and ask grandma. That is akin to what we call "jumping the chain of command", and if the kid gets in trouble, the grandma does also because she exceeded her authority. And many times, even the lowest ranks can "outrank" a much more senior one, by basis of their authority. Many years ago as a young Marine PFC (E-2, the second lowest enlisted rank) I have a Navy Commander (O-5, one of the highest Navy Officer Ranks) on his face, in the mud, in his Dress White uniform. Why? Because he came on my post, after hours, with an unauthorized civilian, and in violation of many other orders (intoxicated, civilian vehicle, access badge our of area, etc, etc). When he tried to "pull rank", I loaded my weapon and put him in the mud, and when he tried to call me in for charges he was dressed down and relieved (and I was apologized to by the Navy Captain in charge of the base). It does not matter what your rank is, if you have no authority to give orders. Especially if the individual is outside the normal chain of command (like an MP or Military Security Guard). Warrent Officers are a strange blend, as Apache said, depending upon not only Military Branch (Army, Navy, Marine Corps), but Branch of Service (Army, specific job, as in Supply, Motor Transport, Cook, etc, etc, etc). In the Corps, all Warrents were very senior Enlisted, who were considered to be the "Cream of the Crop", and fill very specific roles. They are very rare, and highly respected. The Army is a bit different. Outside of Aviation, all Warrants were NCOs and specialists in a certain area of expertiese (Missile Repair, Supply, Vehicle Maintenance, etc). The exception is the pilots, who indeed are often just High School graduates who went to a special course. The "Former NCOs" get much more respect then the "High School Kids". As they have a Warrant, they have no actual "Command Authority", but only a fool (officer or enlisted) tries to buck a Warrant Officer in their area of specialization. And another technicality, an NCO actually has no "real authority" over anybody. They are delegated their authority through the Officer they work for. So as a Sergeant, my authority to give orders technically flows from my Lieutenant Platoon Commander through me, and I give orders in his name. Kind of a hard concept to grasp, to somebody who has never served in the military. I often times have described myself as an "Officer in the US Military, in a Non-commissioned status". And woe onto anybody who I outranked who tried to buck me if they were in the wrong. But if possible, I instead tried to bring up problems with their NCOs, and let them deal with it themselves.
